Incumbent, ex-superintendent file for Cape School Board posts

The deadline to file for school board elections is a week from today, and a former superintendent and current school board member have filed for positions in Cape Girardeau.

Don Call and incumbent Paul Nenninger will run for three-year terms in the April 6 election.

Call, who retired from education in 2004, held superintendent positions for about 20 years. A former physical education and history teacher, he took his first superintendent position in Advance. He later worked at Humansville, Sparta and Strafford, school districts in southwestern Missouri.

Call now works part time as the director of the Rural Consortium for Educational Technology, which helps provide technology training for teachers.

A 1966 graduate of Central High School, Call moved back to Cape Girardeau with his wife last year. He said four of his five children are teachers, including a daughter at Clippard Elementary.

He attended a school board work session about the district's bond proposal on Tuesday. He is also analyzing a copy of the district's budget, his area of expertise as an administrator, he said.

"I miss dealing with budgets and things like that," he said.

As an administrator, Call oversaw several construction projects, including a new elementary school in Sparta. Before he retired, voters in Strafford passed a $5 million bond issue, that included additions to the middle school and an auditorium.

"There is a little surge in learning and pride in the school when you build something for the students," he said.

The Cape Girardeau School District is contemplating a $40 million bond issue to address deferred maintenance, overcrowding and security upgrades. The plan also includes energy efficiency measures, a building to replace Franklin Elementary and additions at the high school.

At a recent meeting, Nenninger advocated breaking the proposal into smaller bond issues over several years. District officials and financial advisers have said it will be more expensive to take on the project incrementally because interest rates will rise as the economy rebounds.

Nenninger said he is worried about the financial impact of the plan at a time when future state financial support is in question.

"I think the risk to us having to make significant budget cuts in our operating funds in a crucial time like that is not good," he said.

An analysis showed the plan would increase the district's operational costs by $28,500. Experts, including a team of architects, engineers and construction managers, said it would have minimal impact to the district's nearly $43 million budget.

Nenninger retired in 2002 after working for the Secret Service for 26 years. He was elected to the board in 2007. A 1968 graduate of Notre Dame Regional High School, Nenninger received an undergraduate degree in education from Southeast Missouri State University. During his tenure on the school board, he said board members have worked to create more accountability with the administration and teachers.

"We kept asking for better statistics regarding what's going on with students," he said.

The board receives regular reports about student testing throughout the school year. The board also adopted a new evaluation process for the superintendent.

Nenninger said he would like to continue long-term planning projects with the district.

"We kind of just solve the problem of the day and hope nothing serious happens tomorrow," he said.

The district is formulating its strategic plan, known as the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan, which is updated every five years. He said the district also made a step toward long-term planning with facilities plan, which outlines $50 million in construction projects.

Incumbent Laura Sparkman is also up for re-election. She did not return requests to comment about whether she will file.

abusch@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

301 N. Clark Ave. Cape Girardeau, MO

Candidates who filed for school board races by Monday afternoon:

Altenburg

Harold France*

Richard Sachs*

Chaffee

No filings

Delta

Michelle Steimle

Jackson

Dan Stover*

Gerald Adams*

Kelly

Kindel Ward*

John Felter*

Kelso

No filings

Leopold

Daniel James

Bryan Stroder*

Martin Arnzen

Meadow Heights

Sheila Bess

Dennis Mouser*

Nell Holcomb

Dean Reeves*

Oak Ridge

George Below

Diane Mangels*

James Seyer

David Matthews

Oran

Jennifer Holmes

Perryville

Tina Littge*

Nancy Voelker*

Scott City

Lisa Schaefer

David Gene Thompson*

Keefer Daniels

Gary Haynes

Bobby Bollinger II

Woodland

Chris Rhodes

Brian K. Johnson

Michael R. Sowers

Dale Long

Zalma

Mike Hovis*

Aaron Lemons

* Incumbent