Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Families unhappy with Nevada Board's decision

Border disputes led four families to question the Nevada School Board recently.

The families, all living within the Nevada School District, have been sending their children to Emmet Schools, and when notified of the situation, they asked the Nevada board to transfer their children to the Emmet District.

Nevada's board refused, but not before hearing the parents's arguments.

Prior to the parents speaking, Nevada Superintendent Rick McAfee reminded the board district policy 4.4 states the district will review and/or accept transfers into the district on a case by case basis, but does not grant transfers out of the district unless the board suspends the policy.

All four families live on the same road  county road 275.

The first to speak were Jeff and Melissa Davis, who said they registered their child at Emmet in the first grade and hadn't been told anything was wrong until they received a letter from Emmet Superintendent Gene Ross.

The Davis's said they live closer to Emmet than Nevada, while Jeff works in Emmet.

Next came David and Jennifer McKamie, who voiced the same argument of the Davis's.

They said their children all like the Emmet school and don't want to go to Nevada.

Gary Davis and Kent Langston said the same the others had said about how they didn't know their children were supposed to go to Nevada School, even though they pay property tax in the Nevada district.

Board member Jerry Bishop said board's decision wasn't personal, as the board was following the rules and regulations of the district.

The board's goal, he said, is to make sure the children get a quality education.

Don Callicott, also on the board, said the district has a specific amount of money to operate on, and must defend how the funds are spent to the state government.

McAfee gave a brief description of how school funding works.

"The way it is now," he said, "is you're paying tax to the Nevada district, but your children are going to Emmet. There's a thing called local wealth involved."

Local wealth, he said, is where the number of students in a district is divided by anticipated tax revenue, with the state making up the difference.

With parents paying tax in one district, while their children attend another, he said, it makes the district where the taxes are paid seem richer than it is, so the district doesn't get state aid.

Emmet, he said, has received about $181,000 from the nine students involved in this dispute.

"These are not all the students," he said. "I don't know why you were selected and sent the letters.

"I've questioned Dr. Ross about running buses through the Nevada district. This isn't supposed to be done."

Dr. Ross, he said, is supposed to turn in the names of all students living in the Nevada district who are attending Emmet schools.

McAfee explained Nevada's situation saying since the consolidation almost 14 years ago the district has 305 square miles, with drivers having about 1.5 miles between stops to pick students up. Transportation funds have been cut out by the state, leaving the district responsible for finding money to pay to get students to and from school.

Granting proximity transfers because students live closer to one district than they one they are supposed to go to school in, he said, would break down the consolidation.

School districts, he said, are not paid for home schooled students, as districts are funded based on average daily attendance figures turned into the Arkansas Department of Education.

The board was split 3-2, but denied transfers to all nine students involved.

Several of the parents said they would move into the Emmet district rather than send their children to Nevada schools.

From there it was on to the regular business of the district, and a discussion of the Lake View lawsuit.

McAfee said the Arkansas Supreme Court has given the state until Jan. 1, 2004, to submit a suitable plan to the federal judge.

As it stands, settling the suit could cost the state between $650 million and $1 billion.

To comply with the court, he said, will be a funding nightmare, which the Arkansas Legislature will be dealing with in its upcoming session in January.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is proposing a 5/8 cent hike in the state's sales tax, with the funds supposedly going to education, McAfee said.

However, under the fiscal year funding for public schools for 2003, 47.9 cents of each tax dollar go to schools. Should the tax be approved, though, schools will receive less money as 44.98 percent for 2004.

This, he said, means a drop of about 20 percent in school funding, and this would be the lowest funding has been in Arkansas since the 1960s.

These figures, McAfee said, aren't taking the Lake View suit into consideration, and show a decrease in school funding, which is dangerous.

The ADE will not appeal the Lake View decision to the United States Supreme Court, he said, making the upcoming legislative session pivotal in Arkansas.

Nevada counselor Sandra Browning updated the board on the results of the Explorer tests students were given in April.

Nevada students, she said, scored at or above the state, and regional averages in most areas. To pass a section, students had to score 200 points.

In math, Nevada scored an average of 232, while the region average was 198 and the state score was 213.

For literacy, Nevada scored 215, while the region was at 206 and state was 209.

A total of 24 students took the test, with 13 passing both sections of it, and 11 passing one of the two sections. Three students were close in math, while five scored close to 200 in literacy.