OFFICIALS PLAN TO EDUCATE PUBLIC ON SCHOOL VOTES

Area school officials are doing their homework and legwork to win voter-approval of tax levy and bonding proposals being considered in April elections.

Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Delta and Perryville school districts all could benefit financially if voters give the nod to a combined seven ballot issues on April 4.

Superintendents said they have studied their district's long-range financial outlooks to be sure their proposals will have the maximum impact at the least cost. In addition, they're making the rounds to civic meetings and forums to educate the voters on why their requests should be approved.

"We've tried to answer all the concerns that people would have," said Cape Girardeau schools Superintendent Dan Steska. "Of course there is the cost concern, but I think people realize we have been as frugal as possible and still maintain a quality, attractive facility."

Cape Girardeau school officials hope to win voter approval of an $18 million bond issue to build a new high school. The issue does not require a tax increase; rather, it grants a three-year extension to the debt service levy approved by voters in 1997.

A four-sevenths majority, or 57.14 percent, is needed to pass the measure.

"We're asking them to approve an $18 million bond issue that would be added to the $14 million bond issue approved in 1997," said Steska. "It would require total payoff in 20 years for two issues versus the 17 years remaining on the first issue."

Steska said school officials are taking a multi-pronged approach to educating voters on the bond issue. Each school building has a campaign team charged with educating parents and grandparents about the proposal. Those teams also work with Vision 2000 members to distribute information and help residents become registered voters.

Steska and others also attend meetings in the community and contact local church leaders to explain how the bond issue would benefit the district.

Advertising is scheduled to begin later in March.

"This effort helps everyone, and it is the second phase of the commitment designed by the master planning committee to enhance the total school program both instructionally and in improved facilities," Steska said. "I think people are just beginning to realize the new high school is only one aspect of the total benefit this issue brings to the community."

The major benefit will be decreased enrollment throughout district elementary schools. Jefferson, Blanchard and Clippard all are nearing enrollment capacities, while Franklin received some breathing room after school boundaries were redrawn last year, Steska said.

The new high school would enable the district to move grades nine through 12 into the new high school and convert the existing Central High School to a seventh- and eighth-grade junior high school. Central Junior High would become a fifth- and sixth-grade center, and enrollments in the elementary school would be confined to kindergarten through fourth grades.

The district would close the aging Louis J. Schultz seventh-grade center if the issue passes.

"It's a solution that has long-range impact in terms of space and more instructional opportunities," Steska said.

Delta

The Delta Board of Education is asking voters to approve a full waiver of the Proposition C rollback. The move would mean the school board could increase the district's $2.75 operating tax levy up to the tax ceiling, of $3.22 cents per $100 assessed valuation, if an emergency occurred or additional expenses arose.

"We do not have any intention of doing that at this time but having it in place where we could do that would be a real benefit," Superintendent Tom Allen said.

One benefit of the full waiver could occur if the school board approved a one-year adjustment of its overall tax rate by lowering the debt service levy and transferring some surplus funds to the operating levy. Voters wouldn't pay any more in taxes, but the increased operating funds could mean additional state funding.

"I think it could be very beneficial to have this ability to do this one-time transfer," Allen said. "The state, of course, will pay you more if you have more money in the operating fund."

Allen is "cautiously optimistic" Delta voters will approve the measure, which requires a simple majority to pass. If it's not approved, "it really wouldn't change the way we operate at all," he said.

Jackson

The story is different in Jackson where significant enrollment growth has the junior high school operating at capacity and where rising class sizes in elementary grades are demonstrating a need for a sixth elementary school.

Superintendent Ron Anderson said the district no longer can afford to spend down fund balances and needs additional operating and construction funding. That's why he's making the rounds to civic meetings to garner support for two issues in April elections.

Anderson said the school board elected to conduct meeting presentations and send information home with students over sponsoring forums because the groups are more representative of district patronage.

