GROUP EXAMINES PAIRING SCHOOLS

Cape Girardeau's redistricting committee looked at pairing Jefferson and May Greene Elementary Schools, with each school becoming an attendance center.

Under the plan, students in first, second and third grades would attend Jefferson, while those in fourth, fifth and sixth grades would attend May Greene.

The initial proposal also would move a portion of the Clippard district, which is south of Independence, into a new Jefferson/May Greene district.

And a section of the Alma Schrader district, which is north of Lexington Avenue and west of Perryville Road, into the Clippard district.

The proposal was just the first scenario discussed by the committee charged with looking at a way to redraw elementary school boundaries. It won't be the last, said school board member Bob Fox, who is co-chairman of the committee with board member Steve Wright.

The committee is made up of parents and elementary school principals.

Fox said the committee doesn't want to do away with neighborhood elementary schools in the city. "The thing I hear over and over and over is that people like their neighborhood schools," he said.

The committee also is considering minority enrollments at the elementary schools, which vary widely throughout the city.

District-wide, minorities make up about 18 percent of the student population.

At May Greene, more than 63 percent of the students are minorities. At Washington, the total is about 35 percent; at Jefferson, 21 percent; and at Clippard and Franklin, 13 percent. Minorities make up less than 6 percent of the student body at Alma Schrader.

School boundaries have remained the same for nearly 30 years while much of the city's population growth has come in the north and west.

Fox called the present boundaries haphazard. "Some go right through neighborhoods," he said.

Elementary principals have recommended using major thoroughfares in the city as boundary lines.

But some are concerned that when the new Mississippi River bridge route is built, May Greene will be the only school south of the highway. "There are no easy answers," Fox said.

Any changes would occur in the fall of 1996 at the earliest.

The committee meets again Jan. 24. The meetings are open to the public. About a dozen parents attended Tuesday and expressed concerns about redistricting.

Ann Fowler, a Clippard parent, objected to the uncertainty brought about by possible boundary changes. "I want my child to go to a specific school," she said.

Brenda Christensen, an Alma Schrader parent, asked, "Have you thought about putting back on the ballot for a new elementary building before doing the redistricting?"

Fox answered that after three failed elections the board is looking for another solution. But, Fox added, the board isn't ruling out another election.