A+ SCHOOLS PROGRAM WILL E TOPIC OF PUBLIC MEETING TONIGHT AT 7

A public meeting will be held tonight to discuss the A+ Schools Program, one of the educational reforms brought about under still-controversial Senate Bill 380.

The meeting comes two days after the state Board of Education rejected new educational standards drafted over the past 18 months by the law's Commission on Performance.

The meeting will be held at 7 in the Central High School auditorium.

Present to speak and answer questions will be Dr. Lanny Barnes, the district's coordinator for the A+ Schools Program; Dr. Dan Tallant, Central High School principal; Gerald Richards, Central Junior High School principal; and Harold Tilley, director of the Cape Girardeau Vocational-Technical School.

Also on the program are Jerry Witvoet, a guidance counselor at the high school; and four teachers involved in the program: David Pappendick, Mary Shelton, Cheryl Dunavan and, Helen Gibbar.

The A+ Schools Program operates with three goals:

-- All students will graduate from high school.

-- All students complete a selection of high school studies that is challenging and for which there are identified learning expectations.

-- All students proceed from high school graduation to a college or post-secondary vocational or technical school, or wage job with workplace skill development opportunities.

Barnes said the purpose of the meeting is to explain to the public how the program has worked at the conclusion of its first year.

"A number of people have made inquiries. Sen. (Peter) Kinder has published 20 to 22 articles over the last four months," he said.

Kinder has been critical of SB-380 and Outcomes-Based Education. The latter term encompasses many approaches separate from A+ Schools, Barnes contends.

"It appears Outcomes-Based Education has become a catch word for something somebody doesn't like."

The Cape Girardeau district is one of 38 designated A+ Schools recipients statewide. The district received $132,000 to implement the program the first year and has requested $144,000 more for next year.