Pea Ridge May Sell Part Of Their Schools

Heres a new way for Arkansas school districts to raise a little fast cash ... sell off part of their district to someone else. Thats the option being considered by the Pea Ridge School District, where officials have been offered $1.5 million to allow part of its territory to be transferred to the Bentonville School District. The money is being offered by developers, who want to eventually build homes on the land. They say they wont find enough buyers for the homes if the students there must attend Pea Ridge schools--while the parents go to work in places like Bentonville and Rogers. So they want the land transferred to Bentonville schools, so kids will more likely attend classes where their parents have jobs. The $1.5 million would be made into a scholarship fund for Pea Ridge students who attend college. The money is meant to entice the school district to give up the land--even though that land could eventually form a tax base from residential property taxes paid by homeowners there.