CAPE SCHOOL BOUNDARIES: TRY A VOLUNTARY PLAN

The issue of elementary-school attendance boundaries has been raised again in the Cape Girardeau School District. Just a year ago the same topic generated a lot of hard feelings.

This time around, the district is looking at the boundaries between Blanchard and Franklin schools.

Of the five elementary schools, Alma Schrader, Clippard and Jefferson schools are pretty much on target for enrollment projections based on the capacity of each building.

But Blanchard, the district's newest school which was opened last year, was expected to have an enrollment of 442 students this school year. In January, the head count was 509 students. The building's capacity is 525 students. Franklin has the opposite problem. The projected enrollment was 295, but 249 students were enrolled in January. The building capacity is 350 students.

Is another stopgap switch in boundaries worth another upheaval?

In two years, when the new high school opens, a domino effect is planned in the district. The fifth and sixth grades will be moved to their own attendance center. Taking those grades out of the elementary schools should take care of overcrowding for a long time.

Here's a suggestion: If it becomes necessary to move students from Blanchard because of space limitations until the fifth and sixth graders switch to their new attendance center, why not make it voluntary?

Letting parents choose, with reasonable limits, another school for their children who are currently in the Blanchard area would go a long way toward easing any hard feelings that otherwise could erupt.

Dr. Dan Steska, school superintendent, and assistant superintendents Mark Bowles and Cathy Evans are new to the district and did not participate in the boundary adjustments approved last year. The process wasn't pretty. Many parents felt alienated. The Board of Education adopted minimal boundary changes in favor of a major overhaul as a way to appease parents. It worked, and parents appreciated the board's compromise.

Earlier this month, district voters overwhelming approved a bond issue and the extension of a tax levy to pay for Phase II of the district improvements. With so many good feelings about Cape Girardeau schools right now, why tempt rancor?

Even if a voluntary plan doesn't reduce the numbers at Blanchard as much as district officials would like, It seems highly likely the school could get by for two years. Two years is not a long time to wait.