Cape Girardeau school district readies for planning work

Cape Girardeau school officials will meet for the first time Tuesday with members of five committees set up to develop a new, five-year comprehensive plan for the school district.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on the second floor of the board of education office at 301 N. Clark Ave.

Superintendent Dr. David Scala has put together a list of 101 proposed members, including schoolteachers, principals, business leaders and parents on the five committees combined. The list includes 61 school staff members and 40 district residents.

Declining to serve

Scala said the list includes those who volunteered and those who were asked to serve.

A few already have declined to serve. Scala said interested residents can still contact the school administration if they want to serve on a committee.

Scala said he doesn't have any limit on the size of the committees, although initially it appears each committee will average about 20 members.

"We have kind of left that open," he said Thursday. "We don't want to eliminate anybody."

The five committees or so-called "action teams" will focus on at-risk students, parental involvement, facilities and finance, school climate and student achievement.

School climate includes various issues ranging from student discipline to attitude and character, school officials said.

Scala has assigned members of his administrative staff to coordinate the efforts of the committees.

Assistant superintendent Rob Huff will coordinate the parental involvement committee. Brenda McCowan, director of finance, will work with the facilities and finance committee. Gerald Richards, personnel director, will coordinate the school climate committee. Pat Fanger, director of curriculum and instruction, will assist the student achievement committee. Deena Ring, director of special services, will work with the committee focused on helping at-risk students.

Increasing involvement

Huff said the goal of his committee is to increase parental involvement in the school system, an issue identified by the district's steering committee.

Parental involvement used to consist of parent-teacher conferences, PTA meetings and sending notes home to parents, Huff said. "I think we have grown up past that."

Schools today increasingly use Web sites to communicate with parents, he said.

The committees will develop recommendations that will be presented to a 34-member steering committee that also includes school staff.

"We would like to have them done by the first of June so we can get everything together and have a plan to the board and implemented by July 1," Scala said.

Scala said the committees won't start from scratch. They have the district's existing plan as a starting point.

The new comprehensive plan will replace the current five-year plan which dates back to 2000.

Once a new plan is in place, Scala said he intends to update the school board every month on the progress being made to implement the recommendations.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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