School closures, construction spending on Fort Smith school board agenda (Updated)

Editor’s note: The board meeting set for Monday has been postponed because of inclement weather. The meeting is now set for Jan. 30.

The Fort Smith Public School Board of Education is set to vote Monday (Jan. 26) on a plan to close two elementary schools at the end of the 2025-2026 school year, on more than $2.06 million in repair and demolition work, and to sell an historic property.

Based on work that includes input from a long-range planning committee, district staff recommends the closure of Carnall and Spradling elementary schools. Carnall, located at 2524 Tulsa St., was built in 1962. The 49,073-square-foot building has 21 classrooms, five of which meet state standards. Enrollment is around 151 students.

Spradling, at 4949 Spradling Ave., was built in 1969. The 46,502-square-foot building has 20 classrooms, 11 of which meet state standards. Enrollment is around 282 students. The district’s plan is to move Carnall students to Cavanaugh and Beard elementary schools. The Spradling students would move to Sutton elementary.

If the school board approves the plan, the next steps include district administration meeting with parents and school staff about the transition.

Closing the schools, according to the district, will allow the buildings to be used for other purposes and would allow the district to complete the committee’s recommendations to close the Parker, Rogers, and Peabody buildings, relocate adult education services, and relocate district administrative services. Shawn Shaffer, executive director for facilities and operations, has said the idea is to “renew and revitalize the district campuses.”

The district closed Trusty Elementary School and moved those students to other nearby schools at the end of the 2023-24 school year. In August 2024, the school board agreed to work toward closing Orr Elementary School at the end of the school year. Orr, located at 3509 Phoenix Ave., closed its doors at the end of the 2024-25 school year.

Also on Monday’s board agenda is a presentation and vote on $2.062 million to repair two existing facilities and demolish another. Specifically, the proposed roof replacement of the fine arts building at Southside High School will have a maximum cost of $1.325 million, with Beshears Construction being the contractor.

Phase 3 of work to tackle flood and drainage issues at the Peak Innovation Center will cost no more than $679,704, with Nabholz as the contractor, according to the voting agenda item. The issues have been present since the renovated building was open in March 2022. The regional workforce training facility was constructed from the former Hutcheson shoe manufacturing building at 5900 Painter Lane. The 181,710-square-foot building sits on almost 17 acres at the corner of Zero Street and Painter Lane.

The school board in November approved moving forward with design work for a Phase 4 of work to address the drainage issue. That work, conducted by Fort Smith-based Mickle Griffin, could cost between $2 million and $5 million.

The board is set to vote on a $57,040 contract with Clark Contractors to demolish the Hill Center building, located near Park Elementary School.

A vote also is set on selling the historic Belle Pointe school building. The building, located at 1501 Dodson Ave., opened in 1908 with three floors and 22 rooms, and closed in 2025. The sale price, based on a July 2025 appraisal, is $1.14 million.

The Fort Smith district is the fifth largest school district in the state with approximately 13,205 students. It has 119 buildings under its management, comprising slightly more than 3 million square feet. It has 17 elementary schools.