JACKSON TAKES FIRST STEP TOWARD MIDDLE SCHOOL; SCHOOL BOARD ACCEPTS COMMITTEE'S REPORT

JACKSON -- The Jackson Board of Education has taken the first step toward construction of a middle school by accepting in principle a recommendation of a citizens facility advisory committee.

The committee, appointed this year by the school board, presented its final report to the board in late August. It recommends the district consider a middle school as the only viable option to relieve serious student overcrowding at R.O. Hawkins Junior High School and a growing enrollment problem at the nearby West Lane Elementary School.

The proposed middle school would house grades six and seven; grades eight and nine would remain at the junior high school.

With the board's decision Tuesday to accept the advisory committee's report, Superintendent Wayne Maupin said the district is "now on course, preparing to work toward that goal."

Maupin said the district will begin planning at once for the middle school.

"We hope to be able to name an architect for the school at our Oct. 13 board meeting," said Maupin. "Second, we will move toward contacting a bonding attorney to work with the district on financing the new building. Third, site acquisition for the new school will become a topic for the board to discuss in the near future, and fourth, we plan to begin to organize faculty committees to gather input from the teachers and staff on the design and layout of the building. This step will begin in about two weeks."

The actual student capacity of the middle school will be determined later, pending further analysis of five-to-10-year enrollment trends in the school district and when cost estimates of the middle school are available, Maupin said.

"We're trying to be practical and realistic, but at the same time with an eye toward the future," he said. "We do not want to build a school that will be obsolete one year after it's opened; but on the other hand we do not want to build more than we will need."

Maupin said the district hopes an increase in the tax levy will not be necessary to build the middle school.

"At this point we don't know what the cost of the new school will be, but we are going to do everything we can to do it without asking for a tax increase," he said.

Maupin said the board has discussed submitting the middle school proposal to voters in April 1993. But he cautioned, "There is an awful lot to be done between now and then, and whether or not we can do all of the various planning tasks between now and April remains to be seen."

The junior high school was built to accommodate 500 students. It now has a student enrollment of over 900 seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders.

Enrollment at West Lane Elementary School last year was 613. Maupin said the school has already exceeded its design capacity. The school has grades four, five, and six.

Assistant Superintendent Fred Jones reported to the board on new standards of admission that have been set by Missouri's universities and colleges. He compared them with the Jackson School District's standards for high school graduation.

Jones said the report shows the district "matches up pretty well" with the higher education admission standards.

The report says there is increased emphasis on academic advising for students entering ninth grade and throughout their high school years. Jones said a lot of planning needs to be done by parents and students who are entering ninth grade to make sure they have met the new college and university admission standards by the time they graduate from high school.

Jones also reported on the new Reading Recovery program that started this fall. "Early indications are it's off to a good start," said Jones.

In other action, the board approved a request of Jack and Carlene Stanley for admission of their son, Jason, as a non-resident student. However, the tuition requirement was not waived.

The board voted to cancel it's Sept. 22 meeting. The next board meeting will be Oct. 13.