Public gives final ideas on Cape school cutbacks

Don't cut a band director. Don't cut teachers. Don't cut counselors. Don't charge a student activity fee.

Sell the board office. Cut administrators. Take fewer athletic trips. Shorten the school year.

These were some of the suggestions the Cape Girardeau School Board received from a crowd of about 170 district patrons at a special meeting Monday night.

Less than two weeks away from having to make $1.3 million in districtwide budget cuts, board members listened for over three hours to the pleas of nearly 30 parents, students, employees and others regarding the potential affects of their impending financial decision.

The board will vote Jan. 26 on 54 recommendations made last month by superintendent Mark Bowles.

Bowles' recommendations were based on suggestions made by a 109-member task force that met for two weeks in October and November to discuss a $2.2 million budget deficit and possible solutions.

At Monday night's meeting, the last chance for community members to voice their concerns about the cuts before the official vote, board members heard warnings about the consequences certain cuts would have as well as ideas for alternative cuts.

Franklin Elementary teacher Judy Gau was among numerous people who requested the board rethink the recommendation to fire band director Josh LaMar and grant writer Helen Gibbar.

"We need to eliminate the fat in our system, not the heart," said Gau. "The grant writer has brought in $500,000 in three of the past five years. Let's not kill the golden goose."

Others spoke against firing three teachers from Central Middle School, cutting counselors and administrative assistants and charging students to participate in extracurricular activities.

Former Central High School teacher Daryl Fridley suggested that the current board offices at 301 N. Clark be sold and the central office administrators currently working in that building be relocated to empty rooms in schools or to temporary buildings.

"In my 14 years of teaching, the thing I heard administrators bemoan the most was the loss of interaction with kids," Fridley said. "This would put them back in that world."

Board president Sharon Mueller said it was important for the board to consider alternatives right up until the Jan. 26 vote.

"This is not a problem that will go away overnight. And we need to keep in mind that there are other districts out there making much more severe cuts than we are," Mueller said.

cclark@semissourian.com

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