Opinion ID: 1678638
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: In-Kind Services

Text: For his final point, Hall claims that the trial court should have found that the Louisiana in-kind services, which represented contributions on behalf of the Louisiana students, adversely impacted the Arkansas students in the School District. According to testimony, the services provided from Louisiana to educate eighty-four Louisiana students in school year 1996-97 were eight teachers, one bus driver and bus, material for the bus, paper, and library books. We first observe that the trial court issued an opinion with findings of fact. Our standard of review for a trial court's findings of fact is whether the findings are clearly against the preponderance of the evidence. Ark. R. Civ. P. 52(a). In this regard, due regard should be given to the trial court's opportunity to evaluate the credibility of witnesses. See Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Ellison, 334 Ark. 357, 974 S.W.2d 464 (1998). It is true that the per student value placed on Louisiana's in-kind services was $3,200 while the per student Arkansas contribution was $4,000. The trial court, however, justified the disparity with the following reasoning. The court first pointed out that Claiborne Parrish in Louisiana contributed eight teachers to the School District, five of which were used to meet Arkansas standards. Without these teachers, the trial court found that courses would be deleted from School District curriculum and class sizes increased. Alternatively, if new teachers were hired to replace the Louisiana teachers, funds would have to be redirected from other services. The trial court then concluded: The Plaintiff presented no proof that the Claiborne Parrish in-kind contribution, which is less than the Arkansas per student contribution, materially and adversely affects the Arkansas students. As Mr. Kelly stated, JCSD could absorb all eighty-four (84) Claiborne Parrish students in its school district without much additional cost. The Claiborne Parrish students are distributed throughout the school district from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. The contributions made by Claiborne Parrish allow[s] the JCSD to redirect its own resources in a manner that benefits directly the Arkansas students by providing additional elective courses. Without the contribution from Claiborne Parrish, the Arkansas funds would have to be used to meet the Arkansas standards currently paid for by Claiborne Parrish. The State Department of Education has audited the in-kind contributions for 1995 and 1996 and has not objected to the use of in-kind contributions. In short, the trial court spelled out the benefits derived from the Louisiana in-kind services and, particularly, the Louisiana teachers, while also detailing the drawbacks if the services were not available. In effect, the disparity in per student contributions was resolved by these tangible benefits. The trial court further underscored the fact that no proof was offered on how Arkansas students were damaged by using these in-kind services as a contribution for educating the Louisiana students. On the contrary, as already pointed out, the Arkansas students derived a clear benefit, in the court's opinion. The trial court concluded that should the disparity in the Louisiana in-kind services and the Arkansas contributions become such that Arkansas students did indeed suffer, the issue could be revisited. We discern no error in the trial court's findings or conclusions. Affirmed.