Crowd comments on Cape School Board president's appearance in Notre Dame ad

A debate over public and private schools was held Monday night during the Cape Girardeau School Board meeting after an audience of several dozen people gathered to comment on the board president's appearance in an ad for Notre Dame Regional High School.

Paul Nenninger, a Notre Dame graduate, appeared in the school's ad campaign promoting alumni efforts in the community.

Jennifer Dennis, a parent, said the ad reflected poorly on the board's support of the school system.

"It's a shame and a little bit of an embarrassment," Dennis said.

A series of public comments turned into a board debate about the merits of having private schools. Nenninger turned the meeting over to vice president Luther Bonds before the discussion began.

Board member Dr. Steve Trautwein said the existence of private schools makes the public schools stronger.

"We know that parents have the option to move their children to other schools," he said.

Other board members said the ad promoted confusion about the role of the school board. Board member Phil Moore said the board should be promoting the betterment of the district.

"It's just questioning the leadership of our board and what our primary focus is," he said.

Tony Buehrle, director of development for Notre Dame, spoke during the meeting to explain the purpose of the campaign, at times drawing negative comments from the crowd. He said the purpose of the campaign is to show how alumni have contributed to the community, including the school system.

"I stand before you publicly tonight and I apologize," he said, in reference to the offense it caused.

He took questions from the board about the campaign, which also features other alumni. He said he did not see it as a conflict of interest and that Nenninger had been approached before he was elected president of the board. He also noted the passage of the recent bond issue was due, in part, to support from the Notre Dame community.

During her regular report to the board, Community Teachers Association president Jena Mabry said the staff was concerned about Nenninger's loyalty and commitment. She said teacher polls showed his actions, including his views against the bond proposal, have hurt the morale of the district.

Community member Doug Austin said he supported Nenninger as the voters did when they re-elected him in April. He said Nenninger's leadership is better reflected by his ability to help manage the district.

"I would be very cautious about writing new rules of loyalty," he said.

Nenninger, who did not address the crowd during the meeting, said he did not plan to resign over the matter and was sorry the community was offended by the ad. He said he asked Austin and Buehrle to talk at the meeting to help explain his actions.

"I did it to support my alma mater because they asked," he said in an interview after the meeting.

In other action, the board:

• Set three special meetings. The board will meet at 6 p.m. June 8 to approve the sale of bonds, at 6 p.m. June 15 to interview candidates for the school board vacancy and at noon June 16 to select a new board member.
• Approved transporting students within one mile of their schools.
• Approved the summer school application for 2010.
• Had a first reading of board policy GCN.
• Had a second reading of board policies GBBDA, GCBDA, GDBDA, GDBE.
• Approved 2010-2011 stipends.
• Approved 2010-2011 salary schedules.
• Tabled a resolution asking state Sen. Jason Crowell to make request of the attorney general regarding video conferencing during board meetings.
• Accepted the resignation of Dr. Steve Trautwein.

abusch@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

301 N. Clark Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO