Pulaski County School District Millage Vote

When is the election?

- The election is May 12th with early voting beginning on

Tues. May 5th through the 8th. Check your local polling

place by clicking here.

What will be on the ballot?

- The Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) is

requesting an increase of 5.6 mills to your property

taxes. The ballot will have a simple YES or NO answer

to the tax increase. This is the only issue on the

ballot.

Who is eligible to vote in this election?

- Registered voters with addresses located in the PCSSD

area. Residents in the new Jacksonville/N. Pulaski

district are not eligible to vote in this election.

How much will this cost?

- For a home value of $100,000, the tax increase would

equal an additional $112/year. Personal property

taxes (cars) would also increase. An average home in

Maumelle is around $200,000. A typical Maumelle

family will likely see an increase of no less than

$250/year.

What does PCSSD intend to do with the additional tax

dollars?

- PCSSD has submitted a construction plan which can be

seen by clicking on this link. If the district is successful

with the tax increase, they will execute the sale of

approximately $220,000,000 in bonds. The revenue is

to be exclusively for additional facilities.

What are some of the highlights of the construction plan?

- Construction and/or of renovation of three high schools

(Mills, Robinson, and Sylvan Hills).

- Construction of two elementary schools.

- Construction of 14 athletic/physical education

gymnasiums.

How does this affect PCSSD’s effort to achieve unitary

status with the federal courts?

- There are five remaining benchmarks for PCSSD to

achieve unitary status and satisfy the stipulations of

the desegregation lawsuit: academic achievement,

staffing, discipline, facilities, and monitoring.

While the prospect of an additional $220 million in

taxpayer dollars would address issues of facilities, it

does little to nothing to address the other areas

specified by the court. Additionally, as part of the

State of Arkansas’ desegregation settlement

agreement, PCSSD will be receiving $62.4 million over

the next three years from the state. The final year of

desegregation dollars – 20.8 million is earmarked

exclusively for facilities.

PCSSD Superintendent Jerry Guess has previously

indicated that Mills High School will be built with the

desegregation dollars. Mills is largely thought to be the

critical component for achieving equitable facilities.

Given all the facts, the district’s millage proposal is

NOT a catalyst for unitary status.

Does the millage question help Maumelle and Sherwood

achieve their goals of having independent school districts?

- There are a lot of moving parts for Maumelle and

Sherwood to achieve their goals for independent

districts. However, a comprehensive examination of

the information illustrates a millage increase would

deepen Maumelle and Sherwood’s commitment to

PCSSD. Superintendent Guess, by his own admission,

does not care about Maumelle’s process to getting a

school district. Making a deeper financial commitment

– in this case $220 million dollars -- would substantially

increase debt that Maumelle or Sherwood could carry

with them toward a new district.

It is true that when Maumelle and Sherwood detach

they would carry forward the current millage figure

(presently 40.7 mills). While a higher millage rate

would help projected revenue figures for both

prospective districts, it’s impossible to not consider

the added debt both districts would carry forward.

Does PCSSD need this millage to get out from state control?

No. Issues concerning state control of PCSSD are not

related to the millage question. The state has authority

to maintain control until 2016 at which time it must make

a decision to restore PCSSD’s board or dissolve and

consolidate the district with one or more districts.

But don’t we need new schools so our children will have a

better education?

- There is no objective data that shows that new

facilities equals improved education. Maumelle high

school is the newest school in the district; however,

academic standards there are still lagging behind many

area schools with older buildings. We all want nice

buildings for our children; however, this millage does

nothing to address some of the other fundamental

problems of PCSSD.

It’s worth noting that this tax increase proposal ignores

much needed improvements in starting pay for

teachers. PCSSD has now gone five years without a

salary scale increase and at $32,175 is the lowest

starting pay school in the area. A chart showing the

starting salaries of the area school districts may be

found here. North Little Rock at $34,510 is over $2,300

more competitive than PCSSD.