CLIPPARD STUDENTS TO STAY PUT; SCHOOL BOARD RESOLVES KINDERGARTEN ISSUE

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education voted to end school reassignments for kindergarteners during a special meeting Thursday at the board office.

More than 20 parents attended the meeting, which was requested by board member Harry Rediger July 28, to resolve the issue of kindergarten over-enrollment at Clippard Elementary School.

Parents previously had addressed the board with concerns about the random selection process that was used to decide who among the 74 kindergarten students pre-enrolled at the school would be transported to another school to prevent overcrowding.

"I think the decision was the right decision to make, not only for the children but also for the district," said parent Philip Crawford. "I'm just happy. I think it kind of restored my faith in the school board and the system."

The board reviewed three options before deciding to end kindergarten reassignments, which occur whenever over-enrollment takes place for a grade level at a school. The arrangements will be made to accommodate kindergarteners at their neighborhood school.

Students in the first-through-sixth grades will continue to be reassigned if over-enrollment occurs.

Although most of the parents at the meeting lived in the Clippard district, two of the six elementary schools have pre-enrolled more kindergarteners than they can accommodate and one school has reached its capacity. Board policy mandates a pupil-teacher ratio of no more than 25-to-1.

Both Clippard and Franklin schools have surpassed their 50-student limit. A third kindergarten section was added at Alma Schrader two years ago, and the school already has registered its limit of 75 students. Jefferson, May Greene and Washington schools all have low kindergarten pre-enrollments, but superintendent Dr. Dan Tallent said they generally finish with similar student-teacher ratios after school begins.

The district will add a third section of kindergarten at Clippard and increase the pupil-teacher ratio so that the school can accommodate up to 90 students. In addition, a larger classroom trailer will replace an existing trailer at Franklin Elementary School so the school can accommodate up to 60 students.

"For some people this is the main issue," Tallent said. "It's an important issue to me, but we provide a quality program at all our buildings. It's just a matter of operating our buildings at a quality level."

Board president Dr. Ferrell Ervin said schools will work to accommodate students until the temporary classrooms can be installed at the schools. Although the changes could cost up to $55,800, the option will solve the problem of kindergarten over-enrollment until a new high school is built and Central Junior High is remodeled into a fifth-and-sixth-grade center.