Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Board to begin building battle

Bonds and construction.

These were the major topics of discussion at the Prescott School Board meeting Tuesday, June 17.

Ray Beardsley, with the bond firm of Rainey and Beardsley, brought paperwork for members of the board to sign so the Prescott School District could get its money from the sale of bonds.

The bonds were sold as part of the district's restructuring its indebtedness to reach the court mandated 25 mill for maintenance and operation. Voters approved this in a special election in May.

Beardsley said the district received five bids on its bonds. The AAA rate is 4.36 percent, however, Stephen's, Inc., purchased the bonds for 4.2382 percent.

All of the bids were close, he said, within 10 basis points. This means the highest interest rates being offered from the bids was 4.3 percent.

Stephen's, Inc., appointed the Bank of the Ozarks as its trustee to handle the bonds.

The district will make two payments per year, paying about $400,000 annually.

Once the bonds closed, which occurred on June 24, the district received $2,050,136.33 for construction. The catch is this money must be spent within three years.

Plans for these funds, though, are to install new air conditioning where needed at McRae Middle School and Prescott Elementary School, along with repairing the roof over the first grade at PES while constructing a metal building at the primary school.

Prescott High School will see a new fence erected around the football field and the restrooms at the football field renovated.

The bulk of the money, though, will be used to build a multi-purpose complex which will house the Family and Consumer Science classes, a distance learning lab, extra classrooms and a field house for the junior high football team.

Beardsley said the district's first payment will be due Feb. 1, 2004.

Jerry Hollensworth, with the architecture firm of Trull and Hollensworth of Magnolia, discussed the construction process.

The first step will be to outline the area and study the campus. A survey will follow, with drawings done.

Hollensworth said the firm wants to make the new facility blend in with existing structures.

The board will approve the final building design before the district advertises for bids. He suggested having a few deductive alternatives to make sure the project will come in on budget.

Each project meeting will be documented, he said, and he will meet regularly with the contractor and subcontractors to make sure everything's being done properly.

The district and contractor will also get copies of Hollensworth's meeting notes. This is done, he said, to avoid confusion and make sure everyone knows what's going on.

He said the firm will be prudent in its designs and selecting materials for wear and tear. "There's some materials we just won't use."

The new building will not have a flat roof, with the roof to likely be shingled and not metal. Hollensworth said shingles hold up about as well as metal and are less expensive.

"We'll set specific standards," he said, "and stay in the driver's seat. This is taxpayer's money."

James Cannon was again recognized as having the outstanding agriculture program in Southwest Arkansas.

Willie Wilson, dean of students, corrected a statement he made at the May meeting. In May Wilson had said the district had a 99 percent graduation rate. However, the figures were 100 percent, as there were no dropouts at PHS.

He told of the new course offerings for the 2003-2004 school year. These courses include: Algebraic connections, French I and II, high school PE, computer diagnostic operations, culinary arts III and IV and journalism.

The district will be offering advanced placement courses in English IV, physics and calculus.

Wilson said the Air Force recruiter will be more of a presence at PHS next year. The idea is to provide a balance of all the branches of the armed services for the students to learn about.

The district is offering a one-time summer program so students can recover and improve their math grades.

A total of 18 students have signed up for the course, which is designed to allow those who didn't successfully complete the course to do so this summer.

Wilson plans to continue making home visits during the summer and remind parents whose children are struggling of their academic status.