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State to take over Decatur School District Friday, Aug 1, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The state Board of Education voted Thursday for state takeover of the financially troubled Decatur School District in Benton County. At a special meeting called to consider annexing the district to a neighboring district, the board voted unanimously to reject annexation, at least for now, and instead let the state attempt to guide the district out of financial difficulty. The board also directed the state Department of Education to provide quarterly reports on the district's financial status and examine the possibility of splitting up the district between the neighboring Bentonville, Gentry and Gravette districts. Decatur was classified as a fiscally distressed district on July 14. State officials said then that they expected the district to end the 2008-09 school year with a negative balance of $784,375, but Assistant Education Commissioner Bill Goff said Thursday the education department has revised that figure and now projects the district will be $510,251 in the red at the end of the coming school year. The district's former bookkeeper, Tina Murray, resigned May 28 after state auditors discovered accounting irregularities. Auditors found that the district's bank accounts had not been reconciled since September 2005, checks had not been entered into the Arkansas Public School Computer Network and the district had become delinquent on tax payments to the Internal Revenue Service. Decatur school board president Michael Wilkins said the district's superintendent, Dave Smith, told school board members the district's fund balance was about $1 million up until May, when he reported a balance of more than $2 million for the 579-student district. Within two weeks of the school board's May meeting, the district began receiving overdraft notices on its payroll checks. Wilkins admitted that he should have become suspicious sooner. "A school our size shouldn't carry a million-dollar balance from month to month," he said. The school board suspended Smith with pay on July 2. The Benton County prosecuting attorney's office recently issued subpoenas to several school officials in connection with a criminal investigation, though to date no charges have been filed. Decatur High School Principal Bobby King, who has been serving as interim superintendent, and Leroy Ortman, a former Gravette superintendent who has been serving Decatur as a financial consultant, said measures such as elimination of some teaching positions and bond restructuring could help the district recover from its financial troubles. "If given direction and time, we can get back to where Decatur was," King said. C.L. Abercrombie, president of the Decatur Education Foundation, said $265,000 has been donated or pledged to help save the district, and the foundation is ready to help with fundraisers. State Sens. Dave Bisbee, R-Rogers, and Kim Hendren, R-Gravette, and Rep. Daryl Pace, R-Siloam Springs, also argued against annexation. Bisbee said "possible criminal activity" by certain people apparently was to blame for the district's problems. "To administratively consolidate the Decatur School District at this time to some extent would be punishing the victim," Bisbee said. The state will appoint an acting superintendent for the district and dissolve its school board. Wilkins said he was pleased with the board's decision, even though it means his removal as board president. "We still have a chance," he said. A district on fiscal distress status has two years to get out of fiscal distress or face automatic consolidation with another district. Decatur is the sixth district the state has taken over. The board voted for a similar takeover of the Greenland School District on July 14. State Education Commissioner Ken James said school superintendents and board members need to do a better job of monitoring finances. The education department has limited resources it can devote to taking over schools, he said. "We are having to do this way too often," he said. |
