EDUCATION: REGENTS MEET TODAY

Southeast Missouri State University's Board of Regents could approve a charter school proposal when it meets at 2:30 p.m. today in the University Center Ballroom.

The regents are expected to meet via a telephone conference call to act on a St. Louis neighborhood's application for a charter to operate an elementary and middle school near the Missouri Botanical Garden.

The Botanical Garden would help develop the math and science curriculum, as well as provide horticulture knowledge.

The proposal for the Garden School also envisions using the neighborhood's Tower Grove Park for recreational and special activities and making use of the St. Louis Science Center.

The application was filed with the university on Aug. 1. Under state law, Southeast has 60 days to act on the request. As a result, the regents had to schedule a special meeting to comply with the deadline.

School officials announced the meeting Thursday.

A seven-member review committee, headed by former Sikeston superintendent Robert Buchanan, has reviewed the application.

Kay Mantia, president of the board of directors of the Garden School, said plans call for opening the school next fall with 150 students in five grades: kindergarten, first, second, third and sixth grades.

The school then would expand in 2002 and 2003. Under the proposal, the school would have students in kindergarten through eighth grade by the third year. Total enrollment would be limited to about 300 students.

This is the second charter proposal to come before the regents this year. In April, the regents granted a charter for the Lift for Life Academy, a St. Louis middle school.