PROJECT PARTNERSHIP GEARS UP

Cape Girardeau public schools are gearing up for a local education summit, a community survey, and a series of open forums.

The activities are part of "Project Partnership: Schools and Community," a vehicle to gather community input on expectations for the school district.

The end result will be a long-range plan for the school district that could include a request to increase local taxes.

"The survey is being finalized now," said Superintendent Neyland Clark. "Hopefully we will get it out before Thanksgiving."

The survey will be a stratified, random sample of residents in the school district. He said results will be broken down by grade levels and elementary school attendance districts.

"At the same time we are looking at leaders in the community," Clark said. "We will probably come back with a recommendation for a community meeting at some point.

"We need to look at the expectations of this community for the schools, and do we have the resources?"

After survey results are tabulated and additional information is gathered from community leaders, the Cape Girardeau Board of Education will make a plan for the district, Clark said.

"We will probably sequester the board and come up with a long-range plan, a three-to-five-year plan," he said.

Project Partnership will operate at the same time as a districtwide committee to recommend $1.1 million in budget cuts.

School Board President Pat Ruopp said, "I think that a referendum is a strong possibility. We are not going to get the money from the state, and, in order for us to continue the program overall in the district, we need more money."

However, he said, if results from the community survey and meetings reveal that the public believes the district has enough money, "we'll have to cut."

"It's against the law we cannot run an educational system in a deficit situation. If we don't have the money, we can't spend the money."

Community input is vital to the Project Partnership process, Ruopp said.

"We are trying to line up a very large committee representing all different aspects of the community," Ruopp said. "I don't know exactly how many people will be involved."

The committee will meet, probably in January, to express opinions on what direction the school district should be heading in the next three to five years.

"They are going to help evaluate our programs and help set up long-range plans and goals we'd like to attain," Ruopp said. He said the group would also be asked about a possible tax increase. "But that is not, by a long shot, the primary purpose of this committee," Ruopp said.

In addition, Ruopp said, open forums will be held to solicit additional community input.

"We really, really hope we get participation from the community," he said. "We need input from people if we are really going to put together the comprehensive will of the people."

Ruopp said he believes the Cape Girardeau district's nearly $20 million budget is very lean. "In the past the cuts we've had to make have trimmed the fat," he said.

The district has increased spending in the past few years. For example, it has hired more teachers to decrease class size.

Said Ruopp: "One of our goals over the years has always been to decrease class size and thereby maximize the educational experience of the students. That has been costly for us, but we feel we are providing a much better education for the students.

"We hope we don't have to reverse ourselves on class size. That is going to hurt students. Of course, all cuts indirectly influence the students."