A new law requiring a uniform accounting of all athletic expenditures by all public schools in the state should not cause any headaches locally, the Forrest City superintendent said this morning.
"I believe what the law requires is that there be a new format for tracking athletic expenditures," said Vent. "In some instances, I think they (state legislators) feel that athletic expenditures are being hidden behind some facade in some budgets."
Vent said all the district's expenditures are reported on the Arkansas Public Schools Computer Network. "We just submit our budget and it's all electronically transferred to the state Department of Education."
Vent said different districts do have different ways of accounting for athletics. He said the new rules will simply be formatted in to what is already being done.
"For their (legislators and the Education Department) purposes, to have direct access, you'll punch the button for athletics and all the expenditures will come up on the same format," he said. "Again, I think basically what they want is some way to track it more clearly. It shouldn't be a problem here."
Preliminary information on athletic expenditures due this fall should give legislators a clear enough picture to consider next year whether to rein in sports spending by public schools to better afford academic improvements, state Department of Education Director Ken James said Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
With the state possibly facing additional new taxes to pay for vast improvements in school facilities, education advocates argue for more transparent accounting of athletic spending. They say that would show that too much state education money is being used to subsidize varsity sports programs.
The new law requiring stricter accounting of extracurricular activities should begin providing lawmakers with more precise data they need to make policy decisions, James told a legislative subcommittee.
''We have the mechanism now in place,'' James said, referring to the law approved in the recent special session on education. ''You're going to get more data than you've had before.''
Under the new law, school districts are to provide a more detailed accounting of money spent to support sports, as well as other extracurricular activities, such as band and clubs. The legislation originally proposed to limit athletic spending at public schools but was amended amid stiff opposition.
According to the AP, the state Board of Education on Monday approved proposed rules governing implementation of that new law, as well as another that requires a uniform accounting and reporting system for general public school spending.
The state Department of Education is to get initial spending reports this fall from the 2003-2004 school year, and the department should have those reports ready for legislative review during the 2005 regular session that convenes Jan. 10, James said.
Better numbers will be available next year, after school officials receive extensive training on the reporting process, but the initial information should give lawmakers a good picture of athletic expenditures such as coach's pay and money spent on transportation and facilities, James said.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Possible cuts in state funding announced Thursday by Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee were to be expected, according to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco.
On Thursday, Huckabee told county judges meeting in Rogers that state aid to counties and cities around Arkansas could be cut unless better use is made of the money available through school consolidation and reorganizing of state government. Huckabee told the judges that aid to cities and counties is "at risk and will forever be at risk" unless the state increases the efficiency of its spending.
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco said this morning that the possibility of more cuts in state aid were not surprising.
"It's just one of those things that we all (the judges) kind of expected to hear. We've seen our funding cut every year for the last four years, so this is really nothing new," Cisco said.
With the state cutting funding, Cisco said eventually that some county services may have to be cut. "We'll probably have to do some reshuffling because this seems to be a never-ending process of having to do more with less and eventually you just can't do it all. The quorum court will have to take a long hard look at the financial situation, and they'll eventually make the call," he said.
Cisco was unsure where the cuts would come and said that would largely be determined by what funding was cut.
"Where we will have to cut back will really be determined by where the state cuts our funding. If the funding to the roads are cut, then the road department will have to be trimmed. If the turnback funding is cut, then it will affect county general. We just don't know until we see where the cuts are," Cisco said.
Turnback funds from the state, distributed to cities and counties on a population basis, could drop, Huckabee said, in part because of a new state law that puts education at the top of the heap if state spending.
Since a November 2002 state Supreme Court ruling that the system of funding public schools in Arkansas was unconstitutionally unfair and inadequate, Huckabee has argued that reducing the number of school districts would assure that the state's school money is spent more efficiently. In a special legislative session this year, lawmakers approved a measure requiring consolidation of districts with fewer than 350 students. The year began with 308 districts in the state; officials said this week that the upcoming school year will begin with 256 districts.
Huckabee also told the county judges that his proposal to reorganize state government would also make it more efficient. The governor didn't say, however, if he would offer the plan again during the 2005 legislative session, after it failed to get enough support for passage. His plan would merge 53 state agencies into 10 departments.
"Our inability to be more efficient in the long term means less money that goes to the cities and counties," Huckabee said.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
St. Francis County Election Commissioners have failed to respond to a request received earlier this week from the State Board of Election Commissioners.
According to Susie Stormes, director of the State Board of Election Commissioners, a request filed last week had yet to be answered as of this morning.
