Gifted program out at Central High; officials say advanced classes make program redundant

A long-standing program for gifted students is going away at Cape Girardeau Central High School, officials said.

"We have had it for quite a very long time," said Chris Kase, the school's principal.

Because a teacher in charge of the program will retire by the end of the school year, Kase said the opportunity arose to re-evaluate how educational services are being delivered to academically talented students.

Although gifted programs are required by the state in the K-8 grade levels, they are not required for high-school students, and few high schools have them, Kase said.

Instead, students can receive accelerated instruction by taking advanced-placement courses, as well as dual-credit and honors classes.

Earlier this week, superintendent Jim Welker said gifted-program participation has been dwindling at the high school, with fewer than 10 students enrolled last semester and fewer than 15 the semester before.

With that in mind, paying a salary for a gifted teacher had become nonessential.

"The expense involved is a piece of it, but the upper-level classes are another factor that we looked at," Kase said, adding, "Anytime a program that's been a fixture ... is leaving, there are going to be some concerns ... but we felt like that's the decision we needed to make."

Kase declined to allow a reporter to speak with Emily Limbaugh, the gifted-program teacher, about how the program worked and what it accomplished during her years at the high school. The public school district has a policy in which teachers are not allowed to speak to the media without permission from the administration.

The decision to eliminate the gifted program also plays in to the district's new seven-period day that will take effect at the junior high and high school during the next academic year.

Having seven class periods instead of eight, along with a 45-minute advisory period and only one preparation period instead of two, leaves room for fewer teachers on staff and has triggered several retirements and resignations in the past few months.

"Would we have loved to continue with the eight-period day? Absolutely," Kase said, but the cost to the district was too high and took away from things that could be done at local elementary and middle schools.

Rather than institute layoffs, the district has offered incentives to certified and non-certified district employees who qualify. Certified employees consist of teachers, counselors and some administrators; non-certified employees work as administrative assistants or in maintenance or food service.

Depending on the number of years worked, some will receive full health and dental benefits for a year after retiring. Others will get a modified plan under early retirement.

At a school-board work session in November, a crowd of teachers attended to express concerns about moving away from an eight-period day, because they said it would mean fewer advanced courses available to students.

However, Kase said in addition to academic-recovery classes, enrichment classes such as health and P.E. will be offered instead during the summer, freeing college-bound students to load up on more AP courses during the normal school year. AP courses will not be part of the four-week summer curriculum because it is too short a time for the depth of the subject matter.

ljones@semissourian.com

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