Opinion ID: 1587613
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Public School Facilities

Text: In Lake View School Dist. No. 25 v. Huckabee, 364 Ark. 398, 220 S.W.3d 645 (2005), this court listed the legislative enactments by the General Assembly in 2005 affecting academic facilities and also the actions by the Joint Committee on Educational Facilities and the Task Force on Educational Facilities. We then concluded that appropriations for the Immediate Repair Program and Priority One facilities construction and repair for safe, dry, and healthy facilities were grossly underfunded and, thus, inadequate. The Masters have now found that the General Assembly addressed the need for state assistance with public school academic facilities in a substantial and commendable fashion. The Masters listed the following actions:  Referring to the October 1, 2006 Academic Facilities Master Plan, the Masters gave the following status report for actions taken in 2006.  The General Assembly appropriated an additional $50,000,000 for facilities with a carry-forward provision in the Second Extraordinary Session of 2006.  As of October 1, 2006, 178 of 301 projects had been completed in academic facilities to correct immediate hazardous conditions. The balance will be completed in 2007. The State participation in the 301 projects cost $35,000,000.  As of the same date, 106 of 213 approved projects had been completed for new construction or additions to academic facilities for which debt was incurred or funds spent between January 1, 2005, and June 30, 2006. The completion date for all projects is estimated to be March 2008. The State's participation in these projects is $87,000,000.  The Academic Facilities Partnership Program is for future academic facilities construction. $300,000,000 in state assistance has been approved. The State's share is estimated to be $48,000,000 in fiscal year 2007, $185,000,000 in fiscal year 2008, and $67,000,000 in fiscal year 2009.  Act 1237 of 2007 appropriated $456,000,000 for public school academic facilities in addition to $150,000,000 available from unspent fund balances and $35,000,000 for each year of the next biennium. This, the Masters found, will fully fund the State's share of approved academic facilities requests for the next two years.  Each School District in the state as well as the Facilities Commission is now required to adopt a ten-year master plan for school facilities and to prioritize needs. Guidelines and a Public School Academic Facility Manual have been adopted.  Regarding the Academic Facilities Wealth Index, Act 727 of 2007 now provides some state assistance to every school district based on actual need for facilities in the individual school districts as well as the school district's ability to pay.  Act 995 of 2007 provides state loans for facility construction in school districts with rapid enrollment growth.  Act 1021 of 2007 authorizes the Facilities Commission to issue $750,000,000 in bonds to finance additional academic construction.  Act 996 of 2007 provides a mechanism for the State to declare a school district in academic-facilities distress with resulting state sanctions.