Community Revitalization

The week of Thanksgiving is celebrated across the nation as National Family Week.  We invite our members to celebrate families this week and to be involved in activities that support and strengthen the family all year long.

Visit The National Family Week website and learn more about strengthening family and community.  www.nationalfamilyweek.org

Rural Community Alliance launched a membership drive with a goal of having 1,000 members by December 31.  All current members are challenged to recruit new members.  To add some fun to the challenge, a prize will be awarded to the top recruiter.  The winner gets a one night’s stay at the Conway Hilton Garden Inn and $50 cash.  A link to the membership form can be found at the bottom of  the home page.  Dues are $10 per person, (or $5 if the community’s school has a free/reduced lunch rate of 70% or higher) and $2 for students.

Published in Stone County Leader

November 11, 2009

Board warned against closings

Superintendent predicts harsh economic ramifications

By Edie Nicholson

Superintendent Greg Jackson sent a message to the Mountain View School District in no uncertain terms last week – that closing the Rural Special and Timbo campuses would be a bad decision for the county.

“As superintendent of this district, I want to make sure the population understands that I am shouting from the mountaintop that you will see your county enter an economic spiral from which you will not recover,” Jackson told the school board and a large audience at the Nov. 2 board meeting.

He argued that closing the two campuses would result in a loss of up to $2 million from the local economy due both to the loss of jobs and the cuts in school funding that would result from Rural Special and Timbo students transferring out of the county.

Jackson noted that there had been a recent flurry of rumors and gossip regarding the two campuses, and while he usually prefers to ignore rumors, he felt the time had come to address this issue publicly.

As evidence for his position, Jackson presented several years worth of student population and financial data from DeWitt School District, where he previously served as a board member for four years. Jackson explained that the DeWitt district was almost identical to Mountain View in size and, like Mountain View, agreed to annex two small districts – Gillett and Humphrey – following the state’s 2003 mandate that schools with fewer than 350 students be consolidated.

Department of Education State Aid Notice tables listing financial information for the DeWitt School indicate an approximate student body of 1,680 in 2004-05 and a total of $6,344,311 received in state foundation funding aid (a major portion of a district’s revenue that is based on the number of students, Jackson said).

Following the closure of the Humphrey campus in 2004-05, the DeWitt student population declined over a period of four years to 1,420 in 2008-09. State foundation funding declined in correlation over the same period, with DeWitt receiving almost $1 million less this year than in 2004-05. The Gillett campus was closed this year.

According to corresponding tables for the Mountain View School District, Mountain View had an almost identical student population of 1,685 in 2004-05 and received $6,958,369 in state foundation funding aid that year. In 2009-10 the student population is 1,690, and state aid this year is $6,642,939.

Jackson argued that the Mountain View District’s funding has remained relatively steady because the student numbers have been steady, whereas DeWitt has experienced a marked decline.

“The student count is holding steady at 1,687. That’s the key – you’re at the same numbers you were in 04-05,” Jackson said of Mountain View.

He emphasized that the Mountain View District has between $4.8 and $5 million in reserve that it can spend as needed. As of the day of the meeting, Jackson said the district had $1,882,000 in operating funds, in addition to CDs totalling $2 million.

“One of the things that breaks my heart is when I hear a teacher at Rural Special or Timbo say, ‘We want to save money,’” Jackson commented. “Mountain View School District by itself in 2004-05 had a balance of $1.9 million and is now at $5 million.”

The problem with district revenue if Rural Special and Timbo were closed would be the transfer of students to districts outside the county – and subsequent loss of revenue in the Mountain View District. And he considers this a permanent problem, he said, as young students follow in the footsteps of their siblings.

“Whatever bus big brother or big sister get on, it is the same bus little brother or sister is gonna get on and the same school they’re gonna go to,” he said.

Jackson said he has heard comments that school districts cannot cross county lines to pick up students but that this is not accurate. They can do so and will, if they have an agreement with the student and parents.

He addressed several other items that he titled in his presentation “fact or fiction”:

• Closing the Rural Special and Timbo campuses would guarantee a millage increase at Mountain View.

“There is no evidence that closing the outlying campuses would ensure the passage of a millage. What it ensures in my opinion is 3,000 negative votes,” Jackson commented. “You’re in the hole 3,000 votes before you even start.”

• The loss of teaching and staff positions at the rural campuses would result in few actual jobs lost.

Jackson said more than 60 jobs would be removed from the local economy – some of the better paying jobs in the county. “You’re gonna look at 46 certified and 14 classified teachers that are gonna lose their jobs,” he said, adding that these are the friends, neighbors and customers of people in the community. The loss of their income would have a direct effect on the economy, he argued.

• Loss of funds in the district is attributed to the smaller campuses.

“False. They are revenue positive,” Jackson said. He also noted that the district is receiving several hundred thousand dollars a year in isolated funding because of those campuses, and that would be lost if they were closed.

• Teachers and staff at Mountain View are not getting raises because of the outlying campuses.

Jackson said revenue has not been increasing, which is the only reason salaries have not been increasing. He also presented tables comparing the local salary schedule with adjacent counties. The figures indicate that Mountain View teachers with a bachelor’s degree and no experience have the 240th highest pay in the state. However, those with at least 15 years experience or with a more advanced degree – the highest population of teachers – rank as high as second place in pay.

“Our teachers are the number two paid teachers in the region. The numbers don’t lie,” Jackson said.

In concluding his presentation, Jackson praised the school board members and expressed sympathy for their position.

“These seven people endure untold things. I praise them. I understand them. I understand what it’s like not to be able to tell people what’s really going on. I understand losing friends because you’re sitting in one of those seats,” he said.

Jackson went on to offer his opinion directly to the board that closing the annexed campuses would damage the community financially.

“I’m basing my professional reputation on telling you that the spiral of economic death will happen if you do it.”

Following these remarks, Jackson recommended to the board that each certified employee receive a one-time $1,000 bonus this month and that each classified employee receive $500.

“Not everybody’s gonna be happy with that. That’s life, but I recommend that to the board.”

He noted that the proposed bonuses would cost approximately $264,000.

National Opportunity to Learn Summit attendees

Schott Foundation invited Rural Community Alliance to their Opportunity to Learn Summit in Washington DC on November 5-7.   Attendees were Penny & Richard Harris, Lavina & Lester Grandon, Jerome Madden, Dorothy Singleton, Danny Eckert, and Renee Carr.  As Schott Foundation launches a nation-wide campaign to close the achievement gap for minority and poverty students,  we look forward to working with them on the campaign in Arkansas, particularly in addressing the needs of rural minority and poverty students.

Penny & Richard Harris at the Hot Schott awards dinner

New friends from Arkansas, Anna Kay Williams and Sue Frueauff

Staff poses prior to the Hot Schott Awards Gala

Sherece West, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation President, congratulates a young panelist for an outstanding job.