Arkansas lawmaker opposed to Bentonville School District donating land for housing

Christina Randall
·2 min read

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KFTA/KNWA) — An Arkansas state lawmaker is concerned about how a local school district is using money meant for education.

Republican State Sen. Joshua Bryant of Rogers isn’t on board with Bentonville Public School District donating land to a nonprofit developer to build housing for teachers and staff. The land behind the Bentonville High School is intended to be used for 100 affordable housing units. Only 40 of those units will be specifically for educators within the Bentonville Public School District.

“As far as teacher housing, really only 40% of their housing will be controlled by the school district,” said Byrant.

Bryant says the housing project will be funded through CARES Act money, American Rescue Plan money, and Inflation Reduction Act money.

Bentonville School District pushes ahead in affordable housing plan

“It’s being built by that and the tax credits. But the component that, as according to my knowledge, never been done in Arkansas is using educational funds to contribute to that same pool of money,” said Bryant.

Despite the opposition from Byrant and other lawmakers, the district says it’s continuing with the project.

“Since the goalposts are up, and they want to go ahead and try to get through them before the state might take them down,” said Byrant.

Bentonville Superintendent Dr. Debbie Jones says she has received more positive reactions than negative.

“They say it sounds like a great idea and a great opportunity for the district and for taxpayers because we are donating a small portion of land that we won’t use for other structures,” said Dr. Jones.

Jones says there are restrictions on who can qualify, such as those with a felony record. Bryant wants the school district to press pause on the project so another discussion can be had in Little Rock during the 2025 Arkansas Legislative Session. If not, he says limiting or restricting funding for the district isn’t off the table.

“Maybe that $2 million that comes from the state that goes into the school system — maybe we should figure out how to hold that back,” said Bryant.

The Bentonville School Board President Kelly Carlson says he’s happy to sit down with lawmakers to discuss their concerns.

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