Conway Schools Look at New Plans for Growth

Overcrowding at Conway Schools is forcing administrators to look at options for expansion. Some parents in the district heard about the fixes and how they`ll effect their wallets at a Thursday night community meeting. The millage committee presented another option than building a second $51-million high school. Over the next three to five years, the district would build another intermediate school for 5th and 6th graders. Instead of building a second high school, it would renovate and reconstruct most of the current east high school campus. And the west high school campus would get a new multipurpose gym. That whole project would cost $39 million. The other option: to build a and staff a new high school, on top of the three other jobs. That would cost the district about $69 million. The school board president and superintendent said they are not aiming for the second high school just yet, but it is a goal for the next 10 years when the student body is epxected to have grown even further. "According to the recommendation of the millage committee, it`s just outpriced for the voters to be able to pay that," said Dr. Terry Fiddler, school board president. "Nobody wants to pay more taxes, not you , not me, not the people down the street. But when you think about what these children need, I don`t see that we have anyway to get around it but to pay taxes," said Annette Sackhoff, who has two children in the Conway School District. Administrators say the only way to pay for these projects is through property tax increases. The school board will vote on this proposal in June. If approved it should go on the ballot for the September school board elections.