FARMINGTON -- Farmington superintendent of schools Bryan Law presented the annual report to the public prior to the Oct. 25 school board meeting.
While the district continues to achieve academic success and financial stewardship, Law said increasing enrollment is a concern that the district must take into consideration when planning for the next school year.
"We had 2,499 students, as of yesterday," Law said. "Folsom Elementary is up 44 students. Ledbetter Intermediate at 395 is busting at the seams. About 400 (students) is all we can handle. It's something we need to look at and address in the next year."
Law said in the very near future, the district is going to have to look at what to do with Ledbetter Elementary. "Some kids eat at 10:30 a.m.," Law said. "That's too early, but it's the best we can do right now."
Law explained, "Farmington is a school of choice participant," which brought in 66 new students last year.
"All of our facilities are at or near capacity," Law said. "It's one of the challenges we are working through."
"Part of our growth is people bringing their children into our freshman academy, rather than sending them directly into high school," Law said. This includes students from surrounding communities.
Law reported the district is well into Phase 2 construction at the new high school. "The most encouraging thing to me," Law said was a truck arriving with sheetrock signaling the beginning of interior work. Concrete was poured on the second floor at 2 a.m. Oct. 25 and Law raved about a feature welcoming people into the new facility.
"A beautiful Cardinal head is going to be cut into the floor," Law said. "That's going to make a very nice statement."
The cafeteria at the new high school will have about one-and-a-half times as much space as the cafeteria at the present high school.
"There will be booths, as well as tables, there will be high-top tables as well as regular tables," Law said. "We'll try and make the dining area an area that our students will actually want to come into."
Law is also eagerly anticipating the construction of a marketing lab in the business wing. "That's going to be very nice," he said.
Law has had dialogue with the contractor about the possibility of building Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) safe-rooms, which he said are expensive and something he is still very interested in doing if funding becomes available. "They cost about $300-per-square foot, so you really need some partnership money and some assistance to do that," Law said.
Phase 2 is expected to be complete in the late summer of 2017 with Phase 3, which includes a new football stadium, soccer field as well as track and field facilities, scheduled to begin in the spring.
Law went over the budget for school year 2016-2017. The beginning balance was $751,120 with a projected ending balance of $752,631. Expected revenue is $19.7 million. According to Law, $9.6 million is already allocated to teacher salaries with an additional $8,093,649 in operating expenses and a debt service of $1,992,886. Law said the district receives $12,000 in soft drink revenues, which is all put back into athletic programs.
Law praised academic achievements throughout the district, noting 14 Advanced Placement or AP classes were offered this year, an improvement over what was offered in the past. The 44.9 percent pass rate is the district's highest ever. The high school has a 93.6 graduation rate with an average ACT score of 22.1. Law said, "Our AP pass percentage has increased from 26.3 percent in 2013 to 44.9 in 2016."
In a prepared statement, accompanying the annual report, Law stated he wants to thank the staff for the many hours that are involved in preparing students for their bright future. "I would also like to thank our parents and community members for their positive involvement in the education of our children," Law said. The district has a staff of 305 with 185 certified staff members.
"Our base salary is $40,200 (for certified staff)," Law said. "We have the 11th best base salary in the state of Arkansas. We are able to offer a very competitive salary."
"This is an exciting time for our school district," Law said. "In Washington County, we are the fastest-growing school district percentage-wise." Law said the district is just a fraction of a percentage behind Pea Ridge as the fastest-growing school district in all of northwest Arkansas.
General News on 11/02/2016