Cape schools head voted out of job

Two years into a three-year contract, the Cape Girardeau School Board has decided not to rehire superintendent Mark Bowles.

In closed session, the school board voted unanimously this week against renewing the 45-year-old superintendent's contract. In a news release Friday, the board said Bowles will leave his position when his contract expires June 30.

"We the board are responsible for the hiring and evaluation of the superintendent, and as a board we've looked at this, studied it and soul-searched it," said board president Charles Haubold. "You go through evaluations and request certain improvements and if you find deficiencies in areas you have to sit back and ask yourself, 'Is this the leadership we want or do we need to make changes?'"

Haubold said other board members agreed not to comment due to the sensitivity of the issue. The board typically votes on the superintendent's contract in the spring, but Haubold said the decision was made now to allow time for a Missouri School Board Association statewide search for someone to fill the position before next July.

"We were told that if we wait until December or January, the pool is so limited there's not an opportunity to find a really good superintendent," Haubold said.

In an e-mail to faculty and staff announcing the news Friday afternoon, Bowles said he is proud of what the district has accomplished during his two years as superintendent.

"I also firmly believe in the authority and responsibility of the Board to make this decision and am convinced that the seven individuals that make up the Board of Education have taken this responsibility seriously," he said in the e-mail.

Bowles has been in the district since 1999, first serving as assistant superintendent of personnel and secondary education. Before that, he was principal at Perryville Middle School for two years.

At the same September 2001 meeting that former superintendent Dan Steska announced his retirement, the board voted to offer Bowles a three-year contract. At the time, the district was in the process of opening a new high school and reconfiguring all elementary and secondary schools.

Board members said Bowles was selected for the position in part because he was already familiar with the work involved in those projects.

Haubold said he isn't sure how district patrons will react to the news that Bowles has not been rehired.

"I think a lot of people will know and understand, but truthfully I can't answer that. We have to look at what's in the best interest of the school district," Haubold said.

Brenda Woemmel, a social studies teacher at Central Junior High School, said she doesn't understand why the announcement of the board's decision could not have waited until March, when contracts are normally reviewed for renewal.

"I don't understand the urgency, why this announcement had to be made eight days into the school year," Woemmel said. "Realistically there's not going to be any superintendents available out there checking for jobs at this point. It's just another morale buster, and we sure didn't need it at this point."

Woemmel said she feels like the school district has been cut off at the knees with the announcement coming at this time.

"It really comes as a blow in the gut for me. They didn't even let us get into September," she said. "There's simply no positive good going to come out of labeling him a lame-duck superintendent for the rest of the school year."

Other teachers contacted Friday declined to comment.

Bowles said his plans for the future are indefinite, but that he is as excited now about his position as the day he started the job.

"There is a strong unity amidst the administrative team about the goals and direction we've established, and the board shares that," Bowles said. "That unity will carry all of us through."

Staff writer Linda Redeffer contributed to this report.

cclark@semissourian.com

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