Cape Christian School to close in May

Just more than 100 students and about 20 faculty and staff will need to find new arrangements this fall, after a decision last week to close Cape Christian School at 1855 Perryville Road in Cape Girardeau.

Pastor Phil Roop, leader of Bethel Assembly of God Church in Cape Girardeau, said the school could not move forward from a financial standpoint, and that was �heart-wrenching.�

Roop, who was youth pastor at Bethel from 1989 to 1996 and returned as lead pastor in 2005, said the school had a long history with the church, and that relationship was good, but the congregation was no longer able to support the level of financial commitment necessary to keep the school open.

The school opened in 1975, Roop said, and at first was almost exclusively students from the church, but as momentum built, Cape Christian School brought on more students, and now has classes from pre-K through eighth grade.

Finances have been a challenge off and on throughout the school�s history, Roop said.

But, Roop said, �projections for next year [showed] it was going to be very difficult to meet our budget.

�A financial decision was the whole basis of it,� Roop added.

The tuition base wasn�t enough to cover teacher salaries, Roop said.

�Like most schools, the biggest expense is the teacher base, and we couldn�t see that next year would be a fair situation,� Roop said. �It�s been something we realized we were going to do our best to make happen no matter what, but it�s not financially reasonable for us to continue.�

Principal Carroll Williams echoed that sentiment, saying, �I don�t think anybody wanted to see this happen.�

Williams, who coached at Southeast Missouri State University for 50 years and came to Cape Christian School as principal to help out about a year ago, said he knew the school had deep meaning and value to the people involved, whether parent, teacher or student.

Roop said the plans moving forward haven�t been fully discussed, and Williams agreed, saying he thought there was a group of interested individuals who would like to see the school or some entity like it move forward.

But, he said, that would take specific conditions.

If parents of 90 of the approximately 100 students were interested in moving forward with a school, Williams said, that might work, but if only 10 were, it might not.

�Where do you have to be to make something like that work? It takes a lot of considerations. It takes time,� Williams said.

For his part, Williams said, he would be happy to work with anyone wanting to move forward with an institution, helping with education processes and state law.

The decision was made �later than we wanted to,� Roop said, as the board was trying to find a way to keep the school open.

Cape Christian School doesn�t have a trust fund backing it, Roop said. All funding comes from tuition, from the church�s support and from some financial backers.

�It�s not enough to cover the shortfall,� Roop said.

But, Roop said, he hoped teachers would be able to find good postings at other schools for next school year.

�We�ve had a lot invested of our hearts and lives in this school,� Roop continued. �It�s a difficult decision, but barring some sort of financial miracle, well, it�s more bitter than sweet.�

Roop said it would be easy to focus on the school�s closing, but �you have to look at the 43-year track record,� he said. �We have students here that are grandchildren of people who graduated here. So many great victories, students have succeeded and are in the world doing great things, contributing to our community.�

Said Roop, �It�s easy to focus on the hard part that we�re closing. I just pray we don�t forget all the great victories and successes.�

The last day of classes will be May 18.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

1855 Perryville Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.