CITY, SCHOOL ISSUES DRAW ABOUT 20 TO FORUM; SCHOOL CANDIDATES AGREE ON MOST ISSUES AT FORUM

Continuation of the Cape Girardeau School District's master plan, continued fiscal planning and the possible need for increased funding on the local and state levels were issues identified by Board of Education candidates during a community forum Tuesday night.

Some 30 people attended the forum, which was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Southeast Missouri and the political science and mass communication departments at Southeast Missouri State University.

The event was held to allow voters to hear perspectives from incumbents Dr. Bob Fox and David Goncher and challenger Dr. Martha Zlokovich.

Voters will elect two board members to three-year terms during April 4 elections.

Fox, Goncher and Zlokovich agreed on many points during the forum. All supported the district's master plan, including the no-tax increase, $18 million bond issue proposal voters will consider April 4 to finance construction of a new high school.

The measure is critical to provide quality educational facilities for students, they said.

"When we wrote the master plan our first priority was to take care of the bricks and mortar because the facilities is what drives the educational process," said Fox, a dentist who was first elected to the school board in 1994. "I'm running again strictly for the continuation of that plan."

Goncher, an insurance agent seeking re-election to a second term, said the new high school also would reduce overcrowding at the district's newest elementary school. Blanchard Elementary School, which opened in January, was built according to future grade configurations. The building is operating near capacity because it's housing fifth and sixth grades. Under the master plan, Central Junior High School would become a fifth- and sixth-grade center.

Zlokovich, an associate professor of psychology at the university, said support for the master plan and bond issue will enable the district to operate more efficiently and improve educational programs for every child.

Teachers also need adequate support from the community and administration, she said.

"We need to address the needs of teachers in terms of salaries and morale," she said. "I want to make sure the teachers know their work and their efforts are valued."

The candidates said support could necessitate an operating tax levy in the future. Costs for education -- which include facilities maintenance, equipment and supplies, and salaries -- are not cheap and continually rise, they said. The district's existence as a hold-harmless district also restricts the amount of state funding received.

"The hold-harmless status hurt us much more than anyone could have imagined," Fox said. "Unless the district gets help from the state legislature to rectify some problems of the hold-harmless status, then yes, we will need a tax increase in the future."

The candidates did not have strong opinions about charter schools and school vouchers, although all said they didn't see the need for those school choice tools outside of the state's urban school centers.

All said they would like to see any school receiving tax funding required to meet the same regulations and standards as public schools.