CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT STUDIED

Two specialists with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights are in Cape Girardeau this week investigating a complaint filed by the local NAACP branch.

Safiyyah Muhammad-Chandler, a case-resolution director, and Adriene Payne, an equal-opportunity specialist, visited May Greene Elementary School Monday afternoon to gather information.

The National Associated for the Advancement of Colored People claims African-American students there were placed in special education without evaluations. Other allegations are that Central High School officials unfairly suspended some African-American students and encouraged others to drop out.

Muhammad-Chandler and Payne declined to comment on their initial findings but said they would be in town until Thursday.

Roger Murphey, a Washington-based spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education, said the specialists would take statements and speak to officials. In addition, they will check copies of the school district's special-education policies and information about the race and disciplinary problems of students who have dropped out or been suspended.

The investigation's outcome won't be available for four or five weeks. Dr. Neyland Clark, superintendent of schools, didn't return a phone call to comment on the complaint.

Dawn Evans, local NAACP president, said she would speak with Muhammad-Chandler and Payne about the complaint. Evans said the branch hoped to shed some light on long-standing problems in Cape Girardeau public schools and the investigation was the first step.

"The African-American students here feel they have nowhere to turn," she said. "We knew this wouldn't be a quick and painless situation, but the main thing is that something is beginning to be done."

Evans hopes to find a resolution mutually ratifying to the district and the students involved in the complaint.