McNiel says school has windfall
I spoke to Mr. (Rick) Neal, the school superintendent, the other day and he told me that the State of Arkansas had already paid for the students to be taught for the six days that were waived because of the snow days.
I then had a long cordial conversation with Ms. Sandy Button (School Board member) and, if the numbers are correct, that means that the State of Arkansas paid the Pea Ridge School District approximately $395,000 for the six days which the students were not even in their classes.
Now then, I am not complaining about anyone getting paid what they have coming to them, so if you figure a $1,000 per teacher and staff member for a week of labor with 120 plus or minus teachers and school staff members, that adds up to $120,000.
Now subtract the $120,000 from $395,000 that the state paid the school while the students were not there. That adds up to a total of $275,000 that the Pea Ridge School District got paid over and above the teacher and staff salaries. This is of course only a close guesstimation. I believe that this $275,000 is actually a conservative number.
Now, with the snow and weather being the culprit behind this entire situation, no one is to be directly blamed for the situation. I am sure that everyone did the best that they could do with this bad situation. As Mr. Neal implied, and I agree, he said that the students would not be in the learning mood during those six days. It would have been a moot issue to continue to send the students to school.
The reason that I make mention of this is because now everyone can know that the school is actually ahead by approximately $275,000 which it truly did not actually have coming to them. This money on the other hand is not a moot issue.
I just hope that the next time that the Pea Ridge School Board decides that they need to raise our taxes or extend our millage again they will remember that they have already received a substantial windfall from we fair citizens.
Boyd McNielPea Ridge, Ark.
Community on 06/11/2014