PETITION CALLS FOR SUPERINTENDENT'S RESIGNATION

A petition drive launched by a group of school patrons calls for the resignation of Cape Girardeau School Superintendent Neyland Clark.

Amy Randol, a spokeswoman for the group, said the petition drive began over the weekend. She estimated that more than 50 people are collecting signatures.

Clark said late Monday that he has yet to see contents of the petition. "I have heard rumors of a petition, but I don't know the substance of it," said Clark.

"I did contact Terry Ashby, who read a statement at the last board meeting about the board not renewing my contract," said Clark. "The statement was very general in nature. I tried to give him an opportunity to discuss the statement further but have not been afforded a chance to do that yet," said Clark.

"I have two years left on my three-year contract and I intend to honor that. I expect the school board to honor it as well."

The list of names will be forwarded to Board of Education members in hopes they consider the signatures while conducting the annual evaluation of the superintendent's performance, Randol said.

"We understand this is not a legally binding type of thing, and they don't really have to look at this," Randol said. "We were trying to convey to them that we feel it is a little more widespread than they feel it is. We hope that they do respond to it."

Board President Ed Thompson said he has not been contacted by members of the group about the petition drive but had heard that a petition is being circulated.

"I guess we will just wait and see what happens," Thompson said.

The petition reads: "We the undersigned registered voters of the Cape Girardeau Public School District feel that the effectiveness of and confidence in our current school superintendent has deteriorated to a level that in order for our educational system to move forward the school board should be willing to accept and require our current superintendent's resignation."

Randol and Ashby were appointed spokespersons for the group. They attended last week's school board meeting where Ashby made a brief comment in which he recommended careful consideration by the school board before Clark's contract is extended.

Clark has a three-year contract, which has traditionally been extended by one year after an annual performance evaluation.

Randol said a group of about 20 people met Friday to determine what action they wanted to take. Randol said the group included elderly people, parents of school children and people with no children in school.

Randol said she and other members of the group have been in contact with different school board members.

"It seemed we had tried several avenues to make the board understand that the community feels some sort of concern," Randol said. "When I meet with board members, they think it's a very small group. "They still do not feel this is a widespread thing."

The petition drive was launched to gauge public sentiment in the district, she said. The 20 people who attended the meeting took petitions, said. Randol estimated another 30 petitions have been distributed over the weekend.

The Board of Education will hold its annual retreat meeting to discuss school district matters Aug. 5-7 in St. Louis. An evaluation of the superintendent is planned then. The evaluation is conducted in closed session.

"We would like to have them know before they go on this retreat the number we have gathered," Randol said. Petitions are to be returned by July 28.

"We are really disappointed and saddened that it has gotten to this point," Randol said. "Our earlier attempts to get this message across have not been acknowledged."