Options to alleviate school crowding are being considered by the School Board after the first option -- construct a new high school on 77 acres on Hayden Road, was struck down when voters denied a 5.1-mil increase in a special election May 9.
Pea Ridge School District has been approved by the state for matching funds of $10.6 million to construct a new school and the scope of that project includes an auditorium.
A second option, extend the current Middle School south onto property on Weston Street and reconfigure the student population through that and the existing buildings was presented to School Board members last week at a study session.
A third option, the possibility of constructing a new Middle School on 2o acres on Hazelton Road, then re-configuring grades between the existing buildings, was presented
Both the second and third option involve RLP Development which owns land at the corner of It'll Do and West Pickens roads. RLP officials have expressed a desire to purchase or trade for the land currently owned by the school on which the baseball and softball fields sit. In exchange, RLP will construct new ball fields, something school officials say is absolutely necessary for safety of the students.
The new ball fields are to be constructed on land approved for purchase Monday night by the Board -- 10 acres from Ron Bray and 5 acres from Inthavone B.Ratsachak and Saengthavy. That would put the ball fields south of (and closer to) the multi-purpose facility on the school campus. The cost of the two pieces of land is $385,000.
Officials at RLP are offering to trade 20 acres of a 55-acre tract on It'll Do Road. School officials said they could construct a new Middle School to house sixth- and seventh-grade students with a 450-student capacity, then reassign grades eight and nine to different buildings. The estimated cost for the new build is $11 million, according to school officials.
Also as part of the third option, the school would build an auditorium on the Weston Street property, relocate the focal point of the existing high school, add a new roof and new HVAC in classroom areas and sell the 77 acres on Hayden Road.
The School Board authorized superintendent Rick Neal to negotiate the trade agreement with RLP including the construction of the ball fields as part of the trade and approved the land purchase adjacent to the Weston Street property.
In other business, the board:
• Adopted a resolution requesting the Benton County Board of Election Commissioners to open no polling places on the Sept. 19 school election as there is not a contested School Board seat and there are no ballot issues to be considered. Board president Sandy Button's seat is up for election; no one else filed for the seat.
• Approved transfers of Doug Duvall from Intermediate School to PRHS SS/ Holly Dayberry to High school counselor - approved
• Hired Carri Snyder, Middle School math; and Rebecca Knox, High School math; and
• Accepted resignations of Kristin Schreiber, Kayla Bangs and Tracy Mitchell.
General News on 07/19/2017