SCHOOL BOARD STRESSES CURRENT EVENTS

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education approved measures designed to bolster academics during a meeting Monday night.

School board members approved a three-year contract with Channel One Broadcasting Corp., an educational media company which produces a daily, student-friendly, current events program that is broadcast during the school day.

The contract authorizes the company to install one television and supporting equipment for every 23 students in grades six through 12. In return, the district must show at least 90 percent of the company's 12-minute news broadcasts during the school year.

The broadcasts include a two-minute span of commercials that have been reviewed by a teacher advisory board. The broadcasts may not be counted as instructional classroom time.

Superintendent Dr. Dan Steska said he saw several benefits to the programming during his tenure at the Arcadia School District.

"Not only is it a daily current events update for students, but it's also a free TV installation that we will be able to use for single point broadcasting for announcements and assemblies and other things," he said.

Steska will meet with building principals later this week to provide information about the program and determine which buildings will use the program.

Elementary principals already have expressed an interest in the program. Secondary principals are reserving judgment until they can determine whether schedules will be flexible enough to include the daily broadcasts.

"It is possible that we might delay this at the junior high and high school until we are able to make adjustments in the frame of instructional time," Steska said.

Installation of the televisions and other equipment could begin in October or November. If that timeframe is met, the program could be up and running by January.

In other business, school board member Sharon Mueller was appointed the Cape Girardeau School District Foundation Board of Directors for the 1999-2000 school year. The foundation's by-laws stipulate that one school board member must serve on its board.

The foundation was created to raise money needed to construct the recently-completed high school track complex. Steska said foundation members now want to narrow the purpose of the organization to emphasis instructional development.

"We have band boosters supporting the band, an athletic foundation supporting athletic teams, but there is no group that serves to emphasize, endorse or fund scholastic enhancement," he said. "The thinking right now is to narrow the focus of the foundation to instructional enhancement."

Cape Girardeau Board of Education

Monday, Aug. 16 at 6 p.m.

Central Junior High Cafeteria

Action Items:

-- Set meal prices for the 1999-2000 school year. Prices: Breakfast - $1 for adults; Lunch - $1.10 for secondary paid student lunches; $1 for elementary student lunches; $.40 for all reduced price student lunches.

Adult meal prices will remain the same at $1.70 per meal.

Additional cartons of milk remain the same at $.25 per carton.

-- Awarded one-year, bread products contract to Interstate Brands Corp.

-- Awarded one-year, dairy products contract to Prairie Farms Dairy.

-- Awarded one-year, chemical products contract to Ecolab for service, soap and chemical products.

-- Adopted eligibility criteria for the Free and Reduced Price Meals Program.

-- Tabled approval of Band Boosters by-laws.

-- Approved bid for district copy machines from Osbourne Office Equipment.

-- Approved fund transfer in the amount of $209,307.77 from the General Fund to the Special Revenue Fund for the July 1999 payroll.

-- Changed the regular meeting dates of the Board of Education for January and February from the third Monday to the fourth Monday because of holiday conflicts.

-- Adopted the 1999-2000 Testing Plan as submitted.

-- Approved Board Policy DFA regarding the district's investment of surplus funds.

-- Approved building contracts for installation of Channel One Broadcasting capabilities in each building for grades six through 12.

-- Appointed Sharon Mueller board representative to the Cape Girardeau School District Foundation Board of Directors for the 1999-2000 school year.

-- Set the Tax Rate Hearing for 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 30, at the district board office, 61 N. Clark.

-- Approved transportation of students who reside within one mile of their assigned school building and must cross a four-lane street or highway to get to school.