BUILDING TAX VOTE RETURNS; SCHOOL TO RESUBMIT PROPOSAL IN STAGES

A proposed 27-cent increase in the schools' building fund levy rejected by voters last month probably will go back on the ballot in the fall, Cape Girardeau Schools Superintendent Neyland Clark said Monday.

Clark said the vote could occur in October or November "predicated on board reviews."

The levy would increase the schools' building maintenance fund from about $200,000 annually to $750,000 annually.

In April, Cape Girardeau voters soundly defeated a proposed $25 million bond issue that would have financed construction of a new middle school, a new elementary school and an addition to Jefferson School. The issue received 43 percent of the vote. It needed 57 percent for passage.

The building fund levy, meanwhile, gathered 47 percent of the vote and required only a simple majority to pass.

Clark made the announcement at Monday's Board of Education meeting in the L.J. Schultz School library, which was attended by an overflow crowd of more than 100.

He noted there had been a curious lack of discussion about the bond issue at the previous board meeting. "It's one of those avoidance issues," Clark said. "You did and I did because no one wanted to talk about it."

But he called the April election "a tremendous learning experience.

"I think we've got the hard one out of the way," he said.

The issue brought the district together, he said, thanking those "who made it as close as they made it."

Clark said the measures won't be brought to the voters in their original form but in stages to be worked out by the board. "We need to dialog it," he said.

The bond issue will not surface during the calendar year, he predicted. "We're going to look at a lot of options."

Those include the lessons learned from the election and consideration of the schools' educational strategy.

And the big question: If $25 million is too much, what is the generally acceptable figure?, Clark said.

The superintendent also made a point of divorcing the schools from the city's June vote on riverboat gambling. Proponents have offered gambling as a solution to the city's school-financing problem.

"We will be steering very clear of the gambling issue," he said. "I don't know that we want to hang our future on the revenues of gambling."

In other business:

The board agreed to schedule a joint study session with the Central High Student Senate at the school auditorium. The room badly needs renovation, a student leader told the board.

Chris Robertson, co-president of the student body, said students have been trying for two years to raise money to replace the auditorium's mismatched seats.

"At the rate we're going now, it's really not going to happen any time soon," he said.

Board President John Campbell endorsed the meeting, saying the auditorium gives an unfortunate and misleading impression of the district. "In my opinion it's pretty bad," he said.

Fielded questions from student Jamie Filer, who has criticized the administration's decision to not renew the contract of Central High teacher Michael Josue. Filer also asked questions of Clark at the previous board meeting.

Filer predicted students will keep a closer eye on decisions affecting which teachers are hired and fired.

"This will set a precedent for other teachers who may have this problem in the future," she told the board.

Heard a presentation by Louis Haynes, who represents a parent group urging the district to hire more minority teachers.

Campbell said the district makes "every effort we can to recruit minority teachers," but welcomed Haynes' recruiting assistance.

The district says big cities have an advantage in the competition for minority teachers because they can offer more money and a more attractive quality of life for singles.

Agreed to put Kage and Campster schools up for bid in June. The minimum prices will be $20,000 for Kage and $75,000 for Campster.