UPDATE ON JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY

UPDATE ON JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY: 

I want to update all of you who have followed the developments around Jefferson Elementary and written on behalf of the proposed Jefferson Arts Center. 

The school district gave the two groups vying for the building terms for a lease agreement. Both groups felt that the terms were impossible to meet, especially considering the financial obligations of the lease and the timeframe to meet these obligations. The two groups submitted a joint letter stating that we did not feel these terms were achievable. In the meantime, two organizations in the arts center proposal backed out due to other opportunities they identified and wanted to pursue. 

This week, Dr. Bobby New, superintendent of Fayetteville Public Schools, met with representatives from the two proposals, wanting to find a way to still make something happen. Recently, Dick Johnson’s title was changed to Assistant Superintendent for Life Services. Dr. New stated that he saw organizations in both proposals that could help the school district with this new program. 

Dr. New proposed that the two proposing groups merge with the school district and try to develop a proposal where the organizations offer programs to the school district in exchange for lower cost of rent at Jefferson. I was able to contact three of the four organizations prior to last night’s School Board meeting. Each organization expressed interest in this new concept as did the other proposing group. 

The School Board voted to give the school district’s administration and the two proposing groups a month to work on the details of this new concept. Although this new concept does not fully fit the initial arts center vision, it does follow closely to our proposal in that our participating organizations and individuals could augment the arts curriculum currently offered by the school district. The new concept also keeps Jefferson in the realm of the community, which is the goal of both proposing groups and the Jefferson Taskforce. 

We do not currently know where individual artists and artist studio space will be incorporated in this new concept. However, we will continue to push for this need in the new proposal. 

I thank all of you who have supported this endeavor to this point and will keep you updated on the new concept’s progress. 

Best regards, 

Doug Walsh 

Project Manager 

Fayetteville Downtown Partners 

(479) 571-3337 

www.fayettevillearts.org 

www.fayettevilledowntown.org