CAPE SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS NEW COMMENCEMENT POLICY

Cape Girardeau Central High School seniors must fulfill all graduation requirements to participate in the May 26 commencement.

The Board of Education made it official Monday night by adopting a formal policy that had been in the works since the start of the school year.

School superintendent, Dr. Neyland Clark, asked the board to wait until the June meeting for formal adoption of the policy. He said a number of teachers of students at risk of dropping out of school told him they didn't have enough input in the policy.

But board members agreed that a policy needed to be in place prior to this year's commencement.

Board member Terry Taylor said, "We can always come back and amend it."

Last year, commencement caused bedlam when Clark changed a long-standing practice at the last minute. With board approval, he allowed students who hadn't completed graduation requirements to participate in the commencement ceremony.

The decision, made a week before commencement, so angered then-principal Dan Milligan that he left school a week early. He was scheduled to retire at the end of the school year.

The two-page policy adopted Monday says: "Students will be required to have completed all graduation requirements by the end of the school year to participate in the commencement ceremony.

"Early graduates may return and participate in the ceremony. Students who complete graduation requirements after the commencement ceremony may participate in the next scheduled ceremony or may pick up their diploma at the administration office."

Central High School Principal Dan Tallent said he and the high school staff have planned this year's commencement under the proposed guidelines. Students and their parents are aware if a danger exists that the student might not complete all requirements.

Other school board developments Monday:

-- Board member Harry Rediger will chair a new strategic planning committee for the school district. He hopes to involve many of the 28 other people who expressed a desire to serve on the school board on the committee. Rediger sees the committee as a way to open communication with the community.

-- Future board meetings will be held at the Technical-Vocational School in an effort to make meetings more accessible to the public.

-- Stephen DelVecchio, a certified public accountant, was named the district's new business manager. He holds a doctorate in business administration degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and undergraduate and master's degrees from Southeast Missouri State University. DelVecchio, one of 18 applicants for the position, works for Hillin and Clark, the school district's auditing firm.

-- The board gave Athletic Director Terry Kitchen the go-ahead to solicit private money to upgrade the Central High School track. Recently, the Cape Girardeau relays had to be held in Jackson due to a scheduling conflict at the Southeast Missouri State University track that Central usually uses.

-- Board members will begin touring school buildings Friday from 1-5 p.m.