Decatur Rebirth?

Residents Fight to Save Schools, Jobs, Community

Last updated Saturday, July 12, 2008 3:58 PM CDT in News

By Lana F. Flowers & Caleb Fort
The Morning News

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The Decatur School District, facing a budget shortfall, may be ordered later this month to annex into a neighboring district.

There's no grocery store left. Hooper's Grocery closed last year. The store tried for a second life, selling damaged freight and closeout items such as dented canned goods, but closed its doors for good last spring.

Despite those setbacks, hope lies on the horizon.

Decatur Chamber of Commerce officials rose Monday from their cafe tables and handed out freshly printed posters, letting people know the 55th annual Decatur Barbecue will go on.

Diners and Mayor Bill Montgomery said they're glad Simmons, their neighbor to the south, is buying Peterson Farms. They think the nearby company may leave most of the Peterson jobs intact, though no formal announcement has been made. Officials at Simmons Foods and Peterson Farms have declined comment.

Montgomery said he visited with Simmons officials and, while he can't divulge what they told him, he has good feelings about the sale.

Patrons are planning fundraisers and soliciting donations in an effort to keep students in Decatur school buildings.

Slice Of Life

Many say they don't want to live anywhere other than Decatur. They like the small-town feel, even if they have to drive 20 minutes to buy groceries.

Downtown Decatur is dominated by the general store - which sells everything from prescription medicines to canned goods to calf dewormer - and the vacant grocery.

Residents chat outside the video store and cafe.

Peterson trucks creep through the intersection. A car or two stop for fuel at a convenience store.

"It's quiet and you can always stay out of trouble," said Crystal Chaffin, who moved to Decatur earlier this year. "But I think the whole town is going to go down."

In this case, "the whole town" consists of Peterson Farms buildings - company headquarters, a research and development facility, and plants; a couple of mom-and-pop businesses, such as Denise Trammell's cafe and Bulldog Video; Decatur State Bank; the Iva Jane Peek library; and simple homes along tree-lined streets, most without curbs.

Drive a mile in either direction from downtown, and you've left Decatur.

Chaffin, a mother of three ages 3 and younger, has a sport utility vehicle with a back window declaring "Love, Peace and Chicken Grease!" Chaffin takes the vehicle on the usually 28-mile round trip to Siloam Springs several times a week to shop and take her sister to work.

"It's too much gas," she said on her way out of the Decatur State Bank. "But my sister has to work, and we have to eat."

Robert Mahmens, a 30-year Decatur resident, said business at his pawn and television repair shop has plummeted from about $1,500 per month to $500 in the last month.

He rises from behind an opened television in the back of his shop, a small downtown building filled with tools, appliances and guitars.

"Everybody's wanting to sell and nobody's wanting to buy," he said. "It's a tough time to make it in."

Mahmens turns away tools he would have snatched up in better times.

Royce Johnson, a veteran truck driver for Peterson Farms and president of the Decatur Chamber of Commerce, looks on the bright side. Decatur seems attractively affordable in the current housing market, so he's not worried about a flight from the town. Most of the houses are modest, wood-paneled, single-story buildings.

"People have got to live somewhere," Johnson said. "A working man can still afford to buy a home in Decatur. Some people might leave, but I'm sure somebody else will want that house."

The median price of the 18 houses listed for sale on Yahoo!'s real estate Web site is $144,000. The median price in Arkansas is $169,900.

Despite her prediction of the town's demise, Chaffin and her husband are considering buying a house and staying for at least a few years.

And while Johnson might eat lunch at The Gallery Cafe, he and his wife drive to Fayetteville for steak dinners or major shopping.

Job Picture

Some residents predict the sale of Peterson Farms, with its 1,100 employees in the region, will bring a welcome change.

"Peterson has been here for so long and basically had a lockdown on things," said Josh Smithart, who grew up in Decatur and now works at the downtown video store. "Maybe Simmons will wake things up."

Simmons has 5,400 employees at its operations in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

It's too early to say whether Simmons will take any jobs out of Decatur, said Mervin Jeberaj, research assistant at the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas' Sam M. Walton College of Business.

"The fact that they're buying shows that they want to expand their operations, so that's a good sign for the town," he said. "I don't think there's any sign they're buying it with the intention of closing it."

Both Simmons Foods and Peterson Farms are closely held, family owned, private companies. Financial analysts don't follow the stocks or issue reports on those two companies, like with Tyson Foods or Wal-Mart, because the general public can't buy stock.

The two companies also don't file reports about their earnings or future operations with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as publicly held companies do. Decatur residents probably won't learn the fates of Peterson Farm jobs until a company official makes a formal announcement.

