Perry County schools brace for crucial tax vote

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Kent Hadler entered high school believing he would have four years to catch the eyes of college scouts who would offer him scholarships for track and cross country.

Without them, he knew it would be difficult to afford higher education.

By the end of his sophomore year, he'd finished well in two state cross country meets and one track meet. But all last week, as his third state cross country meet approached, the Perryville High School junior had an unexpected motivation: It could be his last competition -- his last chance at those scholarships.

If a 50-cent per $100 assessed valuation tax levy increase on Tuesday's Perry County ballot fails, there will be no more athletics, no extracurricular activities, reduced transportation, four fewer classes and seven fewer faculty positions, including five teaching positions, at the start of next year.

Voters have defeated tax hikes in 12 elections since 1974, with the most recent defeat coming in April. Fifty-one percent voted no.

"I'm trying to block it out of my head with the state competition coming up this weekend," Hadler said Thursday. "I hope to get it all out of my head."

For the past two years, the district has established election committees, campaigned door-to-door, taken telephone surveys and created informational brochures for the community, but in the end, administrators said, it wasn't enough.

Getting tough

The April defeat, along with growing concerns over the district's financial status, prompted school officials to take a harder approach at selling the tax increase. On Oct. 2, Perry County School District No. 32 released a list of proposed cuts, which included a short list of items to be cut regardless of the tax levy vote and a longer list of items to be cut if the levy increase fails. Four clerical positions, a library assistant and the alternative school are on the short list.

But the plan, meant to educate the community about the levy's importance, left some residents feeling threatened and wondering if the board actually will make the cuts if it fails.

"The district says they don't mean to sound threatening, but to a certain extent, I do feel threatened," said Perryville resident Judy Huber. "If it fails, they probably will cut some things out, but I don't think they'll cut it all. It just seems like they're crying wolf."

Huber is a parent of seven children. Six went to St. Vincent's Catholic School in Perryville. The seventh attended there for a while before transferring to the public schools because he needed special education services not offered at St. Vincent's.

Huber says she is against the increase because she thinks the district has mishandled its money and been dishonest about the budget and expenses. Five other Perry County parents who declined to give their names echoed her comments.

But Steve Landholt, who has children in the Perryville schools, thinks some voters haven't educated themselves about the district's expenses.

"There are people still running around with strange ideas about things," he said. "They haven't taken the time to get their questions answered."

Landholt said people see things like the new elementary school computer lab and automatically think it must have been funded by the school, when in fact it was purchased through Parent-Teacher Organization funds.

The district is audited every year, even though the state only mandates audits be done every two years. The audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000, done by Larson, Allen, Weishair & Co., LLP, reported no discrepancies or irregularities in the district's operations and qualified it as a "low-risk auditee."

The main criticism listed in audit findings was "lack of segregation of duties" in the accounting department due to "budget constraints limiting the number of personnel" in that department.

No DESE designation

Still, some question why the district needs more money if it has not been deemed financially stressed by private auditor or, perhaps more importantly, by the state.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has a set of guidelines used to determine if a district is financially stressed -- basically, if it ends a fiscal year with a balance of less than 3 percent of its annual budget.

Dale Carlson, director of DESE's financial department, said Perry County School District No. 32 is not on the list of districts in financial distress, nor has it ever been in the past.

When interim superintendent Beverly Schonhoff presented the current budget to the board, it showed projected expenditures exceeding revenues by $430,548 and also showed a decrease of $800,000 in the district's reserves over a two-year period. She said the increase in the tax levy is necessary so the district doesn't run its reserves dry.

"Depleting the reserves doesn't solve the problem it only puts off the inevitable," she said. "If we continue with this practice, we will be bankrupt in four years. We are trying to be proactive rather than reactive."

Of the more than 500 school districts in the Missouri, Perryville is one of only 18 with a tax rate below $2.75.

"The lower the tax level, the less state aid we are going to receive," said Carolyn Pontillas, Perryville school board president. "The state will reward more if you invest at the local level."

Cape Girardeau School District has a tax rate of $3.99 and Jackson School District has a rate of $3.31. Perryville's tax rate is only $2.70.

Even though Perryville's tax rate is more than $1 lower than Cape Girardeau's, the total average expenditure per student per year is more than $30 higher. Pontillas said that is because the percentage of students who require special services is higher at Perryville. Disabled students, for example, need aides to help them through the school day.

The cost per student in the Jackson school district, where 12 percent of the students require special needs services, is $4,354.38. In Cape Girardeau, where 17 percent of the students require special needs services, the cost per student is $5,612.15. And in Perryville, where 21 percent of the students have special needs, the cost per student is $5,642.85.

Students speak up

Many students at Perryville High School, like senior Emily Tucker, say they are frustrated that the community has allowed the issue to reach a point where student activities have been put on the line.

"It's so frustrating, because after-school activities have become such a big part of the lives of many of the students here," Tucker said. "A lot of education is generated through the social interactions, not just in class."

One of the greatest things Tucker said she has learned from being involved outside of the class is helping others.

"For years we've been taught by people in the community to do community service and help others when we can," she said. "Now we want their help."

Senior Bonnie Nations, who recently began filling out college and scholarship applications, said she is not worried for herself if the levy fails, but for her younger sister Mary, who still has two years of high school left.

"Colleges look for activities on applications," Nations said. "They want to see extracurricular activities, clubs and honors you've received."

While trying to remain positive and hope for the best, assistant superintendent Rick Francis admits he is nervous about Tuesday night.

"I've been in education for 22 years, and this is the scariest thing I've ever come up against," Francis said. "I can't imagine working in a district where there's not something going on after 3 p.m."

The vote requires a simple majority to pass.

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128