CAPE SCHOOLS' PRESCHOOL CLASS GETS OFF TO COLD START

Children and teachers in the Cape Girardeau School District's preschool classroom were left in the cold Tuesday morning because the heat had been turned off at May Greene School.

The heat was turned on, but the boiler system took hours to heat up. By midmorning it was still chilly in the almost-vacant building.

The grant-funded preschool is the district's lone presence in the former elementary school, although there are plans to move the Alternative Education Center to the school within the next few weeks. The education center, housed at the Civic Center, serves students in grades seven through 12 who have dropped out or have been dismissed from district schools.

The preschool program, which began last fall, has 10 children ages 3 and 4. There are two teachers for the class. The district hopes to double enrollment in the program.

The program is funded with a $109,000 grant from the state. The district hopes to receive additional grant money from the state to fund it for another two years.

When the teachers arrived Tuesday they found a fax machine in the middle of the classroom. All the telephones in the school had been removed in preparation for the opening of Barbara Blanchard Elementary School. The new school, which replaces May Greene and Washington schools, opened Tuesday.

One of the preschool teachers carried a borrowed cellular telephone to work in case of emergencies.

The First Assembly of God Church purchased May Greene School. The paperwork was signed last week, and a few church members arrived Tuesday morning to begin renovating the building for use as an outreach center.

"It was cool in here," said Matt Schwartz, a member of the church's board of directors.

A school district janitor turned on the heating system about 8:45 a.m. Church officials said the heat will be left on.

Superintendent Dr. Dan Steska speculated that a school district employee turned off the heating system while equipment was being moved from May Greene to the new school and neglected to turn it back on.

Steska said the district plans to continue handling custodial duties at May Greene School for the rooms that it uses. The church will be responsible for the rest of the building.

Steska said regular phone service should be operating by today. School officials didn't realize until Tuesday that the phone line to the building wasn't working. "We thought it was going to be activated," he said.

Moving to a brand-new school is a major task. "I think things have gone very smoothly, but it wasn't completely without a hitch," he said.

Blanchard principal and former May Greene principal Barbara Kohlfeld termed the problems at May Greene "just a snag."

Kohlfeld said the school district had considered moving the preschool to Blanchard School but decided against it because of lack of space and the fact that it wouldn't meet Missouri Department of Health code requirements.

The preschool space must have two exits within several feet of the classroom to meet state requirements. The windows in the new school can't be counted as emergency exits because they are too narrow for access by a firefighter in full gear, school officials said.

Steska said the district has been looking at future sites for the preschool program, including improving a section of May Greene School.

May Greene doesn't meet the Department of Health code either. The school district has until June 30 to meet health codes no matter where the preschool is located.

No final decision has been made, but the preschool will remain at May Greene for the remainder of this school year, he said.

The school district and the church have yet to work out a lease agreement for the preschool or the additional classrooms wanted for the Alternative Education Center.

Meanwhile, the preschool will continue to operate in the building, said the Rev. Blake Tiemann.

Cathy Evans, assistant superintendent of elementary education, said the district would have had to scramble to find space for the preschool if the church had been unwilling to let the program stay in the building. "The church has been so kind," said Evans.

The school district will serve breakfast and lunch to the preschoolers. The food will be cooked at one of the district's school kitchens, probably Blanchard, and transported to May Greene.

The church bought the old school for $10,000. In addition, the school district would save an estimated $30,000 over five years by leasing space from the church rather than the Civic Center, Steska said.

But the agreement is based on leasing five classrooms. It doesn't take into account an additional four classrooms being considered for the alternative school or the preschool program.

The additional space needs still must be addressed in contractual negotiations with the church, Steska said.

School officials said May Greene remains a good site for the preschool program because the children it serves live in the area. The program primarily serves children of low-income families.