During the Blytheville’s School Board meeting on Monday, Superintendent Bobby Ashley proposed a second lien bond for the construction of the track.
Ashley and the board members discussed possible ways to make more funding available for the track and for other district-wide repairs.
“My recommendation is that since we have roughly $528,000 for the track we borrow a couple more hundred thousand dollars on that second lien bond to help with construction, and the money that we would make those payments with would come from the savings of refinancing the tentative bond,” said Ashley.
Ashley added, “There are also a number of repairs that need to be addressed, and we are trying to save as much money as possible and if we can get a second lien bond we could get some needed repairs done.”
Board member Barbara Wells requested that something be done about the lighting at Blytheville Primary School’s Multi-Purpose building.
“We will prioritize things that need to be fixed instead of waiting,” Ashley stated.
Board member Desmond Hammett made a suggestion about the amount of money being requested for the second lien.
“The track is roughly $528,000 and we are going to save an additional $254,000 after refinancing upfront so seeing that the next few years we are going to have some tough issues around meeting salary requirements and other things, what would be the difference between asking for $750,000 or a max of $1,000,000 understanding the needs and what may come in the future, I wouldn’t want to constrain us if we have the opportunity to do so,” said Hammett.
Ashley responded, “For $1,000,000 there would be a repayment of $58,000 a year. We were looking at the opportunity to have some ready available cash to do some extra projects.”
Board members then discussed different ways to save on expenses for the track.
“Ultimately, something has to be done with the track but it is up to the board to decide how much would be done to it,” said Ashley.
Director of curriculum Sally Cooke gave an update on the support given to the new teachers in regards to getting them adjusted to their roles in the district.
“All of our principals, assistant principals, instructional facilitators and myself have gone into classrooms to explain that we are not coming in to evaluate them, but to support them and that when we come in, we are there to offer additional suggestions and tips,” said Cooke.
Cooke announced that the Arkansas Department of Education has taken over more areas of education including preschool, K-12 services, colleges, and any career and technical schools.
“The part that we work with is now called the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, or ‘DESE’,” said Cooke.