Sell, sell, sell : Superintendent to recommend sale of Fayetteville High School
Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2008
Superintendent Bobby New thinks the school board should sell Fayetteville High School to the University of Arkansas, and he has put a price tag on the property - $ 59 million.
New announced his conclusions Friday and said he will make his recommendation to the Board of Education during Thursday's meeting.
While the debate over the future of the high school has been going on for nearly two years, his announcement represents a formal administration position on the matter not before stated. New said he will ask the board to take action approving his recommendation.
"I truly believe the decision has to be about our kids' future and not the adults'past," he said.
New said he established a timeline for accepting the offer because he believes all sides, from the school to the UA, need to move forward one way or another.
"We need to see an expiration date," he said. "Every month we delay we're going to pay more (for new construction )."
Steve Voorhies, UA spokesman, said that after Chancellor-elect G. David Gearhart and other administrators receive the proposed offer, they will review it and pass it along to the UA Board of Trustees. The next UA trustees meeting is June 6 at Petit Jean.
The school board has twice authorized New to negotiate a potential land sale with university, first setting a $ 59 million value on the property in October. UA officials have consistently stated publicly that they preferred for the school board to make its own decisions about whether to sell the high school site before the UA seriously discussed a price or other details of a potential offer.
In January, UA Trustee John Tyson pressed White to reopen discussions with the school district. In February, the school district reauthorized New to negotiate with the UA. No details about the details or any outcome of negotiations since have been revealed.
New said he last talked to Chancellor-Elect John White about three weeks ago.
On Friday, New said he hopes the Fayetteville school board will not get bogged down by the many details that will likely be involved in the final contract developed.
Some of the details that will likely need to be worked out include how the UA will pay for the property if it agrees to the purchase, how long the school district continue to use the property, whether the district will lease back athletic facilities and whether the offer is contingent upon a millage increase.
The $ 59 million would cover a large portion of the costs of constructing a new high school, but some sort of millage increase will still be needed. New said, with the sale proceeds, he believes the district could finance the construction with a modest tax increase.
"We are going to pass a millage," New said. "We're going after our kids' future and brick and mortar."
A July 1 decision on the offer by the UA could enable the board to put together a millage proposal for the Sept. 16 election. If no millage proposal is put to the voters in September, the standard date for millage elections, then the district will have to wait until January 2009 to hold an election.
New said he would like to hold the election by spring 2009 at the latest. On Friday, New did not address the issue of where a new high school should be located. He suggested the process needs to go one step at a time with the first step being the approval of the sale.
"I think we need to continue the momentum of being specific on each step," he said. "I truly believe we need to focus on one issue at a time."
Last month, an appointed committee recommended the district relocate the school to 73 acres along Morningside Drive north of 15 th Street. New said he hasn't pursued a purchase negotiation with the owner since the recommendation was made.
However, New said he believed his recommendation to sell the current campus to move the school is in line with what the committee recommended.
"We've got to have the money in order to evaluate our (options )," New said. "I think without a sale, the options are extremely, extremely (limited )."
Some of the key factors that led New to conclude a sale would be in the district's best interest included the ability to subsidize new construction costs with the sale, the opportunity to develop new learning environments and the drawbacks to attempting a major construction project on campus while school is in session.
Trying to manage a school with nearly 2, 000 high school students around a major construction project is an "almost overwhelming"challenge, New said. It is much more challenging than an elementary school project such as the coming renovation and expansion at Butterfield Trail Elementary.
"Analytically, I can't get there from here," he said.
Ultimately, he said, the students and taxpayers will be better served by a new school at a new site.
"This superintendent has listened to the dialogue of the community," he said. "I looked at all the pluses and cons."
New suggested members of the public could e-mail board members and administrators with their feedback. New said he hopes public input offered at the meeting on the topic will focus on new ideas not heard before.
The Board of Education meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Adams Leadership Center, 1000 W. Stone St.
Other items on the agenda include a recommendation to increase lunch prices by 30 cents, revisions to the drug testing policy for student athletes and overview on the superintendent search by Steve Percival, board president.
New is scheduled to retire after the 2008-2009 school year.
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