Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Nevada School Board Discusses Ice Storm

Damage and delays caused by the ice storm during the Christmas holidays were discussed by the Nevada School Board Thursday, Jan. 18.

Jim Cross, maintenance and transportation supervisor and the Nevada County Office of Emergency Services director, said it was the worst conditions he'd seen for transportation after the storm.

Some routes, he said, are so bad the axles drag on the buses. The safety equipment has been damaged by low-hanging limbs and trees.

Before school resumed after the Christmas break there were routes buses couldn't get down, he told the board.

Superintendent Rick McAfee, Cross said, helped out by cutting limbs so buses could get through.

The situation was bad enough even after school started. Alternate routes had to be run as standing water made regular routes hazardous.

At this time, he said, log trucks are not allowed to operate on county roads, because of the additional damage they could do. However, Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown has allowed some with permits to finish jobs.

Those working illegally are reported and forced to stop what they are doing.

County roads, he said, are in poor condition and road crews are doing what they can. This amounts to putting rock on the road. "It'll be six months before they're fixed; we'll be lucky to get them repaired by then."

When the disaster was declared, the only assistance Nevada County received from the Army National Guard was a water buffalo to transport water where it was needed and the use of a Humvee to get around.

Other requests for equipment were made, he said, but went unheeded.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has given those counties affected by the storm until Feb. 27 to get all debris and timber removed in order to qualify for the 90-10 match in funds.

After this date the funding will revert to 75-25. Of this 25 percent the county would be required to pay 12.5 percent with the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) picking up the rest.

"Nevada County," Cross said, "doesn't have the money to pay 12.5 percent. I hope FEMA extends the date under the new administration."

The school building was also damaged in the disaster. McAfee has talked with an insurance adjuster, but hasn't been able to get an inspector to come to Rosston to check the roof.

Some support beams, he said, have rubber seals. These seals contracted and expanded with the cold and are causing leaks. However, it's hard to find the exact spot of the leaks, because the water runs down the beam before falling off.

In the superintendent's house, he said, there was significant roof damage.

The ceiling collapsed in one room, with leaks appearing all over the house. Ice also damaged the gutters and forced water under the shingles onto the plywood decking.

The house, he said, is insured, but he and his family have been fighting water with all of the recent rains.

McAfee had no exact cost for repairing the roof damage to the school facilities, telling the board the insurance company has been talking about going back with a plywood and asphalt roof, or installing a metal roof instead.

If it's within the budget, he said, it would be better to go with the metal roof.

The board was brought up to date, somewhat, with education related bills being considered in the current legislative session.

McAfee is on the legislative finance committee, which examines all bills dealing with school finance.

In the first week, he said, 109 bills relating to education had been presented. The superintendents on the committee divided them up to read and discuss.

Normally this panel examines 50 bills a session, he said, adding more education bills are expected to be introduced.

The superintendents, once the bills have been read, decide whether they support or oppose them.

Of the 29 McAfee's group read, they found only one to support. The other 28 were opposed.One bill proposed would give teachers a $1,200 tax credit in 2002, rising to $3,600 in 2003. This would be in lieu of the promised teacher pay raises.

McAfee said this bill is unconstitutional as it creates a separate entity for taxation. A similar measure was tried on the federal level and was defeated in court.

In addition, he said, the tax credit wouldn't apply to teacher retirement, and this would reduce the amount of their pensions when they retired.

House Bill 1072, he said, would require a teacher or administrator to read an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence daily, if passed.

House Bill 1092 would allow six-year-old children to enroll in either kindergarten or the first grade, while granting "exceptional" four-year-olds the chance to go to kindergarten if the child turns five by Dec. 15 of the year in question.

This would create problems, McAfee said, as the term "exceptional" isn't defined.

Other proposed bills would allow people with permits to carry concealed weapons to take their weapons on school campuses.

Another would allow the use of cellular telephones and pagers on school grounds during school activities.

Yet another bill being opposed would raise the exemption rate on property taxes from $300 to $700, while adding another half-cent sales tax at the state level.

To check the bills introduced in the session go to website: www.arkleg.state.ar.us. This site gives a synopsis of the bills introduced as well as the entire bill.

McAfee told the board about problems at the Waldo-Genoa Central basketball game recently.

Between 50 and 60 students got involved in a fight on the court, including two or three of the Waldo players and the Bulldog head coach. The incident was captured on videotape with a copy of the tape sent to the Arkansas Activities Association.

McAfee said one of two things could happen. Either the players and coach involved could be suspended for the remainder of the season or the school could get the "death penalty" forcing Waldo to forfeit all games played this season and not participating in any post-season play.

Waldo is scheduled to play at Nevada Thursday, Feb. 1. McAfee said security will be provided by the Nevada County Sheriff's Office and Arkansas State Police as it is at every home game.

Tax collections were down $130,000 for the district this year. McAfee questioned the Nevada County Tax Collector and Assessor as to the reason and learned a computer glitch was to blame.

It seems the computers crashed and only one was able to reprogram them to include billing for mineral interests, which was not done.

About $80,000, he said, had been held back from the reappraisal, but the district will get this money. However, it won't get the funds from mineral interests as they weren't billed this year.

The district has no recourse, he said, after checking with the Arkansas Department of Education on the matter.

The district is paying $40,000 for a new bus, and if it goes through the revolving loan program, he said, the cash can be put back in the budget to help with the shortfall.

Another headache the district got was its natural gas bill. In November the bill went from $500 to $1,900, and the December bill was more than $3,000.

The board granted an extended leave to Rita Byer for a family-related illness. It hired Lindsey Whatley as a sixth grade replacement and hired Jennifer Gordon as the vocal music-middle school music-history teacher.

The board also extended McAfee's contract another year.