CAPE UPDATE: INFORMATION ABOUT WAIVER OF PROPOSITION C ROLLBACK

At its March meeting, the Cape Girardeau Board of Education authorized the full waiver of Proposition C rollback election. The election will be June 7. Over 200 school districts in the state of Missouri have overwhelmingly voted Proposition C rollbacks. Some of the local results are:

Jackson - 1,824 to 116

Poplar Bluff - 1,379 to 36

Scott City - 611 to 47

Kelso - 326 to 24

Kelly - 400 to 57

Chaffee - 588 to 26

Sikeston - 2,385 to 78

Scott County Central - 294 to 13

Oran - 433 to 21

The Proposition C rollback waiver will cost the average home owner $40.98 a year or $3.42 per month. The local funds will generate approximately $1.1 million, which will be used for building improvements. The additional state funding would be approximately $1.6 million and would be used to adhere to state mandated requirements.

Perhaps one of the major reasons communities have voted so favorably on the Prop C issue has been to stop monies generated from Senate Bill 380 from going to other districts in the state, mainly Kansas City and St. Louis areas. The same is true for Cape Girardeau. The passage of Prop C rollback waiver on June 7 would insure additional state funds from going to other parts of Missouri.

But the Cape Girardeau Board of Education, in authorizing the June 7 election, expressed a more important rationale. After three town meetings, the board heard public commentaries on the need to repair, fix and maintain current facilities. If the Prop C rollback waiver is approved by the community voters, the additional local funds will be used for building improvements.

Lyle Davis, chair of the board's facilities committee, and Dr. Bob Fox, recently elected to the board of education, have been meeting with local school personnel to establish immediate and long-range facility needs. The most pressing needs are related to upgrading fire protection systems, Americans With Disabilities Act provisions, preventive maintenance items which will avoid greater costs at a later time, and items related to efficiency which translate to budgetary savings.

Neyland G. Clark is superintendent of Cape Girardeau public schools.