"My name is Megan Willardson. I am a Bella Vista resident of 12 years and a BUSD parent with children at Cooper, Barker, and Washington... and with two younger children at home, I will have children attending schools in this district until the year 2033.
If I were to walk in to a bank today and ask for a $1.8 million dollar improvement loan intended to be repaid over a 15 year span, the first things the loan officer would do are check my income security, and ask what my plans are to pay back the loan. A bank does not lend money based on verbal commitments for repayment.
If the school district is going to fund this stadium proposal completion with a loan, then it needs to be treated like a loan, and we must make sure our sponsors agree to be contracted "debtors."
Granting a loan makes Bentonville Unified School District a Financial lender. We need to be a smart lenders and investigate the financial security of the borrowers.
What is the backup plan if sponsors drop their contributions? Are we willing and prepared to give this money away if if isn't repaid? As a reminder, we already gave this project $2 million dollars of seed money, that could have been spent on other projects, like, say...an assistant choir director at the high school. This was only 12 weeks ago. We're talking 3.8 million dollars in 12 weeks, with zero discussion about how to secure repayment.
As one of the many parents in this room acting as voluntary financial advisors, I urge you to either consider a different investment for district funds with more secure debtors, or give us some confidence in the borrowers commitment and require a consign from the athletic fund sponsors willing to enter a contracted debt agreement for stadium completion.
I would love to see all of the sponsors who will be responsible for repaying the loan up here, making a plea for this cause, but not one of the sponsors are even present in this meeting. Everyone WANTS the stadium tombs completed. We can all agree on this. It's the lack of responsibility attached to this loan that concerns me. A loan with no documented signature for financial responsibility is actually a gift.
Finally, I implore the question: if we have suddenly 1.8 million dollars available for flex investing, are there more pressing ways our money could be spent? A completed stadium will be wonderful. What I question is whether expediting it's completion is a higher priority than expediting the completion of any of the proposed schools that are on the 10 year plan. Stadium completion was left OFF the 10 year plan, and then 2 million dollars was gifted to the project. The stadium is not an emergency.
3.8 million dollars would go a long way to fix our transportation crisis. Give me 3.8 million and I will fix that disaster for you. 3.8m could fund half of the elementary school on Ford Springs Road that we have no financial plan for and will be asking the public to pay for in a millage no one will vote for because the lady millage freed up 3.8 million dollars that was irresponsibility spent on a press box with an elevator."
Obviously, the board passed the proposal with a 5-2 approval.
For one hot second, I thought they might not though. Joe Quinn and Matt Burgess (the two dissenting votes) pressed hard that this is a facilities issue. Willie Cowgur said that if he were a betting man, he would bet that the loan is repaid within 5-7 years by sponsors. Joe asked again how much sponsorship money we've got coming in and the coach said he's up to $120k/year. Last year it was only $50k (which is spoken for so we only have 70k available annually to make a $200k loan payment....ummmm anyone else see a math problem here? I wanted to stand up and call the national scholars back into the room and ask them to punch the numbers. To me, $70k/year is insufficient income to pay a $200k bill. But they promise the money will come in like monsoon rains once the stadium is complete. That is a fair gamble to take...but the backup plan is to use growth funds...which affects the 10 year budget. Which infuriates me that Dr Jones and Travis Riggs keep saying this doesn't affect the budget. It does if you touch the growth plans, Travis.
Everyone also kept saying it's the right thing to do because the kids deserve this. That there is no community pride for athletes who have to compete in Tiger stadium.
Tiger Stadium is beautiful. It's a 5+ million dollar athletic complex and it is truly spectacular. No, it does not say "wolverines" on the lockers and bleachers. But it's beautiful.
Also part of the discussion:
4 schools in BUSD do not have any fire sprinklers. Yup!
No. Fire sprinklers. No air conditioning at 2 schools in any staff rooms or hallways. No weather awnings over the outdoor walkways for bus riders.
Dr Jones had someone look up state fire code and clarify that sprinklers are not a mandated requirement, so it doesn't matter. The schools that want AC will need to "wait in line" for their facilities updates scheduled for year 2020-2023.
Before I spoke, 2 bus drivers spoke, asking about the faculty salary raises. The district finally approved in the last meeting to give a 2.6% for all BUSD staff and faculty except classified bus drivers, because they were given a raise last year and as Dr Jones states, "we pay pur drivers plenty. It's well above the competitive average and if the drivers don't want the job they don't want the job. We don't have the funds to raise the pay again.
It will only cost the district $32,000 to include ALL bus drivers in the pay raise.
We can spend 3.8 million on a pressbox with an elevator, but not $30k on the employees who drive our children to and from school every day? And forget about fire sprinklers. That ridiculousness needs to "wait in line to be addressed." Does no one see a problem with priorities here?
This sickens me.
The whole meeting just made me feel sick. I don't want to go back. I didn't even want to go back to this meeting, but I felt like things needed to be said that aren't being said.
Bentonville West will have a beautiful stadium and that is wonderful.
Dr Jones' husband is a football coach at bentonville west. Hopefully, he enjoys his new office and feels the community pride that is a dire priority for our tax dollars. Hopefully the sponsors will come, and hopefully they triple, so the loan can be repaid and growth funds aren't used. Hopefully, this "gift for the arts" will open our superintendents eyes that money spent on hiring now orchestra and an assistant choir director is also a good investment.
Hopefully Travis Riggs gets his 6th concession window added so he doesn't have to wait in line so long for nachos next year.
Hopefully those sweet bus drivers who are barely getting by don't leave BUSD for better paying CDL jobs at JB Hunt or Walmart.
Hopefully, someone convinces Dr Jones to start a financial plan for schools on Ford Springs road before I give up and leave Bella Vista.
And hopefully, I talk myself out of going to a school board meeting ever again. The last two were enough to make me feel like parent opinions don't matter.
