New law could aid in district formation
Many people have said we will never drive on the Bella Vista Bypass in our lifetime. However, if you will stick your head out the window on Tuesday afternoons, you can hear the dynamite blasting away the hilltop south of town.
For almost 20 years a group of concerned citizens campaigned to form Bella Vista into an incorporated city. They were ridiculed, mocked and laughed at for trying.
In 2005, the Bella Vista Patriots stepped in with their experience and expertise and, with so many helping, we became a city in 2006.
Now, we are hearing Bella Vista will never have a school district of our own. To that, the Patriots say -- Not so fast, Tonto. It is true Arkansas law has required a city have 4,000 students before it could detach from a school district. In this year's session, the Arkansas Legislature passed HB1242 which reduces the 4,000-student requirement to 2,500.
Almost 3,000 children are bused from Bella Vista to Bentonville to attend classes. Some have to get on buses approximately 6:15 every morning. Bentonville gets more than $6,200 for each one of our kids. Education is the biggest business in Arkansas and approximately 80 percent of our tax dollars goes to education.
Bella Vista is sending almost all of that to Bentonville or Gravette. The way the Arkansas statutes read now, we are not allowed to detach from Gravette. Detaching from Gravette would only involve less than 300 students, anyway.
Bella Vista has a population of more than 26,000 people and is the 17th largest city in the state, yet we don't have a school building. As our demographics change to a younger population, the expense of developing our own school system will only get worse.
Bentonville school officials claim their schools are overcrowded. It seems reasonable that pulling more than 3,000 of our students out would be a win-win situation for both cities.
By Arkansas law, there are only two ways Bella Vista can detach from Bentonville. Bentonville could voluntarily let us detach.
The Bentonville School Board has already voted not to do that. The second option is to conduct a petition drive for signatures of 10 percent of the registered voters in the affected area so the question can go on the ballot of the next school or general election.
Jacksonville just completed the petition drive option and it took them almost 37 years to do it. They had a desegregation issue that took them a long time to resolve. Perhaps we won't have that hurdle to deal with. Maumelle, Sherwood and Bella Vista are now in an even start to see who can detach first.
Bella Vista Kids Come First is an ad hoc committee of the Bella Vista Patriots and has assumed the task of forming a new school district for Bella Vista.
I pray I live long enough to see a football game between the Harrison Goblins and the Bella Vista Spelunkers.
Jim Parsons
Bella Vista
Editorial on 03/25/2015