FINANCE COMMITTEE ISSUES ITS REPORT

At Monday's meeting of the Cape Girardeau Board of Education, reports were presented from three committees of the Project Partnership endeavor. Beginning Wednesday, the Southeast Missourian began publishing those reports verbatim. Today's report is from the Finance Committee. In Wednesday's edition, the Facilities Committee report was published. In Thursday's edition, Educational Programs Committee report was published.

The Finance Committee was organized to study the financial condition of the Cape Girardeau Public Schools and to make recommendations for long range financial planning. The committee was briefed on basic school finance and informed about Cape Girardeau rankings in many areas. Transportation, food services, extra-curricular services, special services, employee insurance, and adult education budgets were all reviewed and discussed. We have concluded, in general, that we are an average school district financially within Missouri except for the low building fund levy and the absence of any debt service fund.

The lack of a needs-based long range capital plan over the past years has put the system in a difficult position with regard to facilities.

Our committee, along with the Program and Facilities Committees and the Community, share the general feeling that we have a very good school district. Our challenge is to strive for excellence in programs, facilities, and staffing.

The Finance Committee recommends the following items to the Board of Education for consideration:

1) A need for capital improvements has been demonstrated. A capital improvement proposal should address the replacement of Washington and May Greene Schools, which are no longer suitable for their present purpose, with a new elementary school building. Classrooms must be added to Jefferson School and completed in this phase. Redistricting in conjunction with the completion of the new building and classroom additions is necessary and will provide equal educational opportunities across the district.

2) Due to the continuing lack of community and staff consensus on the reconfiguration of grade levels, this committee believes this issue would be best addressed by the professional education staff. Consideration should be given to numerous configurations, including a middle school, based on need, educational philosophy and existing facilities. (For example: Minor renovation expenses would be required to change Central Senior High into a 9-12 comprehensive school, utilizing the existing board office space as an instructional area. The Junior High then could be utilized as a 7-8 Middle School. Schultz School would require little refit for a multiple-needs building.)

3) An increased levy targeted for the building fund is needed and recommended by our committee. Air conditioning, energy conservation improvements, and other building upgrades district-wide should be considered near term.

4) We feel the community is committed to maintaining and improving standards toward excellence in education. Therefore, we recommend the Board make a commitment to the vision of excellence as reviewed by the Programs Committee.

5) Timing of a referendum vote, if approved by the Board of Education, must be carefully considered and not rushed. Clear, concise information explaining the need must reach all voters. Adequate public input is highly desirable and should be aggressively sought to develop a partnership in the total educational plan within our community. Staff endorsement and support will also be critical to a successful vote.

Harry Rediger was chairman of the committee. Serving on the committee were: Richard Chandler, Bekki Cook, David Crowe, Rob Erlbacher, Rev. Charles Grant, Jim Hillin, Michael Kohlfeld, Jim Limbaugh, Marsha Limbaugh, Tom Meyer, Gary Rust, Terry Risko and James Zimmer. Ex-officio members were David Giles, Dan Milligan, Linda Hill, and Shelby Shell.

Our committee strongly supports the long-range planning process now underway. We stand ready to assist the district in the future as the plan is finalized by the Board of Education.