SCHOOL: ARCHITECT'S PLANS TO BE UNCOVERED

Architects will present the results of months of planning for two new Cape Girardeau school buildings at meetings Monday.

Superintendent Neyland Clark said representatives of the architectural firm, The Christner Partnership of St. Louis, will meet Monday afternoon with staff members.

A special Board of Education meeting is planned at 5:30 p.m. at the board office, 61 N. Clark. School officials and architectural representatives will meet with members of Project Partnership planning committees at 7:30 p.m.

Architects have site plans for a proposed elementary school and middle school at the district's North Sprigg Street property. In addition, Clark said, the proposal includes an addition to Jefferson Elementary School, air conditioning throughout the district and seismic retrofit.

Clark said cost figures for the project were not finalized as of Friday, but he hopes to have that information for the Monday meetings.

"I think you will see the board discuss publicly putting a bond issue on the April 6 ballot," Clark said.

Board President Ed Thompson said, "We are going to present this thing to the public Monday what our needs are and what we hope to do to meet those needs."

Thompson said the architect's plan includes hours of work by teachers, administrators, students, community members and board members.

"We have collected data from those meetings, from our staff, principals, teachers, kids," Clark said. "We have talked and talked and talked. Now we can show what all that talking was about."

Clark said he was particularly interested in meeting with community members who served on the Project Partnership planning committees last spring. Three committees studied facilities, finance and educational programs and made recommendations to the board.

"Back when they asked those folks to do all the work," Clark said, "we committed to them we as a district would do something. We also made a commitment to keep them up-to-date on what we do."

The board took information from the Project Partnership committee and at its annual retreat decided to pursue new school buildings.

The superintendent said the firm has been receptive to suggestions from staff and students, and those recommendations are reflected in the renderings. Students indicated that most schoolroom windows are too high for them to open and close by themselves. The new elementary building has lower windows. Teachers said they needed more storage space; storage space was added.

"I think there is an excitement out there and I think it will grow as people see the artist's renderings."