BAKER - In a meeting of the Baker School Board, members voted on whether to keep the property tax rate unchanged and with them falling just one vote short schools will face some losses. 

Tuesday night, school board members got into heated arguments with each other after a motion failed to keep tax rates the same. With an increase in property values, that could have resulted in increased revenues.

"Because it failed, because the motion failed, I feel that children's education was compromised," said school board president Joyce Burges.

The motion needed a super-majority vote to pass...meaning 4 of the 5 school board members had to answer yes to keeping the tax rates at current levels, instead the board voted 3-2, falling short one vote allowing the tax rate to roll back. It means the school system will lose out on more than a quarter of a million dollars in tax revenue.

Burges called the vote "totally outrageous."

"I do believe if the motion had passed, I definitely would have allowed the staff to do things that would increase enrollment," Burges said.

Superintendent James T. Stroder warned the board before the vote that he would be forced to make cuts within the school system if the motion did not pass.

"Anytime you remove that kind of money out of your budget that means you have less resources for what's going on in the classroom," Stroder said.

Board Vice President Monique Butler believes a personality conflict among Stroder and two board members led to the failure.

"It's like they want the public system to fail in the city of Baker, and the community doesn't want that," Butler said. "We're here for the kids and people who signed up for this position. We know what we are here for, everything is done for the kids in the city of Baker, and once that milage failed it was a shock."

Superintendent Stroder says that if he has to make cuts, he will not eliminate classroom positions.