SCHOOL BOARD: TWO CANDIDATES FAVOR NEW SCHOOLS, ONE WANTS REPAIRS

Two of three candidates for the Cape Girardeau Board of Education agree that new schools are needed. The third suggests repairs be made to the buildings.

The candidates fielded questions Thursday night at a League of Women Voters forum. Fewer than 10 people attended.

Cape Girardeau voters will choose two board members April 1.

At the same time, voters will consider two proposals that would fund construction of school buildings as part of a master plan for the school system.

Dr. Bob Fox, a Cape Girardeau dentist, is seeking re-election to his second term on the board. Bill Benefield, a former maintenance worker for the school system, is seeking election as is David Goncher, a Cape Girardeau insurance agent.

Fox and Goncher said new buildings are needed to improve educational opportunities. Benefield thinks repairs to buildings might be a better expenditure.

Goncher said: "We don't need new buildings to teach reading, writing and arithmetic. We need new buildings for air conditioning, for improved energy efficiency, for more enthusiasm and better technology."

Goncher thinks the district's new master plan, which outlines the buildings and funding proposals voters will consider, is well thought out.

"I like what has evolved," Goncher said. "We have a solid administration, the school board is very prudent and very methodical in the way it does things, and I would like to be part of that."

Fox has served as president of the board during the development of the master plan and subsequent ballot proposals.

"I am looking forward to implementing the plan," Fox said. "We have listened to a lot of people over the course of our planning, and what we hear is people saying now is the time."

Benefield said: "I've got my doubts. I feel we've got sufficient school buildings that need to be upgraded. We need to fix up our buildings and educate our kids."

Candidates responded to a series of questions during the forum.

When asked what skills each brought to the job, Goncher said he has experience on other boards, including the city's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board for the past seven years. During that time the park system developed the Shawnee Park complex and Osage Community Centre. He said he could bring what he learned through those projects to the school district as it enters a building mode.

Benefield said he favors an open, honest way of doing business. "I never did like closed-door sessions," he said. "Things need to be done out in the open. With me, what you see is what you get."

Fox said his experience on the board is an important skill. "I was on the board when there was not much public confidence, and now, when I think that has changed," Fox said.

The candidates were asked their opinion of a kindergarten center instead of redrawing elementary attendance areas.

Benefield said he prefers keeping youngsters in their neighborhood schools and would like to see additions to the schools already in use.

Goncher too likes neighborhood schools, but said other school districts, including those at Sikeston and Jackson, have had good luck with kindergarten centers.

Fox said a kindergarten center has been considered in the past. "But I don't think that's something the community wants," he said. "I think children of kindergarten age need to be close to home."

Assuming the April 1 ballot issues pass, where should the new schools be located?

Goncher said a Sprigg-and-Bertling site makes sense for the new elementary school. It is in the area served by Washington School, one of two schools that would be closed.

The master plan calls for possible purchase of additional property for a future elementary school. Goncher said the board should consider property to the southwest and to the northwest.

Benefield said the new elementary school should be built in the northwest part of the district. "Alma Schrader is overflowing with students. Clippard is overflowing with students," he said. "If you built a school in that area it would help more."

Fox said the Sprigg-and-Bertling site is a good place for the elementary school. He said purchasing property for future growth is an important part of the master plan.

"We have growth in the northwest part of the district, but if you look at our district it goes down almost to Dutchtown. I think that is where we are going to see a lot of future growth."

Candidates were asked their opinion of differences in this ballot proposal from those of the past.

Fox said a key difference has been the way the proposal was developed with input from many people. In addition, he said, the plan calls for eventual changes in grade configuration. Elementary schools would house kindergarten through fourth grade. Fifth- and sixth-graders would be housed at what is now the junior high. Seventh- and eighth-graders would be at what is now the high school, and students in grades nine through 12 would be at the high school.

Benefield said the cost of the proposal is too high. "We need to count the cost of everything," he said. "I'm against spending big bucks when we can get away with small bucks."

Goncher said the plan this time brings many improvements for the price. The tax increases would fund construction of a new elementary school, a new vocational-technical school, an addition at Jefferson, and renovations at the district's other buildings. Washington and May Greene would be closed.

"This board is not asking for the moon," Goncher said. "They are asking for help."