Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Co-Op Staying Put

By JOHN MILLER

Members of the Clark County Industrial Council rejoiced recently with the news the Dawson Educational Cooperative will stay where it is.

The vote to remain in the current location, however, was close at 15-10.

Rick Saunders, director of the co-op, said he gave the 25 superintendents served by the co-op all the information he had concerning the proposals made. They felt the best one was to let Dawson remain where it is, though Hot Springs and Malvern made good offers.

The Arkadelphia offer was to allow the co-op to purchase the building it currently resides in for $300,000, with the CCIC and Percy Malone helping to procure a $20,000 grant for renovations

Arkadelphia and Malvern were the only areas receiving votes for the co-op.

Arkadelphia, Bauxite, Bismarck, Bryant, Carthage, Center Point, Delight, Fordyce, Gurdon, Kirby, Lakeside, Murfreesboro, Ouachita, Mountain Pine and Sparkman voted in favor of staying put.

On the other hand, Cutter Morning Star, Fountain Lake, Benton-Harmony Grove, Hot Springs, Jessieville, Lake Hamilton, Magnet Cove, Malvern, Perrin and Caddo Hills, cast their ballots for a move to Malvern.

"As far as we're concerned," Saunders said, "we're here to stay. We serve six counties equally in terms of what we do, and they're all important to us."

During the CCIC meeting, though, Malone reminded the board this was a difficult decision for the superintendents to make.

He said those living the farthest away had reasons for wanting it to be closer to them.

"What prevailed was so many here showed how much they wanted it to stay," he said. "Co-ops will play a bigger and bigger part in education in future years."

Malone said this effort has taught the CCIC more about what Dawson is and does, which means the CCIC can now better serve the co-op when needed.