Junior high's cafeteria addition mostly finished

There may be a warm breeze blowing and the pizza might be served on paper plates, but Central Junior High's cafeteria will, for the most part, be in working order when school starts Wednesday.

Everything but the air-conditioning units and dishwashing line is complete on a $200,000 expansion project that will allow the school to lengthen lunch periods and cut down on class scheduling problems.

"Worst-case scenario, we'll have to use paper plates and open the windows for a few days," said Rob Huff, chief financial officer for the Cape Girardeau School District. "But we're really pleased with the project. People thought we were nuts trying to get it done in this time frame, but it worked."

Problems with the junior high lunch schedule began last year, when the junior high took up residence in the former high school building on Caruthers Avenue.

For years, the cafeteria on Caruthers served daily only around 170 10th- through 12th-graders who chose not to use the school's open campus policy.

When seventh- and eighth-graders moved to the building in 2002, the open campus policy was changed and the cafeteria began serving around 575 students daily.

The cafeteriaa's size forced the school to divide the lunch schedule into six shifts, with the first shift eating at 10:50 a.m. and the last shift eating at 12:50 p.m. The 28-minute shifts caused numerous class scheduling problems, and made students feel rushed while they were eating.

The shifts overlapped each other, so students were instructed to go to the school gymnasium just as soon as they finished eating to make room for the next shift.

The solution came in the form of an addition to the north side of the building in an area that formerly served as parking. This year's lunch is divided into just three shifts, giving students 32 minutes to eat.

Construction of the addition began in early June before school had dismissed for the summer and has continued on schedule for the past two months. Pending the installment of an aluminum dishwashing line and control of the air-conditioning units being turned over to the school, the work is complete.

The dishwashing line is expected to be here in the next week, and the air-conditioning controls should be turned on today or Wednesday.

"It will be a little inconvenient, but nothing we can't survive," said junior high principal Lee Gattis. "The cooks will still be able to cook and we'll have the tables set up."

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128