GRANDFATHER APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

Parents whose children were affected by recently-adopted elementary school boundary changes must return requests to grandfather their children to the Cape Girardeau School District before the July 30 deadline.

Applications are available at the district's administrative office, 61 N. Clark, for children hoping to continue their school attendance at the buildings they attended during the 1998-99 school year.

On June 28, the Board of Education approved a phase-in process for students who would be moved from the school they attended during the 1998-99 school year due to redrawn elementary school boundary lines.

School board members asked administrators to design an application for parents who wanted to give eligible children the option of either remaining at their former school or moving as the new boundaries dictate.

Board members voted to allow "grandfathering" for all fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders and their siblings who are enrolled for the 1999-2000 school year with parents to provide transportation.

Deadline for applications is July 30. Eligible children get a one-time-only opportunity to be "grandfathered."

Assistant superintendent Cathy Evans, who started with the district last week, said she has received about 24 applications so far. Some 225 students were affected by the boundary changes, and Evans said she expects many more requests before the deadline passes.

Evans was unsure how many children were eligible for the phase-in process next year.

"We're expecting with three weeks left before the deadline the numbers will increase," she said. "I don't know how many children were affected or qualify for this."

In April, school board members approved new elementary school boundaries that slightly modified the original plan adopted in 1997. Under the proposal, most school boundaries remained the same as in the original proposal, with the most significant changes affecting Jefferson and Franklin schools.

The vote ended months of debate regarding where to establish the new boundaries. However, a group of parents upset over the changes continued their requests for a process that would allow some or all affected students to remain at their home school.

In response, then-assistant superintendent David Giles surveyed parents of affected children to determine the level of interest in grandfathering. Of 225 surveys mailed, 153 patrons responded.

Some 64 percent of those responding indicated they would take advantage of the opportunity to remain at their current school. About 31 percent of those responding were not interested in grandfathering their children, while about 5 percent had no preference.

Most affected by blanket grandfathering would be Blanchard and Franklin schools. Blanchard, at just over 61 percent, would be extremely underutilized if all eligible children remained at their home schools. Franklin, a small school that has suffered from increasing enrollments in recent years, would remain overcrowded with nearly 50 students more than its capacity of 350.

At Clippard and Alma Schrader schools, class sizes would increase in some cases, but little change was expected with blanket grandfathering otherwise.

Based on the survey results, school board members rejected a motion at a May meeting to allow blanket grandfathering for all affected children by a 5-2 vote. Instead, they asked administrators to gather data regarding the impact of grandfathering if only older students were allowed to opt out of the redistricting.

Board members voted to allow partial grandfathering after determining little impact would result.

Evans said she will monitor incoming applications and then make decisions regarding the next school year. For example, building enrollment affects staff and faculty assignments, she said.

Equipment and food purchases also may be impacted by building enrollment.

"We're looking at these numbers as they're coming in and trying to determine what type of impact they will have (on class sizes)," she said.

Parents should contact Evans at (573) 335-1967 for more information on the application. Forms must be received by the July 30 deadline to be considered.