"We feel that they represent a large segment of the community and a lot of different activities. We think you get a multiplier effect. I think in all, anyway we can get the information disseminated and answer questions is what we need to do."

The first ballot issue Jackson voters will consider seeks to fund an $11 million bond issue for construction of a new elementary school, an addition and renovations to R.O. Hawkins Junior High, and some technology upgrades throughout the district. The measure would increase the debt service levy by 15 cents to 61 cents per $100 assessed valuation.

A four-sevenths majority, or 57 percent, is needed to pass the measure.

The second proposal seeks a full Proposition C waiver similar to what Delta voters will consider. However, Jackson school officials want to increase the operating tax levy by 40 cents to $3.15 per $100 assessed valuation to hire additional certified and support staff.

The waiver, which requires a simple majority vote for passage, would generate about $850,000 in additional local tax money, and the district would "at a minimum get dollar-for-dollar from the state," Anderson said.

"In a growing district, you have more students and so therefore you have to have more staff and more space for staff and students," he said. "We've been spending reserves for the past two years and we can't continue doing that."

Anderson said it's too early to tell whether voters will support the two proposals although he thinks support is a logical conclusion due to the district's phenomenal growth in recent years.

While the growth has meant additional students and local tax funding, that funding won't cover the cost to educate those students. Last year, Jackson spent $4,377 a student, well below per-pupil expenditures in Cape, $5,087; Farmington, $5,130; Poplar Bluff, $4,853; and Sikeston, $4,708.

And for each new student, the district only receives about $3,800 in additional local and tax funding.

"We're getting a lot out of our dollars, but we're spending well below other schools our size," Anderson said. "Even counting the state aid that comes with it, it's still short $1,500 a student."

If voters reject one or both proposals, Anderson said his board will likely place the issues on other ballots this year.

"Whatever happens, you can't really do one without the other," he said. "You have to go back and get the other passed. That's the only option."

Perryville

Perryville schools Superintendent Stephen Doerr is trying to overcome nearly 30 years worth of voter rejections this April.

Doerr is working with a special committee and the school board to pass three separate issues: Proposition Y, a full Proposition C waiver and operating tax levy increase of 55 cents per $100 assessed valuation to fund recruitment and retention of staff and provide driver's education instruction; Proposition E, a 4-cent capital project tax to fund building maintenance costs; and Proposition S, a 20-cent per $100 assessed valuation debt service levy that would finance a $5.3 million bond issue for construction of a new upper elementary school.

In all, voters would see an overall tax increase of 79 cents per $100 assessed valuation if all three proposals were approved. Propositions Y and E require a simple majority for passage, but a four-sevenths majority is needed for passage of Proposition S.

"We're doing things to let people know and to reassure the public that what we say is what we're going to be doing," Doerr said. "I think it's going very well."

Doerr also has made the rounds at civic and business group meetings within his district, but he said a major push for votes will take place in March.

The YES for Kids committee is promoting the funding proposals plans a door-to-door canvas of voters along with other activities dedicated to "proactive support of Propositions Y, E and S," he said.

"I think from the staff's perspective and the community's perspective, the questions are how, in the long run, these will affect educational programs," said Doerr. "When they see that information and are able to see the need, they can understand why we're making the requests that we are."

Doerr said his district's assessed valuation has grown as new industries and residents have come to the district. However, that increase has been coupled with a decrease in state funding that has "impacted our ability to attract new dollars and address educational issues."

By approving the YES campaign, voters will indicate they want to invest in their students' future, said Doerr.

"The comments I've heard are that the community has done a lot to bring industry in and now it's time to help the schools," he said. "They're saying We've done things to make the community nice, and it's time we do something for the kids now.'"

If the measures don't pass, Doerr said the school board likely will seek approval later this year. Voters shouldn't expect to see a different proposal, however.

"There won't be a lower issue later -- we've already trimmed it quite a bit," Doerr said.