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NEVC superintendent addresses Proposition S questions, allegations
Northeast Vernon County R-1 school district superintendent Charles Naas said the Proposition S ballot initiative has been generating a lot of controversy in the district but much of the information being disseminated was incorrect. Local resident Gray Clark said in a letter to the editor that the district had $500,000 available to use as desired; but Naas said that wasn't true.
"So he's not making a donation, he's just saying we have all that money, and didn't do anything with it. No, but it's interesting," Naas said. "I wonder where he gets all that?"
In his letter, Clark raised a point about the district's leasing a building for 20 years and then not owning it at the end of that time.
"Does it make sense to lease a building for 20 years, like is currently being proposed by the NEVC school board, at a total cost of $5 million at $250,000 rent/year, and in the end of 20 years not own it ..." Clark wrote. "Owning the building is less costly that leasing it; yet leasing is proposed. Surely, I am missing something here."
The district would engage in a lease/purchase agreement and own the building at the end of the contract if voters approve the measure, according to Naas. Naas said the district was going with the lease/purchase agreement because voters rejected the outright purchase of a new building.
"We tried to buy it last time, but that didn't work out so well," Naas said. "Now we've got to do the only thing available to us. See we can only bond for $2.2 million, so we have to do the lease/purchase. We don't have a choice now. We had a shot at it before, but that's no longer an option."
Robert and Barbara Cubbage wrote a letter to the editor July 15 which raises the specter of state-mandated closings.
"One state education official was reported to have said recently, that if small schools do not get enrollment above 300 students within the next five years they stand a good chance of being closed or consolidated by the state," the Cubbages wrote.
"I don't know where that came from," Naas said. "That did not come from anybody at the education department."
Becky Vance wrote a letter July 27 in which she echoes that thought, "There is a real possibility that budgetary cuts in education on both federal and state levels will force consolidation of schools," Vance wrote. "Will Northeast Vernon County taxpayers be called upon to make enormous lease payments on an empty building that is closed by state mandated legislation when there is simply no money to keep small districts in operation?"
Roger Dorson with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said it would be a rare event for them to close a district. It does happen, but it not frequently.
"If a district is going along, and they have their accreditation, they are able to operate financially, then DESE isn't going to come in and say 'We're closing you down,'" Dorson said.
Dorson said while budgets are tight it didn't spell the end of funding for small districts.
In addition he said he thought the levy increase, strictly made up of local taxes, would fund the payments and that no one can foresee what the future holds.
"The total amount funded this year is the same as last year," Dorson said. "There will be some reduction as far as the state is concerned, but it's still there. Now, the 99 cents, as I understand it, is going to be used to pay back, to service the debt. That 99 cents is local taxes, it's not state money. I'm sure what they're saying is if there is a reduction in state money then they're going to have to take more local money and use it for daily operating and not pay it back for debt service.
"That's one of those unknown situations --what we do know right now is district are forecast to get paid about 96 percent of what the formula is calling for because the appropriation is less than what the formula calls for. ... What it will be next year or the year after that, no one can say."
The district is in good shape with proper fund balance percentages -- a statistic the state keeps an eye on -- according to Dorson.
"They had a fund balance percentage of almost 25 percent," Dorson said. "That's healthy, that's a pretty healthy fund balance."
Dorson said the district had more than enough students to be a viable district and that as long as it remained accredited and kept more than 15 students it was not in danger of being closed by DESE.
"They haven't appeared on my radar," Dorson said. "There is a provision in law but they're not anywhere near that. If the ADA (the average daily attendance) goes below 15, the district closes. That's on the statutes but that very rarely happens."
In her letter Vance suggested building a new facility in Walker utilizing as much of the old space as possible. Naas said the Vances also opposed moving to Harwood, fearing it would bring harm to Schell City.
"They also said they didn't want to move the school to Harwood because that would close down Schell City's town; that it would make it a ghost town," Naas said.
"So instead they want to move the whole thing to Walker? Can they explain to me how that's better than having it closer, in Harwood?
"I mean, they contradict themselves with their own logic. I'm pretty sure the Schell City people don't want to move everything to Walker, and she's from Schell City."
Naas said a misconception people seem to have has to do with how much taxes they would be charged and how that would be calculated.
"They keep confusing people with appraised value and assessed value," Naas said. "They talk about someone with a $50,000 assessed value property but if your assessed value is $50,000 you've got a $250,000 property. Most of our people don't -- maybe they do in Nevada, -- but we don't have too many quarter of a million dollar estates here in Walker and Schell."
However, voters will have the final say at the polls on Tuesday.