CAPE SCHOOLS OPEN DOORS; FIRST DAY GOES SMOOTHLY

By mid afternoon Wednesday, Dr. Dan Tallent, Cape Girardeau superintendent of schools, was starting to worry.

School had opened without a single crisis, not even a small one.

"It's been very smooth," Tallent said from his office. "Unusually smooth."

Tallent had listened to radio traffic from bus drivers all morning. He visited the high school campus.

"I heard a few comments about it being awfully hot," he said. But everyone was in good spirits and excited about school opening."

The first-day enrollment numbers were close to expectations, adding to the smooth opening, said Tallent.

On Wednesday morning, 4,129 students came to school, nine students more than the first day of classes last year.

Tallent expects enrollment to grow by about 100 students before the official enrollment figures are tallied in September. Traditionally, a number of Cape Girardeau students don't enroll until after the Labor Day holiday.

"I would anticipate we will be up a little bit overall," Tallent said. "We will have to wait and see."

Kindergarten enrollment this year is up from last year. This year, 320 kindergartners are attending class; last year the figure was 285.

In response to the higher number, the district made changes to accommodate kindergarten students in their home schools. A class of kindergartners at Clippard Elementary School is attending school in temporary quarters at First Assembly of God Church.

A mobile classroom has been ordered and is expected to be delivered in the second or third week of September. At the same time, a larger trailer is expected to replace one in use at Franklin Elementary School.

Although kindergarten numbers were up, enrollment at the high school was down by about the same number. This year the school has 944 students; last year's enrollment was 981.

Tallent said hot weather will require monitoring in schools. Most classrooms aren't air conditioned.

"The forecast is calling for warmer weather," he said. "We will have to look at the temperatures in some of the buildings."

In the past, the district has dismissed classes early when it got too hot.