McGinty, Heil debate as they face race for position on Fayetteville board of education

Looking ahead : School board hopefuls discuss high school future, other issues
BY BRETT BENNETT Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Thursday, August 28, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/68537/
A question about their thoughts on the future of Fayetteville High School was one asked of candidates in the Fayetteville Board of Education’s atlarge Position 1 race at a forum held Wednesday evening at City Hall.

The forum was sponsored by the Washington County Chapter of the League of Women Voters and recorded for broadcast on the Fayetteville Government Channel. Four of the six candidates in the Sept. 16 election attended. Candidates Jeanie Hill and Joe Lee were absent due to prior commitments, according to moderator Barbara Taylor.

The board has been mulling the future of Fayetteville High School’s campus for nearly two years. Most recently, the district had been discussing selling the school to the nearby University of Arkansas to help subsidize construction at a new site, but last week, the UA withdrew an offer to buy the property for $ 50 million.

On the high school question, candidate Stacy Furlow said she wants to find the most practical solution, whether it be building a new school or restructuring the current site.

“ I do not feel the withdrawal should deter us from the ultimate goal, which is to develop a 21 st-century high school, ” she said.

Halsell said he favors the current site and developing a new site there, saying it is the overall best solution. He added its proximity to the UA gives Fayetteville a chance “ to build a world-class school next to a world-class research institution. ”

“ I think the fact that the university withdrew their offer opens the door for many other considerations, ” Halsell said.

Candidate Conrad Odom did not mention a specific site, but he said the high school site now needs to be decided upon so they can move forward. The district definitely needs a new high school, he said.

Odom is the short-term incumbent in the race. He was appointed to the seat in July to temporarily fill the position after former at-large representative John Delap resigned to take a job teaching at Fayetteville High School.

Candidate Mike Malony noted he served on a committee last semester that recommended relocating the school to a 73-acre site on Morningside Drive. Given the recent changes with the economy and the UA offer going away, Malony said he would like to revisit the 2007 decisions to maintain one high school and add ninth grade to the campus.

Another evaluation of those issues is vital because they help drive the decision on location, Malony said. He added that while they need to be revisited, that doesn’t mean they need to “ belabor” the issue.

Halsell also said he believed that “ conditions” in the community had changed since those decisions were adopted by the school board and he thought they should be reconsidered.

Odom said he personally didn’t favor the ninth grade decision but didn’t want to revisit the decision at this point.

“ We’ve taken a yearand-a-half to get where we are, ” he said. “ What the community wants at this point is for someone to move forward. ”

Furlow said she wouldn’t mind revisiting the decisions, as having two smaller high schools might be better for students. If they are revisited, the school board should put a time limit to make a final decision by the end of 2008.

The candidates also spoke about other issues facing the distr ict in response to a question about their other concerns.

Odom said it is important to pay attention to other building needs besides the high school, such as the condition of the Happy Hollow Elementary School facility.

Malony said he thought the three main changes the district needs are changes to the facilities such as the high school, changes to the speed at which the board makes decisions and changes to the community engagement process. He thought the way the recent high school committee operated was a good model.

Halsell said he thinks the district has provided good resources for the academically proficient and academically deficient students, but they probably need to find more ways to “ engage that middle set of kids, ” he said.

Furlow said she would like to maintain the districts good teachers and add agricultural teachers to the high school, because the student demand for those classes exceeds the current offerings. She said she would also like to see a foreign language program for elementary students.

The League of Women Voters also held a second debate for at-large Position 2 candidates, which are incumbent Susan Heil and newcomer James McGinty.

On the high school issue, Heil said that the ideal situation would be to move to a new site like the proposed Morningside Drive location because of the challenges involved with restructuring the current site.

McGinty said after talking to many people, he believes there is an opportunity to develop a worldclass facility on the existing 40-acre site on Stone Street.

“ The existing property is not just an old building or rock, but it is a diamond in the rough, ” he said.

On revisiting the ninth grade decision, Heil said the decision was made after much input and was based on the premise that the freshmen would be best served by coming into the high school. She didn’t feel comfortable revisiting it.

McGinty said the issue “ might be worth bringing up again” because adding the ninth grade will greatly increase the size of the school and impact future building growth in the district.

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