Board approves corrected contract for Fayetteville City Schools dome after figures were corrected

The Fayetteville board of mayor and aldermen approved a corrected grant contract for a new multipurpose dome for the Fayetteville City School System during a special called meeting on Feb. 5, 2026, after staff flagged inconsistent figures in a version previously signed by the mayor.

Board members heard a reading of the corrected contract and an attached grant budget; the presiding speaker said the earlier signed copy contained different dollar amounts and an incorrect date and that staff from the Tima/Tema team provided an updated version for the board to approve. The contract end date was read aloud as Feb. 1, 2027.

The presiding official summarized numerical discrepancies in the earlier signed copy, saying, "When I was asked to sign it, the contract had different numbers on it," and noting that a page in that copy listed a "maximum liability" of $483,344.33 and an attachment listed a "total project" of $508,007.83 and a Fayetteville City School match of $25,000 — figures the official said they had not seen before. In the corrected text the official read a maximum state liability as $8,912,768.90 and cited a total contract figure in discussion of about $8.9 million; the official also said the board's share or school match was reflected separately in the attachments.

The presiding official described the project as a monolithic dome built to FEMA 361 standards intended to provide tornado protection and to serve as a multipurpose educational and athletic facility. The official said the facility would provide shelter for "over 1,000 students and school employees" during the school day and for about "3,146 people" when school is not in session.

An alderman objected to the expenditure on the record, saying the project "is kind of a misuse, misappropriation" and that it risks creating what he called a basketball arena "under the guise of" a safe room, arguing taxpayer funds could be better used for classroom or workforce-support investments.

A motion was made to approve the corrected contract as sent by the Tima team and to have it supersede the contract previously signed on Jan. 3, 2026. The motion was moved by Alderman Small and seconded by Alderman Alder. During roll call some responses are clearly recorded in the transcript (Alderman Keenan and Alderman Faulkner are recorded as voting "No"); the presiding official declared the motion carried. The presiding official said they would sign the corrected contract and have staff deliver it to the school system. The meeting was then adjourned.

The corrected contract and grant budget materials were on the board's meeting devices for review; the board did not record further amendments or conditions to the contract during the meeting. Because several dollar figures and some roll‑call responses in the audio transcript are unclear or garbled, the board's adopted contract document and the school system's accepted grant paperwork should be consulted for definitive figures and vote tallies.