Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Nevada hears of Lake View case

A decade-long legal case was thought to be settled, but this not the case as the Lake View case has been reopened by the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Rick McAfee, Superintendent of the Nevada School District, told the Nevada School Board at its June meeting, the court decided to reopen the case. However, he said Nevada did not join in the class action suit, saying he could see nothing positive coming out of it for the district.

The problem, he said, is the Arkansas Legislature left a lot of unfunded mandates, and in its last special session, Nevada was hit with $100,000 in unfunded mandates. McAfee said smaller schools appear to be wealthier than larger districts, but arent. This is because of the amount of money a mill brings in. For Nevada, one mill generates about $22,000, whereas one mill in Springdale brings in more than $1million.

The way schools were rated, he said, the state set up to pay 38 percent of the physical needs for the Nevada district, leaving the school to pick up the remaining 62 percent.

In addition to the unfunded mandates, McAfee said, the district is still required to meet all other requirements. I dont think the court should run the schools, and the people of Arkansas cant afford any more taxes. We need more money in rural education.

Nevada, he told the panel, has 305 square miles to cover for its 400 students. The state has eliminated money for transportation, which will cost the district about $200,000 next year because of the rising cost of diesel fuel. This money comes from the operating budget.

Additionally, he said, the state has mandated all districts to hire a physical education teacher for elementary schools, along with an art and music teacher at the elementary level. These have to be certified personnel. In the past, regular classroom teachers handled instruction in art and music.

Were looking at a big cost increase whenever we have to add teachers at the required salary schedule, he said.

The current funding formula, McAfee said, is not equitable, and a special session of the Legislature could be required because of this.

He addressed the required policy changes saying everyone has been working hard to get them in compliance with new state regulations. However, this cant be done in some instances because the state hasnt established guidelines in some areas.

In talking about money for the summer, he said the district will write three payroll checks in June for teachers with a 12-month contract. The district will get no funds from the state in July, and will have to watch spending to stay in line with its budget.

The districts uniform policy at the elementary level was addressed during the Boards discussion on handbook changes. Basically, there was no real change in the policy, except to change it to allow students to wear any color of Polo-style and Oxford cloth shirts.

There was much discussion concerning footwear  primarily flip flops. The Board and Uniform Committee agree students shouldnt be allowed to wear flip flops, but were unable to agree on how to define this type of shoe in a way so it wouldnt include sandals. Both groups had no problem with students wearing sandals.

Basically, the decision was to make flip flops a restricted shoe, but it will be up to teachers and the principal to determine if the footwear in question is or is not a flip flop.

Aside from the changes in shirt color, all policy changes for the high school are those required by the state.

The Board approved allowing two students to transfer to Nevada from the Waldo District under the School Choice program.

A budget for 2006-2007 was also approved as required by law. McAfee said this is a preliminary budget because he has no idea what the revenues will be for the 06-07 year.

The Board agreed to have the district purchase an insurance policy to cover students in case of accident. McAfee said this is a secondary policy for parents who dont have insurance. The district, he added, is not required to do this, but has to help school patrons. The policy will cost $5,674.56 and cover all students during school and school related events and activities.

The Board also approved a resolution to join the Arch Ford Service Cooperative, which will help improve the districts purchasing power. This cooperative includes several states: Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana. It cost the district nothing to join.