While some residents think the Peterson jobs may be safe, the story is different with Black & Decker. That plant closing in August will hurt Decatur's economy, Jeberaj said.

The only question is how much damage: If another manufacturer moves in quickly and creates new jobs, the closing will create a short-term loss in tax money, Jeberaj said. If no company fills the void, many of the workers will leave town in search of employment, he said.

The Black & Decker plant pays about $50,000 in property taxes, according to the Benton County Collector's Office. Kim Begs, the city's administrative assistant, said the property is for sale and there are prospective buyers. She said there is no way to track how much sales tax the city gets from the plant.

Residents seem to think another company will take Black & Decker's place. Diners at the cafe recited a list of companies that have come and gone in the same building, including Excel Industries.

Johnson said some Decatur residents are working with the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission to attract another employer.

The 2000 census listed Decatur's population at 1,314, a number that's probably larger now, Jeberaj said.

"It's hard to say that 80 people could have a huge impact on a town that size," he said.

Saving The Schools

Decatur students and teachers won't know until July 31 if they will have a school to come to when classes start Aug. 18.

The Arkansas Board of Education on Monday will determine if the district is in fiscal distress. The state board meets again July 31 to determine whether to combine Decatur schools with Bentonville, Gentry or Gravette schools.

The Gentry School Board will discuss the annexation issue Monday. Gentry Superintendent Randy Barrett previously said he'd be willing to leave Decatur elementary and middle school students in their own classrooms, while Decatur High School students would attend class in Gentry.

The Bentonville School District does not seem eager to accept Decatur students, as that much larger district - with more than 12,000 students - still has enrollment growth and portable buildings at all three middle schools and Bentonville High School.

Gravette Superintendent Andrea Kelly just began work July 1, but said she and the Gravette School Board are exploring what would happen if they got Decatur's 600 students just weeks before classes begin.

Uncertainty hovered over Decatur cheerleader and senior Jori Witcher, who worked on a summer day answering phones at TNT Tire in Decatur.

"I'd rather just stay put. All my friends are here," said Witcher, a petite, soft-spoken brunette who has attended Decatur schools since kindergarten.

However, if state education officials force her to attend classes elsewhere, she'd rather attend Gentry schools.

"I know more people there. But I don't want it to happen because it's my senior year," Witcher said, pausing to look out the front window between answering phone calls and questions. "We were going to have a really good cheerleading squad."

Witcher wondered aloud if she would even be allowed to try out for cheerleader at another district and if her fellow Decatur students could join other activities.

Donald Morgan Jr., a Decatur School Board member, must file to run for office by noon Friday, though he won't know whether the district - and his board seat - will still exist when elections are held in September.

"I'm going to be proactive and get the signatures, just in case," Morgan said.

His is the only Decatur board seat up for election this year. Morgan doesn't worry about his job. He commutes to Fayetteville to work at the office of a supplier to Wal-Mart.

Superintendent Dave Smith, who is suspended with pay at the end of the first year of his three-year contract, previously said all district employees who signed contracts will have jobs next school year. Michael Wilkins, Decatur School Board president, said at a special meeting last week that board members have been told differing things by attorneys and don't yet know what will happen to teachers who signed contracts that became effective July 1.

Some teachers said they had other job offers and family finances might dictate taking positions with other districts.

Wilkins said he felt board members would vote to let teachers out of Decatur contracts if they found employment elsewhere. Gentry's Barrett said a district getting Decatur's 600 students also would get its teachers, its buses, its debt and its buildings.

Decatur officials may know more July 31 at the state Board of Education meeting. Interim Superintendent Bobby King, who also is Decatur High School principal, plans to attend the meeting to present revised budget figures and enrollment statistics. He hopes to avoid annexation.

King will have company. A charter bus is reserved, at $40 per seat, for other patrons to go to the meeting in Little Rock. Patrons and alumni have raised more than $100,000 to donate to the nonprofit Decatur Education Foundation to help cover shortfalls, King said. Another $100,000 check may be forthcoming, he said.

The money is held in an account at Decatur State Bank and will help defray a negative balance of more than $630,000. That's how much state education officials predict Decatur schools will be in the red by June 30, 2009.

Local officials contend the state projection contains one-time expenses related to opening a new elementary school in the 2007-08 school year. Those one-time expenses, including buying furniture and computers, will not be necessary in the 2008-09 school year.

Parent Becky Arnold and Decatur students also will help reduce the projected deficit. They plan two fundraisers in July with more to come in August, Arnold said.

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