MAKING SCHOOLS SAFE

More than $1.2 million in Safe Schools Act funds has been issued to Southeast Missouri schools since August 1996, and administrators are wasting no time putting that money to use.

Missouri set aside $10 million in grant funding to help schools establish and improve security measures in 1996. Thirty school districts in Southeast Missouri and 100 districts overall benefited from the funding.

Bob Buchanan, superintendent of Sikeston schools, said school districts have been asking the state for safe school funding for years. "It's long overdue," he said. "Public schools in Missouri had to fight courts and legislation for many, many years. They were required to keep students in school that are very aggressive, but were not provided any instruction on how to maintain safety standards. Now we have something to aid us."

Equipment grants were awarded to a maximum of $75,000, and individual alternative program or consortium program grants were issued in a maximum of $100,000 and $200,000, respectively.

Districts receiving funding for equipment are required to match it dollar-for-dollar, while districts implementing alternative education programs are required to provide 30 percent of the total cost.

Cape Girardeau schools received a consortium grant to serve students from Cape Girardeau, Nell Holcomb, Zalma, Jackson and Meadow Heights who are not succeeding in their home school. The alternative school currently is housed in the Salvation Army building, but will be expanding and moving into the Cape Girardeau Civic Center as a result of the new funding.

"We're using that money in conjunction with funding we received from the juvenile justice system," said Dr. Dan Tallent, superintendent of Cape Girardeau schools.

The alternative school program started with 30 students used a Juvenile Diversionary Grant and included the 32nd judicial district.

"As we thought about applying to the state, we decided to continue serving the schools in that district rather than only the students in Cape Girardeau's community," Tallent said.

As a result of the new funding, Tallent said the program will now serve up to 80 students. He said the alternative programming helps improve safety both in schools and on the streets. "It keeps students involved in the educational process so it can keep them from becoming involved in the juvenile justice system," he said.

"We have submitted statistics that show our kids in that program are not getting involved with the police and the justice system."

Sikeston was one of the only school districts in the state lucky enough to receive both equipment and alternative programming grants. Buchanan said the district used the equipment funding to purchase computers for the alternative school, and to improve outdoor lighting and install closed-circuit monitoring in parking areas.

Buchanan said the consortium grant shared with Bell City and Scott County Central will help all students, not only the students attending the alternative school.

"This sort of funding is helpful in two ways," he said. "First, for students who have not been successful in regular programs, a large percentage are successful and are working their way back into regular programs. And second, this program makes the regular school climate much more orderly."

Charleston superintendent Terry Rowe said the funding will help area school districts make improvements they have wanted to make for a long time. In the past, the funding has not been there, he said, "but when you get 50 cents on the dollar, you jump at that."

Charleston schools used equipment funding to purchase video monitors and new intercom systems inside the middle and high schools. Outdoor lighting was added at all schools, and some fencing was also added at the elementary school and high school.

Oak Ridge superintendent Cheri Fuemmeller said parents, faculty and staff in the district were very supportive of the safe school initiative. "They're very enthusiastic about it," she said. "As a matter of fact, we have to match the grant, and 50 percent of that match is coming from the PTO."

Fuemmeller said the district is using the funding it received to upgrade the phone and intercom system and install lighting on campus. They also plan to purchase video cameras for all of the buses.

Overall, school administrators said their districts do not have major problems with safety. Even so, they said, it is important to make classrooms and school campuses as secure as they can be for students, faculty, staff and visitors.

"It's a shame these things need to be used, but we're not going to bury our heads in the sand," Rowe said. "We're not saying `Hey, we have problems.' We just want to leave the problems in the community and the area out there and make our schools safe for our students."

SAFE SCHOOLS FUNDING

EQUIPMENT GRANTS ($75,000 MAXIMUM):

Caruthersville (18 Schools): $9,075

Sikeston Schools: $75,000

Poplar Bluff: $37,743

Oak Ridge: $6,205

Malden: $5,642

Charleston: $70,670

ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM GRANTS ($100,000 MAXIMUM):

PRE K-12:

Caruthersville: $100,000

GRADES 9-12:

Portageville: $81,446

ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM CONSORTIUM GRANTS

(3 OR MORE SCHOOLS -- $200,000 MAXIMUM):

The first school district listed will be serving as the fiscal agent for these consortium projects.

Sikeston Schools: $187,834

Bell City

Scott County Central

Poplar Bulff Schools: $160,503

Twin Rivers

Neelyville

Kennett Schools: $200,000

Clarkton

Cooter

Hayti

Holcomb R-III

North Pemiscot

Senath/Hornersville

South Pemiscot

Southland

Bloomfield Schools: $174,000

Dexter

Puxico

Advance

Cape Girardeau Schools: $199,840

Nell Holcomb

Zalma

Jackson

Meadow Heights