KINDERGARTEN SIGN UP CRUNCH DOESN'T MATERIALIZE

Bill Phillips arrived at Alma Schrader school early Friday to get the jump on enrolling his daughter in kindergarten.

But as it turned out, the anticipated enrollment rush never materialized. Only 54 kindergarten students for the 1992-93 school year were enrolled during the day-long registration, well short of the projected 100.

Phillips arrived at 3 a.m. at Alma Schrader school. "I checked with the school about registration and they said, `You better get here by 4 (a.m.).'"

He said, "I told my wife, I don't even stand in line for her Neil Diamond concert tickets that early."

The kindergarten enrollment at Alma Schrader culminated a four-day kindergarten roundup in the Cape Girardeau public schools. Enrollment took place Tuesday at Washington and Jefferson schools, Wednesday at Charles Clippard and May Greene, Thursday at Franklin and Friday at Alma Schrader.

Richard Bollwerk, director of elementary education for the Cape Girardeau public schools, said Saturday, "Enrollments all across the district were somewhat lower than last year.

"I think we probably have 200 registered right now."

The school district has 316 kindergarten students this academic year and school district officials had projected there would be 300 or fewer kindergarten students for the coming year.

"Alma Schrader and Clippard usually have a good turnout on the kindergarten roundup," he pointed out.

Nearly 70 kindergarten students were enrolled last week at Clippard for the 1992-93 school year.

Libby Roeger, co-president of the Alma Schrader PTA, said she was surprised by the low turnout at the school.

"We had anticipated enrolling close to 100 children this morning," she said Friday.

The PTA opened the doors to the school at 5 a.m. last year. "This year, because we anticipated a higher enrollment, we opened at 4 o'clock," she said.

But the anticipated heavy enrollment never occurred.

The school district has a cap on kindergarten class size of 25 students. Each year, there are generally a few students who are transferred from their neighborhood schools to other elementary schools to accommodate the class-size cap.

At this point, students are enrolled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The school district has 14 sections of kindergarten this year. Bollwerk said it's uncertain how many kindergarten classes the district will have in the next school year. "We may need no more than 11 or 12 sections."

Said Bollwerk, "We may have more kindergarten teachers employed right now than we will need next year, but it is still too early to tell."

More parents will be registering their children for kindergarten in the coming months, he20pointed out.

At May Greene school, few parents enroll their children during the spring roundup, said Bollwerk. "We only have six pre-registered."

While the enrollment numbers appear to be lower for the coming school year, Bollwerk said he expects enrollment will increase in succeeding years.

Some information for this story was provided by staff photographer Fred Lynch.