COMMITTEE SUGGESTS NEW SCHOOL BUILDINGS

A citizens' committee looking at facility needs for Cape Girardeau Schools says the district needs to build a new elementary school and a new middle school.

The report also suggests Cape Girardeau should close Washington and May Greene Schools, revamp L.J. Schultz as a new board office, and look at future property investments.

Three citizens committees are finishing reports about facilities, educational programs and finances as part of the school district's Project Partnership long-range planning process.

The facilities committee, headed by Bob Fox, finalized six recommendations last week, with a price tag of $15 million.

A new middle school including three grade levels is estimated at $8 million. For four grades, the cost goes up to $10 million. A new elementary school is estimated to cost $3 million.

"We went through a long process of defining what our priorities are," Fox said. "Overwhelmingly, that number one item was new construction to relieve the elementary overcrowding and to replace old buildings. Everything else on the list was well below that in priorities."

The report will be submitted to the Board of Education June 8. "I suspect they will review it during their July retreat and see what they should do."

The 14-page facilities committee report includes six recommendations:

New construction to relieve overcrowding and replace aged buildings (May Greene, Washington, Schultz). Would include: new elementary and middle school, classroom additions to Jefferson and redistricting elementary boundaries.

Renovation for better energy conservation throughout the district. Includes: new windows in CJHS, Alma Schrader and Jefferson; CHS new gym boiler and gas-fired rooftop units, lighting projects, etc.

Capital improvements throughout district to upgrade facilities and create better learning environment. Includes: CHS auditorium, new roof at CHS and Vo-Tech II, walls in Franklin, upgrading electrical systems and air conditioning, cafeteria upgrades, Vo-Tech equipment, possible Vo-Tech expansion, and library between CJHS and CHS, etc.

Upgrading athletic facilities at CHS. Would include: lighting baseball field, construction of football stadium, track, fixing north side bleachers in new gym, new gym floor, resurfacing tennis courts, etc.

Property decisions. Would include selling Kage and Campster schools, possibly selling property behind Alma Schrader which is not usable, acquisition of property in the northwest part of the city for possible new construction, and property adjacent to CHS for future parking.

If new construction occurs, it will open up several possibilities for different use of our existing buildings. Renovation of Schultz for new board office and maintenance headquarters, warehouse, etc. (Possibly include: air conditioning part of the building, tuck-pointing planned on north side, etc.) Also would include expansion of Vo-Tech to the present board office, renovating this building and moving programs there.

In generating these recommendations, Fox said, input was compiled from maintenance staff, teachers and administrators, technical consultants, an architect, school and city officials.

Committee members examined enrollment figures, class sizes, energy usage, seismic reports, tax levy information, a middle school study, population trends in the city and city improvement plans. Each building was visited and evaluated on both its physical condition and educational condition.

"We are assuming the district will utilize the property at Sprigg and Bertling," Fox said.

The school district own 55 acres at that site.

"If that property is divided into 12 acres and about 40 acres, they could conceivable put both buildings at that location," Fox said.

"We felt that since the school district already owns that property it would be wise to use it instead of looking to purchase other property."

An elementary school at that location, Fox said, could include students from Alma Schrader, Clippard, Washington and Franklin schools.

"I don't think people would have near the objection of moving to a brand new school as they might have if we just redistricted," Fox said.

The recommendation also includes addition of eight or nine classrooms at Jefferson School, making that school the same size as Alma Schrader. That addition is needed, Fox said, to accommodate additional students assigned to that school through the proposed redistricting.

The middle school, Fox said, would also help alleviate overcrowding at the elementary level, but will also provide a new approach for teaching middle level students. He said the educational program committee will likely recommend a middle school concept.

"I personally was not a big proponent of a middle school concept," Fox said. "I knew we had old buildings and elementary overcrowding. Our committee felt that the priority was elementary overcrowding."

The middle school proposal addresses that problem, he said. The facilities committee recommendation includes grades five, six and seven in the middle school. Fox said eighth grade could be added too.

"We felt if we just took out the sixth grade, the elementary schools would have no room for growth."

"We still feel, long-range, that the district ought to acquire property in the northwest corridor of the city," Fox said. "That property will not be available in 20 years." He said the property at Sprigg Street was purchased in 1967.

Fox said another priority for the committee was increasing the amount of money in the district's building fund. The district currently has a total tax levy of $2.85, which is an average rate for the state. The major concern of the committee is the fact that the average state building fund is 29 cents of the total tax levy. Cape Girardeau's building fund is set at 8 cents and raises about $200,000 per year.

If funded at the state average, Fox said, the district would raise almost $700,000 per year.

The report states: "The board is unable to do long-range planning for facilities without increasing the building fund allocations. It is obvious that the board, has, for a number of years, utilized the philosophy that the greatest percentage of money should go to the teachers' fund. A new balance needs to be struck between the needs of teachers and facilities in order to achieve a long-range plan."

Fox said while the process has involved a lot of work, he said the time has been well spent.

"The district needs a long-range plan," he said. "The district needs community involvement. They've got both."

The building projects outlined would require approval of a bond issue by voters.

"This would be a big boon for Cape Girardeau," Fox said. "We don't have a progressive school system. We haven't built anything since the mid-'60s.

"When you talk about raising taxes, a lot of people are opposed to that. But I believe there is not anything more important than the education of our youth.