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NewsFebruary 22, 1999

Construction delays on the new elementary school and shifts in attendance boundaries are items on tonight's agenda for the Cape Girardeau Board of Education meeting. The school board will meet at 6 o'clock at Central Junior High School cafeteria, following a special meeting at 5:30 in the cafeteria...

Construction delays on the new elementary school and shifts in attendance boundaries are items on tonight's agenda for the Cape Girardeau Board of Education meeting.

The school board will meet at 6 o'clock at Central Junior High School cafeteria, following a special meeting at 5:30 in the cafeteria.

R.L. Persons Construction Co. officials will attend the special meeting to explain why they will not meet the June 30 deadline for to complete the new elementary school at Sprigg and Bertling streets. The school was to open in August.

"We were hoping to have two months to get in there and maneuver our move, but if we get two weeks we'll make it work," said district superintendent Dr. Dan Tallent on Thursday.

Tallent said contractors will be assessed a daily penalty beginning July 1 for not making the deadline. He anticipates construction will be completed no later than mid-September.

Board members are expected to name the new school during the 6 o'clock meeting.

The school originally was to be named last month, but the item was tabled because board members the Rev. William Bird and David Goncher were not at the meeting. An ad hoc committee was organized last fall to review names recommended for the facility and has submitted six names to the board. The names recommended include four people and two others.

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People recommended for the school to be named after are the late Margaret Reed, who had been in education in Cape Girardeau for 40 years; Harry S. Truman, U.S. president from Missouri; Melvin Gateley, who was in education for 28 years in Cape Girardeau; and the late Mary Wilson, who was in education in the area for 50 years.

The other two names, Red Oaks and Riverview, honor the indigenous tree to the area and the Mississippi River.

In addition, board member Bob Blank recommended naming the school Barbara Blanchard in honor of the recently retired principal of Washington Elementary School.

In other business, the attendance Area Study Committee will report on redefining elementary school attendance areas to reflect a better distribution of enrollment and minorities once May Greene and Washington schools are closed and the new school opens.

The district's attendance boundaries were redefined two years ago, and the committee was reconvened to study shifts in populations since the adoption of the boundaries.

Tallent said the board will hear the recommendation and initiate a public dialogue before making a final decision on the boundaries.

Tallent said the board should take action on the matter in March or April.

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