GREENLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS : E-mails don’t reveal state’s motive
Posted on Sunday, June 29, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/66656/
Two weeks since the Arkansas Department of Education’s announcement that Greenland should be annexed, few new details have emerged regarding the reasons Education Commissioner Ken James made the announcement when he did.
Department spokeswoman Julie Thompson said the department didn’t have any comment other than what has already been made known, and James doesn’t feel it is “ appropriate to respond through the press ” before the matter comes before the Arkansas State Board of Education.
The state board is currently scheduled to consider the matter at its regular meeting July 14. Thompson said although district officials will get a chance to make their case, comments from the public probably won’t be taken unless the individuals wishing to speak submit a request to be placed on the agenda.
The department has cited the projected budget shortfall for the 2007-08 fiscal year as the reason for James ’ announcement on June 13. The district was placed on fiscal distress by the state board in April.
However, the department had projected the shortfall for several months and even allowed the district to pursue a millage proposal on June 10 designed to overcome the financial shortcomings. Although the proposal passed by eight votes, state officials came back three days later saying it wasn’t good enough and the district should be annexed. Documents reveal little
The Northwest Arkansas Times submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for written correspondence about the Greenland District that took place between James and department employees between the April decision and June 13.
The responses submitted by the department revealed nothing in terms of a single event that prompted James ’ decision.
The documents showed on June 4, James asked Hazel Burnett and Bobbie Davis, two staff members who evaluate district financial issues, to develop a worksheet on the district’s finances.
His next e-mail related to Greenland was on the morning of June 12, where he simply said he needed the “ Greenland letter” for the July 14 meeting.
On the morning following the day James made his announcement, he asked Burnett to do one more evaluation of financial numbers for Greenland. He also asked for a financial evaluation of the Decatur School District.
At 1: 55 p. m., James sent an e-mail to state board of education members simply notifying them that the decision was made because of the projected budget shortfall and his anticipation that the district will have another one next year.
In one e-mail sent to Burnett and Davis at 2: 46 p. m., James said he believed the district would suffer a $ 300, 000 shortfall this year and an $ 800, 000 shortfall in the upcoming 2008-09 school year.
Greenland Board of Education President Bill Groom said Wednesday that state officials have re-evaluated district finances and believe the shortfall for the current year will be about $ 140, 000 and the $ 800, 000 estimate for 2008-09 was extremely high.
Groom said the district should be able to regain its financial footing because of the millage increase starting next year if given a chance.
Theories develop State Sen. Sue Madison, Fayetteville, District 7, said she spoke with James on June 16 following the announcement. According to Madison, he told her he waited until after the millage election because he didn’t want to influence the outcome of the election, though he didn’t believe it would be sufficient. Madison said the gist of the conversation is the decision has to do strictly with finances. The district has been on fiscal distress before in 2003-04, but it was removed from the list in 2006. Groom said the prior occurrence had more to do with bookkeeping mistakes than a financial shortfall, and none of James ’ e-mails to Burnett and Davis complain about past problems.
Madison’s senate district covers the Greenland city limits and most of the district’s population center, but she was reluctant to comment on what action the state should take or if Greenland should be given more time to shore up its finances.
“ You can’t just keep popping in and out of fiscal distress, ” she said.
At a Greenland Board of Education meeting on June 19, some residents questioned whether the state might have an ulterior motive for wanting to annexing Greenland. Specifically, some audience members theorized that someone in Fayetteville might be exerting influence so Fayetteville acquires some of Greenland’s territory.
Board President Bill Groom said that at this point, he does not want to speculate about the department’s motives for recommending the annexation. He said some of the recent conversations with the department are taking a positive turn.
“ I’m not going to speculate on what’s going on, ” he said. “ I’m going to play this thing straight down the line. ”
Some of the actions that seem to be contribute to the skepticism about the state’s motives include the following:
• The timing of the state’s announcement in that it occurred three days after voters passed a 2. 6-mill tax increase designed to address the financial problems.
• Greenland officials claim there was never any indication from the state that the financial situation was dire enough that the school might have to be consolidated.
• Education Commissioner Kenneth James personally called Fayetteville Superintendent Bobby New on June 13 to make him aware of his pending annexation recommendation, but a staff attorney notified Greenland officials.
Other complaints are the notion that the state tends to give districts on fiscal distress more time to correct their financial problems than Greenland is getting.
Board member Dennis Caudle said he believes Greenland’s geography and location might make it more vulnerable to annexation than a larger district in a more remote location.
“ It’s hard to not wonder if there’s not more to this than the normal course of doing business, ” he said.
Four years ago, the developers of the planned South-Pass development and community park in south Fayetteville were vocal that the Greenland district should voluntarily transfer its portion of the property into Fayetteville. The development site covers about 900 acres and approximately 500 acres is in Greenland.
So far, the school district has rejected the notion of voluntarily de-annexing that site. Within the last two years, lead developer John Nock has been largely silent about the voluntary transfer idea while still making announcements about SouthPass plans from time to time.
Fayetteville Alderman Brenda Thiel, who actually lives in part of the city covered by the Greenland Schools, said she didn’t believe there was anything the city was doing to influence the department of education’s decision.
Nock did not return a phone message for comment about the possible annexation of Greenland, and an employee at his office said he was out of town this past week.
“ I really don’t think they have that much influence, ” said Ann Harbison, a Washington County Justice of the Peace and retired Greenland and Winslow teacher. “ It is just plain mismanagement (on Greenland’s part ). ”
The FOIA request also asked for any correspondence from citizens about Greenland’s situation. The department submitted two letters written in April. One was signed by Harbison and the other was anonymous. Both letters complained about the district’s spending practices and concluded by asking the state to take over the district for a while — as opposed to annexing it — and eventually return it to the community.
Moving forward The district is continuing in its efforts to contest the annexation and raise money to help cover the projected shortfall and pay legal fees. They also hope to convince the state that the annexation isn’t a necessary measure because of the bond money coming in and budget cuts that have been made for the upcoming year. Most of the school officials in neighboring districts that surround Greenland have expressed support for giving the district more time to work on its financial issues.
The Fayetteville Board of Education, for example, unanimously approved resolutions that endorse letting Greenland remain intact and giving it time to work on its finances at a meeting Thursday.
Madison said some of that support probably stems from the fact that the other districts do not want to assume responsibility for Greenland’s debts.
Harbison said she had thought a takeover would be the first step that the state would take before annexation.
The Helena-West Helena and Midland School Districts, for example, were taken over by the state after falling on the fiscal distress list. The state returned local control to the districts in April.
According to Arkansas-D emocrat Gazette news reports, in Midland’s case, the state took over the district in January and had planned to annex Midland at the February meeting. However, citizens convinced the state board in February to give them more time after the community raised more than $ 400, 000 to cover the projected shortfall.
The state is also continuing to work with the Bald Knob School District, which was also spared annexation after a major fundraising effort to cover a financial shortfall. Bald Knob is currently on fiscal distress and under state control.
Harbison said while she disagrees with the way the district’s leadership has been managing the district’s finances, she hates the thought of seeing the school go away. She graduated from Greenland High School and her grandfather was once a school board member.
At a Greenland Board of Education meeting Thursday, Harbison wrote Groom a check for $ 500 towards the efforts to save the school.
“ This is much bigger than that, ” she told him.