Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Nevada Schools Feel Pinch Of Funds; Struggle With Cuts

Transportation could be a problem under the new school funding formula.

Rick McAffee, superintendent of the Nevada School District, said his district will lose $91,000 under this formula.

Transportation, he said, has been included in the overall budget, unlike years past when it was a separate budget item.

McAffee said the new funding formula lowers the compensation per student to about $112 per child. Last year the district received about $232 per student.

In addition, Nevada received more than $167,000 for transportation in the 1995-96 academic year, while this year's budget is $75,857.

"Initially," he said, "all we've heard from the Arkansas Department of Education is this will be corrected.

"But the safety of the children comes first. We will make cuts where we can and have a reserve balance we can use. We hate to do it. We wanted to use this (money) for emergencies."

However, another suit has been filed against the state for the funding formula. This one by the Pulaski County School District, in an effort to keep the Little Rock schools from getting even more money.

"It's still a wait and see situation," McAffee said. "No one knows what will happen."

Under the new formula, school districts receive what amounts to a lump sum for the year. Out of this money, the districts must now pay teacher's salaries, all benefits, insurance and transportation.

McAffee said transportation is the area hardest hit under the formula. "It's an area of concern," he said. "I still feel getting the students to school is not equitable in any sense."

This, he said, is because some districts have more territory to cover than others. The Fort Smith district, under the formula, will receive more than $900,000 in new money, while districts such as Nevada lose money because of transportation.

However, McAffee said once the students are at school, equitable funding is the only proper financial solution. "We have to get them here first," he said. "We'll openschool and run the buses. We'll do all we can do."

Gov. Mike Huckabee still has the contingency fund, established by his predecessor, Jim Guy Tucker, which could be used to help alleviate the situation at Nevada.

The idea of the contingency fund, McAffee said, is schools which lost money under the new formula would be subsidized to the same amount they received last year.

He said the children's safety must the a district's first concern, and the concern of the state's legislators.

If a fair funding formula for transportation can't be found, McAffee expects tragedies to occur.

Arkansas, he said, has one of the best safety programs for school buses in the nation, with excellent training programs for its drivers.

But, if these programs can't be funded and the equipment properly maintained, both will suffer and the children's lives will be placed at risk.

The Nevada District, he said, has an excellent transportation director (Jim Cross) who has in-service for all drivers.

McAffee said the Nevada District is fortunate in there are no railroad tracks within its boundaries. However, he continued, bus drivers do have to watch out for log trucks.

The overall problem, though, is one for the general assembly to address in its upcoming session early next year.

"I'm confident the legislature is aware of the problem," McAffee said, "and will address it. The challenge has been thrown before them, and they need to accept the responsibility and work for a solution."

But, he added, it's not just up to the elected officials to help find a solution to this problem. He said educators and members of the public need to add their ideas to the pot as well to protect the children as they go to and from school.

Overall, McAffee said, the Nevada budget is up about 1.5 percent, which isn't enough to offset the cost of transportation. Because of this, several departments saw their budgets cut from 3 to 5 percent to help make up the difference.

If the funding formula is adjusted, McAffee said, the district will revise its budget.