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Rogers School Board Considers Millage Increase To Build More Schools

ROGERS (KFSM) — The Rogers School District is considering a tax increase to fund new schools. The last elementary school to open in the Rogers School Dist...

ROGERS (KFSM) -- The Rogers School District is considering a tax increase to fund new schools.

The last elementary school to open in the Rogers School District was Janie Darr in 2013. This school year, 350 new students enrolled in elementary schools across the district.

“Of the 15 school districts in Benton and Washington counties, we have the second lowest millage," Superintendent Marlin Berry said. "We have not asked for an increase in the district in 14 years. That was the last time the district went to the community."

The millage in Rogers is 38.4 and the district is proposing increasing that by 2.9 mils to fund the construction of one elementary school and possibly additional schools in the future.

"We need to have appropriate learning spaces for all of our kids,” Berry said.

He said ten of the 15 elementary schools in the district don't have any open classrooms.

"It is a wonderful community where we have people coming to be a part of it, moving here and we want to educate their kids in schools that are again appropriate, safe and secure,” Berry said.

Steve Cox with the Rogers-Lowell Chamber of Commerce said the area has about 20,000 residents under the age of 18 and they project that will go up to 24,000 by 2021.

“We`re really seeing a tremendous increase in our under 18 population and they need places to go to school," he said. "We have a lot of good resources now, but we don`t plan on slowing down growth, so we see there could definitely be needs in the future."

The school board is still discussing the millage increase and plans to make a decision by Feb. 21 about whether they will hold a special election that will likely take place in May.

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