Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Board calling special election

The Gurdon School Board will soon be asking voters to approve a financial restructuring plan which will fund the construction of an auditorium on the high school campus. Voters wont be approving additional tax, but will be allowing the district to make some financial changes without increasing the districts current millage rate.

In its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 20, the board agreed to call for a special election seeking voter approval to restructure debt, allowing for the funds to build the auditorium. The proposed building has been the topic of discussion in previous board meetings and the Arkansas Department of Education has pledged almost 50 percent of the amount of construction through that agencys partnership program.

During the meeting, Gurdon Superintendent Bobby Smithson told the board members that the cost of construction had previously been estimated at $2 million, and that figure is likely to rise the longer the district waits to begin construction. He said that in his opinion, restructuring current debt would be the best option because it would be hard to pass a millage increase.

If voters approve the measure, the district would restructure bond issues from 2000, 2001 and 2003. Smithson said this would not increase the current millage rate of 36 mills, but it would generate $1.72 million for new construction. It would also push the districts repayment of the bonds back to 25 years.

The date for the election has not been set as of press time, although it was noted that the election could be held as soon as April 21. The board was expected to meet in special session on Tuesday, Feb. 27, to finalize the details.

In other business, the board received word that the districts grant application to the Cabe Foundation for the purchase of an electronic message board to be installed at Gurdon High School had been approved. The foundation agreed to give the district $35,000 to purchase the sign which has already been installed. Smithson said the grant application was made using the first estimate given to him by the sign company, and the sign ended up costing the district only $23,000. He said he talked with Anita Cabe about the possibility of putting the additional $12,000 towards the track resurfacing project at Go-Devil Stadium, but she instead decided to put the money in the auditorium construction fund.

Smithson said he thinks the electronic sign is a nice addition to the campus.

The board also agreed to allow Smithson to look into improvements at the schools baseball and softball fields. He requested permission to spend $5,000 to purchase 100 seats to be installed on top of the bleachers at the fields. Of the seats, 75 will be placed at the baseball field and 25 at the softball field.

The seats have backs to them and are believed to be more comfortable than the existing bleachers.

The seats at our baseball and softball fields are uncomfortable, he said.

One board member said he thought more people would attend the games if they knew the updated, more comfortable seating was in place.

In old business, Smithson told the board that the roof trusses on the new addition to Gurdon Primary School were three-quarters of the way up. Once they are completed, the roof decking will be added. All of the interior wall blocks are complete, and the outside should be bricked soon.

They are huge classrooms, he said of the four in the addition. They are 1,000 square feet.

In other business, the board welcomed a new member during the meeting. Valerie Baker was in attendance for her first meeting as the board member from zone 10. She replaces Jon Capps who resigned to become a classroom teacher at Cabe Middle School.