Cape Girardeau school board begins developing facilities plan

In light of a decision not to hire a consultant for a facilities audit, a committee has been meeting to develop a plan to reorganize the Cape Girardeau School District.

Sixty people were invited to take part in the effort to create a facilities plan, including administrators, teachers, board members and parents. Grade configuration among the schools is the first issue to surface during the process.

The committee formed after the district decided not to hire a consulting firm in December. Administrators, however, left open the possibility of hiring a consultant if needed.

Neil Glass, director of administrative services, is spearheading the project. He said after talking to consultants he got an idea of how the project should proceed.

"So far it's gone pretty good and we're very happy with it," he said of the initial two meetings, which were held this month.

The committee planning sessions are the start of the reorganization and are meant to generate ideas that will be presented to the public during forums starting next week, Glass said.

The committee initially tackled how grades would be distributed throughout the district's buildings. This will determine what additions and renovations are needed for the existing structures, he said.

In addition to five elementary schools and a high school, the district currently houses fifth and sixth grades in one building, and seventh and eight grades in another. Glass said this is an uncommon distribution and compares to 7.6 percent of school districts nationwide.

"That kind of threw up a red flag for me pretty quick," he said.

Because students switch between four schools, the transitions take a toll on their education, Glass said.

"They're going to lose a lot of educational time trying to adapt and acclimate," he said.

A preliminary plan, which will be part of the public discussion, suggests putting pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the elementary buildings. Sixth through eighth grades would be combined together in one building.

Glass said this plan would give students more time to adapt to their surroundings and form a connection with the building.

School board president Kyle McDonald said they will have to be "as cost effective as possible" when addressing class size and configurations with the existing structures.

"If it was an ideal world with unlimited amounts of money, we'd tear everything down and rebuild," said McDonald, who serves on the committee with board member Steven Trautwein.

McDonald said renovations and additions will be considered, but they will make the most of the current buildings. "Some of it is driven by facility size," he said.

McDonald said he hopes to present a no-tax bond issue by next April.

abusch@semissourian.com

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