CAPE SCHOOL CONCERNS AIRED; ADMINISTRATION, NAACP DISCUSS UPCOMING VOTE

Questions came fast and furious for nearly two hours during a meeting Wednesday night on the upcoming Cape Girardeau school bond issue.

About 40 people attended the meeting at the Cape Civic Center, where representatives from the Cape Girardeau School District and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People fielded questions and comments.

Participants questioned how the bond issue would effect everything from conduct unbecoming to students or teachers to future populations of each school. All wanted to know whether the school bond issue would be beneficial to the black community and to the school district.

Those attending agreed they were there for one reason: Making schools better for the children.

Dr. Dan Tallent, superintendent, and the Rev. William Bird, a Board of Education member, represented the school district. Representing the local NAACP were its president Michael Sterling and education chairperson Juanita Spicer.

"The NAACP is not against new buildings and new technology," said Sterling. "We are opposed to being taxed so the same racism continues in new buildings. There are many problems we can't resolve with brick and mortar. We can achieve it with open dialogue."

Sterling asked Tallent whether the district's master plan addressed racial issues, including the lack of minority faculty representation, relationships between faculty and students, and other programming for developing racial sensitivity.

Tallent said no specific programming had been outlined in the plan. However, he said he believed a planned effort to help all students develop academically and regrouping of learning centers to bring more diverse students together earlier would result in fewer academic and behavioral problems and better racial harmony within the district.

"Most behavioral problems stem from falling behind academically," Tallent said. "We have programming planned to help kids earlier, and we feel this will aid them in all areas."

Several black parents voiced concerns about administrators being unavailable to them when they had problems with a teacher or principal. "They are not treating our children right," said Spicer. "They are making our children mean and ornery."

Tallent said his office was always open to anyone with a concern but would not directly address specific concerns for legal reasons. "Unequivocally, I have not seen any case of this since I've been there," he said.

Chelsy Sims, a parent, asked panelists what steps needed to be taken if a parent had a concern within the school district. Panelists said parents should follow a series of events beginning with going to the teacher involved and then to the principal. If they aren't satisfied, they should then go to the superintendent and then the school board, they said.

If the situation is warranted, and parents request the aid, the NAACP could become involved, they said.

If satisfaction still isn't gained the next step would be to go to the justice department, they said.

"If you follow these steps, I have never had a situation where the problem has not been solved to my satisfaction," Sims said.

Tallent said he believed there needed to be more individuals working with the school district to help solve issues such as those addressed during the meeting. Many people have opinions, he said, but few ever come to the forums and meetings that are held to get things changed.

"One of the things I've noticed in this community is there are a lot of people who point fingers at each other, but when it's time to work on an issue they won't come and speak out," he said. "Until we're willing to do that together, there'll never be any change."

The meeting was sponsored by the Civic Center and the Alternative Education Center. Sheldon Tyler, Alternative Education Center director and moderator, said he was pleased with the response to the meeting.

"We really wanted to get everybody together because we didn't want anyone to be confused about the issue," Tyler said. "It's a hot issue, and it just occurred to us on Thursday that this was needed."