"I made a Freedom of Information request for additional information from the St. Francis County Election Commission via certified letter last week. The returned receipts indicated that commission member Bettye Proctor received the letter on June 11, and members Florence Brown and Joe Young received the letter on June 14. I have not heard anything back from the commission, and I will be making telephone calls today to find out where the information is," Stomes said.
The letter dated June 10 from State Director Susie Stormes requested several items from the commission including: the May 18, precinct report for Republican ballots; the proof of publication for the published public notice of the election and the published list of appointed election officials; copies of minutes from the May 27 meeting of the St. Francis County Election Commission; copies of notices on preparation of the voting machine and several other items surrounding the May 18 primary and the subsequent May 27 ballot recount.
According to Stormes, new allegations from the St. Francis County Republican Party led in part to the information request.
"I received a letter dated June 3 from Republican Party member Steve Hollowell with several issues. Those issues, in part, led to the request from the Election Commission," she said.
Last week's request was the second request from the state over election irregularities surrounding the May 18 preferential primary election. According to the most recent letter, several items requested from the commission have been received, but the state is still waiting for a published public notice of the election and the published list of appointed election officials.
Earlier this week, Young, who served as chairman of the county election commission, resigned after documents, equipment and ballot boxes were moved from the commission's office at the St. Francis County Courthouse is order to create room for a mapping office for the St. Francis County Assessor.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
Horseplay has landed a Forrest City teenager in a Memphis hospital with a serious head wound.
Zachary Jones, 16, is listed in serious condition today at the Med Center, where he was airlifted to after an accident Wednesday night in a local neighborhood.
According to a report at the Forrest City Police Department, a 1995 Toyota pickup driven by Randy Dearing, 16, 2106 Campbell Dr., was traveling east on Roosevelt Street when Jones allegedly ran out from behind a vehicle parked at 583 Roosevelt and into the path of Dearing's vehicle. The accident occurred about 9:45 p.m.
Apparently, Dearing, Jones, and two other teenagers, John Scott Carroll, 17, and Tyler Hamilton, had been visiting outside Hamilton's home on Roosevelt just prior to the accident.
Dearing told police as he passed Hamilton's residence, Jones ran into the path of his truck and he tried unsuccessfully to avoid hitting him. Jones landed on the right front of Dearing's truck, continued onto the hood and into the windshield, according to police.
Carroll, a passenger in Jones' truck, told police Dearing could not avoid hitting Jones, and Hamilton, who was standing in the driveway at his home when the accident occurred, corroborated Dearing's and Carroll's statements to police.
According to the police report, Dearing was administered a breath test for alcohol content at the scene, and those results were negative. A blood alcohol test was requested for Jones, and those results are pending, according to the police report.
Police said Jones suffered visible injuries to his head, arms and legs.
Damage to the Dearing vehicle is estimated at $800.
Several meetings are on tap for next week throughout St. Francis County.
On Monday, June 21, the Widener City Council will meet at 6 p.m. at Widener city hall.
The Palestine-Wheatley School Board is set to meet at 6:30 p.m. at Wheatley.
The busiest day of meetings will be Tuesday, June 22.
The Forrest City Planning Commission will meet at 4 p.m. Among agenda items is a request from Sharon Wilson for a 14-foot variance on the south side of 304 N. Izard, to allow a building addition.
Other Tuesday meetings include the St. Francis County Quorum Court Personnel Committee at 5:30 p.m., and a Solid Waste Committee meeting at 6 p.m. Both of these meetings will take place in the Quorum Court Room in the county courthouse.
On Thursday June 24, the county's 911 Committee will meet at 5 p.m., also in the Quorum Court Room.
A Forrest City woman who failed to heed signs warning of a dangerous dog at a rural shop in St. Francis County was attacked by the animal Wednesday afternoon.
Edith Bobbitt, 67, 716 E. Cross St., Forrest City, was bitten on her left arm and her left leg outside the Albert Kimble shop at 54 SFC 357, according to a report on file at the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department. Deputies reported a "Beware of Dog" sign was posted at the shop door.
Bobbitt told deputies when she went to the shop, she noticed a door was partially open. When she stuck her head inside the door and called out to "Albert," a 71-pound German shepherd jumped in the air toward her and bit her on her left arm, leaving deep teeth wounds. Bobbitt said she screamed and ran toward her nearby parked car, but before she could get inside, the dog bit her again, this time on her left leg, also leaving deep wounds, according to the police report.
Also according to the report, Bobbitt drove to a nearby upholstery shop where workers called an ambulance to transport her to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City. She was treated and released at BMH-FC.