Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

District Seeks 3-Mill Hike

Gurdon residents will be asked to approve a 3 mill increase in order to build a new middle school.

The Gurdon School Board voted to ask for the millage during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, June 18.

"We've procrastinated as long as we can," Bobby Smithson, Gurdon superintendent, told the board concerning making a decision on the millage.

Smithson said he had been in touch with Paul Blum and Stephens, Inc. on the bond issues, but in order to get the decision published before the July meeting as required by law, the board had to make up its collective mind.

However, should circumstances arise which would make it impossible or difficult to build a new middle school, on the same property as the new Gurdon High School, the board can change its mind.

One such problem could be paying for the new gymnasium, bleachers and goals. Smithson said it will take $150,000 to finish out the gym, buy bleachers and install mechanical goals

He said the district is owed $60,000 from the water fund for getting water and sewer services to the new GHS complex.

However, returning to the topic of a millage increase, Smithson told the board 2 mill could construct the facility with a lot of commitment on the district's part.

It was brought out the construction cost for a new GMS would be $1.4 million. Two mill would generate $700,000 for the project. Smithson said by making cuts in the plans, borrowing from the revolving loan fund and doing part of the work themselves, the district could build the school for this.

Three mill, though, will generate $1.1 million. With these funds, and borrowing from the revolving loan account, no cuts will be needed, most likely.

However, none of these figures include new furniture for the facility.

"A new middle school is needed in the worst way," he said. "But it's up to the people to decide if they will pay for it. The old GHS is terrible.

"It may be in the board's best interest," Smithson continued, "for me to retire and get out of the way. I may be a liability this time."

He said it would be great to have four mill to build the school with, but it would be almost impossible to pass this kind of an increase. He said the district may be able to pass a two mill hike.

Board President Charles Ledbetter made the suggestion to ask for three mill, saying the sooner this project is begun, the better off the district will be in.

When the vote was taken, only Robert Burns cast a negative ballot.

In other business, Smithson informed the board the district is $84,000 in the red in salary fund because of paying off teacher's salaries for the remainder of the summer in May.

He said when the board voted to give all teachers a raise in December, this put the district over budget. This deficit situation primarily occurred because of the way the state projected its funding.

When these decisions were made, it appeared as though the district would be getting the funds to balance the budget.

The band and athletic budgets are still in the red as well. However, the figures aren't as bad as they seem because both departments began the year in deficit situations.

Smithson said the district is expected to end its fiscal year (June 30) with $212,000, after starting last year with $265,000.

He said the district's budget is about $3 million, and a contingency fund of 10 percent is normally kept. The board, if it plans on keeping a contingency fund of 10 percent, may need to make some cuts.

"I need to learn to say 'no'," Smithson said. "But when a staffer goes through the trouble of filling out a purchase order and a principal signs off on it, I feel it's my job to find the money for the request."

Salaries, he said, are the biggest expenditure for the district. In order to meet the state's minimum requirement for salaries, the district still needs to increase them, on average, by $1,000 for certified personnel.

The district also spent more than $56,000 over the budget in maintenance, with most going for construction for the gym.

Not all funds budgeted for transportation were spent, but this was because $48,000 had been allotted for a new bus. This bus was not purchased. However, $15,000 of the money set aside for the bus was spent for fuel after the prices skyrocketed.

Smithson said the district can't get fuel prices locked in on a per gallon basis for an entire year.

Talking about construction, Smithson said the new sign is up, but the electrical connection hasn't been made yet. This is because a new transformer is needed. The sign, it seems, requires a specially sized transformer.

He praised First State Bank for donating the funds for the school's new sign as well.

But the district is having some problems with its new parking lot. Smithson said there are places on the lot where the asphalt is only one inch thick, instead of two inches as called for under specifications.

He told the board it will cost $13,943 to repair the lots and sidewalks.

However, the company responsible has changed names and will not answer calls from the district. Because of this, Smithson has contacted Arkadelphia attorney Taylor King to draft a letter letting the company know the district plans suit.

Bids for gym bleachers were opened at the meeting. The low bidder was School Specialty at $88,438 for mechanical bleachers with purple and gold plastic seating.

Only mechanical bleachers with plastic seating were considered by the board. Thompson's bid was $105,858, while Interstate turned in a bid of $95,544.

This time, all bids met the requirements of the Southern Building Codes.

Under staff priorities, the board agreed to hire a combination science/math teacher for GHS. This is due to adding more courses in the science department.