BOARD TO EVALUATE CLARK

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education will meet tonight in closed session to evaluate the performance over the past year of superintendent, Dr. Neyland Clark.

Board President Ed Thompson said the meeting was scheduled before Tuesday's election so the board can assess Clark's work.

Two new members will be elected to the board on Tuesday. Thompson had his name removed from the ballot and board member Lyle Davis didn't seek re-election.

Thompson said the meeting isn't designed to negotiate a contract extension for Clark, but if a board member makes a motion for an extension it will be discussed.

Thompson said he didn't plan to make such a motion. "Not me, not as president of the board," he said.

Board member Bob Fox said he thinks the meeting is "strictly to evaluate his performance, not his contract." He said Clark has said publicly he won't seek an extension to his contract.

Two years remain on the superintendent's contract.

The special meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Board of Education conference room, 61 N. Clark.

The agenda calls for consideration of a closed session to discuss personnel.

Hiring, firing, discipline or promoting of particular employees may be discussed by the board in closed session under Missouri law.

The agenda shows that the board will reconvene in open session to announce any action they may take during the closed session.

Thompson, who is conducting the evaluation, said it needed to be completed before Tuesday's election.

"We want to make sure he is evaluated by current board members," Thompson said. "There is no way the new kid on the block could evaluate the superintendent."

Board member Steve Wright agreed that the current board should conduct Clark's evaluation. "How can you evaluate him until you've worked with him?" Wright said.

Thompson said Clark likely will attend at least part of the evaluation.

Clark's contract calls for at least one school board meeting during or before February to be devoted to the superintendent's performance and to consider extending the contract or entering into a new contract. But school board members said the process has never been completed by the end of February.

The superintendent's contract has been continued through a series of one-year extensions to the original three-year contract. The idea is to maintain a three-year contract by extending it one year each year.