Greenland, Decatur schools report progress to state education board
Posted on Tuesday, January 13, 2009
LITTLE ROCK - State education officials were pleased Monday with reports from two Northwest Arkansas school districts that just a few months ago faced annexation into neighboring districts.
Both the Decatur and Greenland school districts are required to provide quarterly updates to the Arkansas State Board of Education regarding their finances, and the second quarterly report was Monday in Little Rock.
The districts were brought under state control last summer due to financial insolvency. The state dissolved the districts' school boards and appointed superintendents who report directly to Arkansas Education Commissioner Ken James.
The takeovers were alternatives to the originally proposed action - annexation.
Both districts - which had been expected to be at least several hundred thousand dollars in the red at the end of this fiscal year - are showing that they will have ending balances several hundred thousand dollars in the black.
"The financial status, in my opinion, has moved from critical to stable to what some folks would call healthy at this time," said Decatur Superintendent LeRoy Ortman.
Greenland Superintendent Roland Smith agreed in regard to his school district.
"We are on the fast track to improvement," he said.
Even though both districts were able to provide adequate reports that they are becoming financially solvent, the idea of annexation is still out there.
The difference in attitudes now, however, seems to be more of a "if this becomes necessary in the future," rather than board members planning imminent action.
Arkansas Department of Education officials had been asked previously to start the process of determining how each of the respective districts would be split up - both with the idea that they would be split among more than one neighboring district.
The districts must be removed from the fiscal distress list no later than June 2010. If they are not, state law requires that they be annexed.
Greenland
The district projects an ending balance of $137,520 for this fiscal year. This figure doesn't include state and federal funds and more than $80,000 in private donations.
Smith presented a list of 11 changes the district has made since its last report to the state in October that included the following:
· Monthly verification that the district's finances will result in a positive ending balance
· Early payment of the operating loan, which had been a major factor in the district being declared fiscally distressed
· Increased millage rate, which will also mean increased revenue
· Increased community donations
The city of Greenland is also holding a sales tax election in March to help raise funds for the district. If approved, a 1-percent sales tax that currently goes toward sewer bonds would be extended for two years to assist the school district.
The election is planned for March 10.
Decatur
Although the student enrollment numbers aren't as high as they were two years ago, Decatur officials are still pleased with the small increases seen since school started.
With all things considered, the district expects to have a projected balance of $243,559 in general operating funds at the end of this fiscal year, Ortman said.
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