Cape Girardeau school board votes to offer contract to next superintendent

Cape Girardeau Public Schools Board of Education members agreed to offer the district's superintendent position to an unnamed candidate Tuesday evening, March 7, after an hourslong closed session.

The group did not vote in open session on the offer, though state freedom of information law requires votes taken in private to be announced in public.

Two candidates applied for the position, which will become open at the end of this school year as superintendent Neil Glass announced his retirement at the board's January meeting.

"Obviously, this is a big decision that deserves due diligence," said Matt Welker, board president. "We had a great discussion, and the motion was made and passed to negotiate a contract with one of the candidates that we interviewed."

The board made their vote in closed session and when asked whether the vote was unanimous, Welker paused, then chuckled, before he said, "The record will show." Then he said, "It was."

He added: "The vote might say differently in some aspects that we voted on, but it gets complicated as far as everyone collectively on the board has the same path in mind," Welker said. "We are all on the same page as far as the direction we see the district going."

According to state law, public bodies cannot take votes in closed session without divulging those votes in open session.

The state attorney general's website says on the matter: "The following are examples of types of information that cannot be closed under the Sunshine Law: '... The votes of each member of a board or council during closed session, even if the information considered during the closed meeting may be closed.'"

Welker said board members had not spoken to the candidate about the offer. They conducted interviews for the position one week ago.

Welker said the board will communicate with the candidate to set up a meeting to negotiate the contract as early as the morning of Wednesday, March 8.

"We'll have to see if someone accepts the offer, and then negotiate that contract with them and then go from there," Welker said. "Tomorrow, we'll reach out to the candidate to set up that meeting to start the negotiations to see if it is accepted by them. ... It's exciting. I felt like tonight was very constructive and we're heading in the right way."

District officials had previously indicated their intent to hire a superintendent to replace retiring superintendent Neil Glass at Tuesday's meeting. Glass announced his retirement at the end of this school year at the board's January meeting.

In open session, board members voted to authorize Glass to negotiate a contract with Spectrum Communications for a fiber WAN (wide-area network) connection between the district Technology Office and the new Central Academy building.