What will five more mills get you?

What will five more mills get you?

Marion Superintendent outlines needs, plans for increase

news@theeveningtimes.com

In just a few months, the Marion School District will be asking voters to consider approving a 5 mil increase in the school tax in order to fund continued infrastructure upgrades to help the school district continue to grow and attract new students in an era of school choice.

Superintendent Dr. Glen Fenter said the milage increase would generate about $25 million, and outlined a series of spending proposals – everything from giving teachers a three percent pay raise, to building a new elementary school gymnasium, to upgrading the high school cafeteria, to building a community recreation complex – that will help the district remain competitive and ahead of the curve.

“We are in a situation where if we want Marion to continue to grow and evolve, then it rests on our door step,” Fenter said. “I think it is important that we recognize that the most important component of our community rests within our public school. If we are going to help Marion continue to grow and prosper, it will be based on programming that is implemented in our school district.”

Fenter said the last time the school district invested in its campuses was nearly a decade ago when they spent about $43 million on classrooms, facilities, and support services.

That money came from a combination of state matching funds, refinancing bonds, growth, and money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment stimulus bill during the Obama Administration, money that is no longer available. The current state school funding formula is only investing in new facilities in areas of the state that are growing, which the Delta is not.

“That $43 million came from sources that don’t exist any more,” Fenter said. “And in terms of new facility money, if you’re not growing, you’re not going to qualify. The folks that are in charge of the resources want to see it going to places where the population continues to grow at a rapid pace. That’s the political climate we live in. I don’t see it changing any time soon.”

Fenter said school choice has made it an extremely competitive environment for school districts because students can pick and choose where they want to attend.

School districts with the best facilities, extracurricular programs, and academics are the ones that are growing.

“We have a large number of students who move back and forth between three or four or five school districts in the region depending on their mood, the facilities, the services, the programs, and the things that cause them to feel good about where they are attending,” said Fenter.

The district created three magnet schools that are providing more options for students. The district has also massive improvements in its athletic programs in the past several years.

“If you think that extracurricular activities including athletics are not critical to growing your school and your community, you haven’t got any business walking the street,” Fenter said.

“People move for extracurricular programs whether it is choir, band, football, basketball, track, soccer. It doesn’t matter. And they want to see it supported with good coaches and great facilities… That’s how you create an attractive environment.”

Fenter said the $25 million raised from the millage increase will be used to pay for things like a $1.6 million, 2,048 square foot cafeteria expansion, more outdoor eating areas, shading, a green house, fitness parks, a new gym at Herbert Carter Magnet so the children don’t have to cross Military Road, $4.5 million for a community recreation and education complex that can be used by MYSA and the Boys and Girls Club, an improved athletic facility addition to the high school gym with new dressing rooms, resurfacing the track, an addition to the field house, a paved road loop for pick up of student athletes, and a $3 million astro turf all weather surface playing field at Colonial Park.

The proposed increase would raise the milage rate from 40.7 to 45.7, but would still put Marion’s milage rate lower than other cities like Bentonville (48.5), North Little Rock (48.3), Little Rock (46.4), and Fayetteville (45.85) — all areas that are growing.

As an example, homeowners with an assessed value of $125,000 a year would pay an extra $125 a year or $10.42 a month.

“It’s your choice,” Fenter said. “Marion has been losing enrollment… It’s your choice. This is about the community chosng to invest in itself.”

By Mark Randall