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.
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