EDUCATION: STATE TEAM SCORES CAPE SCHOOLS' JOB

Cape Girardeau school administrators expect high marks from a state review team in town this week to evaluate the district's finances, facilities, educational programs and curriculum.

A team of educators began an in-depth review of the school district Tuesday as part of the Missouri School Im-provement Program, which reviews and accredits the state's public schools within a five-year review cycle. The team will conclude its review today.

District business manager Rob Huff said he expects the team to renew the district's full accreditation status although it's possible the district could receive even higher honors.

"It's going to be tight, but we think we have a shot at accredited with distinction," Huff said.

The Missouri School Im-provement Program was established by the Outstanding School Act of 1993 as a process of accrediting school districts as mandated by state law.

On completion of its evaluation, the team submits a report to the State Board of Education, which then classifies a district or makes administrative decisions based on a district's poor performance.

There are four classifications are: Unaccredited, provisionally accredited, accredited and accredited with distinction.

The Nell Holcomb School District is the only Southeast Missouri district to have achieved the highest level.

The review holds districts accountable for maintaining and upgrading resource, process and performance standards. With each five-year review, there is more emphasis on the performance standards, Huff said.

"You reach a point where you have paperwork for every process, but you can't float on just that -- you have to produce on those assessments," Huff said. "It's easy to say we're doing a good job. It's much more difficult to prove it."