Two of the county’s three school boards have approved their share of the cost to purchase a larger building for the growing Connect Four program that serves the three districts.
The building, once home to the Carroll County Chrysler dealership, is next door to the current C4 building on South Main Street in Berryville. The building is 3,540 square feet, includes two acres, and was recently put up for sale for $700,000, according to superintendents in the three school districts.
“We definitely can’t build a building that size for that amount of money,” Eureka Springs Superintendent Bryan Pruitt said.
School boards in Berryville and Eureka Springs approved expenditures of one-third shares of approximately $235,000 each at their most recent board meetings.
Green Forest, which was finalizing its 2024-2025 budget, tabled a vote on the purchase at its Sept. 17 meeting and was set to have a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, to approve its budget proposal and also further discuss the C4 building acquisition, according to superintendent David Gilmore.
“We just want to make sure we’re dotting our I’s and crossing our T’s and making sure everything is perfect on our budget,” Gilmore said. “…We really didn’t want to approve [the C4 purchase] on our end until we were sure on our budget. We’re just trying to make sure that we’re being fiscally responsible for the district.
“We’re all in support for the Connect Four program and see a lot of potential in this, but different schools in the county have different budgets, and we want to make sure that we’re being fiscally responsible with our taxpayer dollars. We want to make sure we’re doing the right thing fiscally for our district so we can support future plans for our district.”
All three superintendents said the location of the facility next door to the current C4 building, along with the price, makes the proposal ideal.
“We all know that we can’t build it for that (price),” Gilmore said.
The C4 program is growing with currently just under 100 students, and there’s a plan to add and expand programs for the students, Berryville superintendent Owen Powell said.
“This is just a really good opportunity for us,” Powell said. “The C4 program continues to grow and expand. In my opinion, having the C4 program is a huge deal. Not all students go to college. That doesn’t mean that C4 students don’t go to college, but it’s geared more toward preparing students for the workforce, or to go to a vocational school and get some kind of skill.
“C4 exposes our students to a lot of different things. Students graduate out of that program, and right after high school, are getting high-paying jobs from the skill sets they’re picking up at C4.”
Programs such as HVAC and welding could be expanded if the building gets purchased, Pruitt said.
“HVAC would probably be first,” said Pruitt, who added that Eureka Springs has 17 students currently in the program. “We also talked about expanding the welding area a little bit for some of the adult ed classes we do and we talked about maybe EMT training. Those are some options we’re looking at if we get [the building] bought.”
All three superintendents raved about the impact the program has on students. In fact, Gilmore said his son benefited when he went through the program.
“It’s fantastic for the kids,” Gilmore said. “My son went through it and I know that a lot of students go through it and they’re doing very well for themselves for the most part. I think there’s like an 84 percent placement rate for kids to come out of that program, and either go into higher learning and get more certifications and more education, or they go right into a really lucrative job in the area. So, it helps. It helps the community by having those kids trained and getting them into jobs that’ll help out the community in the trades. It also helps that student, obviously, with a lifelong career.”
Pruitt agreed, saying he remembers one recent success story regarding C4.
“We had a graduation one Saturday morning and a student went by and he said, ‘I just want to thank you for having C4.’ He said, ‘I graduate today and I start an apprenticeship at Tyson on Monday morning to be one of their lead mechanics,’ starting out at like $25. As an apprentice, right out of high school.
“The program has just been really good for the whole Carroll County area for these students to get some great training and it makes them more sellable when they graduate. There are different industries all around … and they’re all saying, ‘come work for us.’
“It helps those companies as well and we have some good partnerships with those companies.”
Powell said the agreement approved by the C4 board will require all three school districts to approve the purchase for it to proceed.
“The way that it was passed with the C4 board, obviously all three districts have to approve it for it to go through,” Powell said. “If Green Forest approves it, then I assume we would purchase that building. If Green Forest doesn’t, then we won’t.”
The topic of the C4 program was discussed when he was interviewed for the superintendent position so it’s no secret how supportive the Green Forest board is of the program, Gilmore said.
“I’m 100 percent for it, and our board is 100 percent for that program,” Gilmore said, adding that his district has 34 students in the program. “At the same time we have the fiscal responsibility to meet the financial demands of our district and to make sure we’re planning for the future as well. … Between the three communities, we all have different assessed valuation and different millage rates. …Eureka and Berryville are a lot further along. They have new buildings … and we’re trying to look at our demands for the future of Green Forest to meet the demands of our students over here.
“We want to do what’s best for our students, but at the same time, we’ve got to look at the whole picture and make sure we’re meeting the needs of all of our students. C4 is obviously very important to our board and the community of Green Forest, but like I said, we’re learning we’re different places with facilities and budget-wise than some of the other school districts. We’re just trying to make the best decision we can to be absolutely fiscally responsible.”
