EDUCATION: CITY SCHOOLS TIGHTEN BELT PENDING HANCOCK RULING

Extra teaching supplies, general maintenance projects and new air-conditioning units at Central High School are on hold until two lawsuits holding up a $1 million state allocation for the new Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center are resolved, which likely won't happen before January.

District schools superintendent Dr. Dan Steska said money budgeted for minor repairs, beautification projects and other nonessential expenditures was suspended Tuesday. Written approval from the district business manager is required for any extra spending.

Included in the freeze was a plan to finish electrical wiring at Central High School in preparation for the addition of classroom air-conditioning units over the next two years.

"We don't want to get to the point in the spring where we can't pay the bills or meet salary demands," Steska said. "It's very serious and we're watching the lawsuits very closely."

The spending freeze was prompted by two lawsuits brought by Missouri business interests and two Republican state lawmakers challenging the state's calculation of revenue under the Hancock Amendment, which limits the growth rate of state revenue. The lawsuits claim the state incorrectly figured the amount owed to taxpayers in order to keep refunds as low as possible.

The General Assembly set aside $1 million for the career center last summer to cover part of the shortfall between district estimates and higher bids on the career center, but the money can't be disbursed until the lawsuit is resolved. Even with the allocation, the district is $800,000 short of the total project cost.

Steska said the career center should be completed by early spring, and the contractors deserve to be paid on time, so the district will have to cover the $1.8 million shortfall by shifting funding from its operating budget and reserve balances.

The district has just $1.5 million in reserve balances, so any dramatic withdrawals would place the district in a precarious financial position that could include being designated as a financially stressed district by the state. The designation would require a mandatory budget freeze to allow the district time to rebuild its reserve balances.

The bulk of the $11 million project was covered by a $14 million bond issue voters approved in 1997 for construction of the career center and a new elementary school as well as for building upgrades throughout the district..