SCHOOL: ELECTION TIMING IS EXPLORED

Cape Girardeau voters will be asked to consider a new school building package, but the question is when.

The Board of Education will discuss timing and specifics of the issue at its annual planning session July 27.

Voters in April turned down a $25 million facilities package that included construction of three new school buildings.

In May, Superintendent Neyland Clark suggested the board look at an October or November vote to reconsider a scaled-down package.

Board President John Campbell said: "The need is still definitely there. Our intent is to look for some issue to be on the ballot."

However, he said, discussions about the proposal have been informal so far.

In May, Clark suggested the board consider submitting a 27-cent tax increase to voters for building maintenance and repair. Campbell said that is one option.

"We will look at the building fund or even one building," he said. "It will be lesser of a package than we had before."

"We have an all-day planning session coming up in July. Our intent is that the building issue will be discussed at that planning session."

Campbell said he didn't know what effect a November vote on riverboat gambling would have on any school ballot issue. "There doesn't seem ever to be a good time for a tax increase," he said.

At Monday's Cape Girardeau City Council meeting, proponents of riverboat gambling presented petitions with signatures of 3,720 people requesting the measure be placed on the November ballot. The number of signatures needed to force another election is 2,254.

Voters in the city earlier this month rejected riverboat gambling by a vote of 5,506 to 4,940.

Campbell said that many people believe Missouri's new school-aid formula will send lots of money to the district. "It will not have any impact on facilities," Campbell said.

Larry Dew, director of business affairs, said two fall election dates could be considered Oct. 5 and Nov. 2. The deadline for the October election is Aug. 10 and for the November election is Sept. 7.

"The school board has paid off the debt incurred by previous generations. They have done the $1.2 million in budget reductions," Dew said. "Now they need to be looking at maintaining and expanding the physical plant."

Currently, 8 cents of the school tax levy goes for building maintenance and repairs. "That is significantly below statewide averages of 30 to 35 cents," Dew said.

Board member Gwen Bennett said: "The needs haven't gone away, so obviously we will have to do something. We really have not formulated a plan.

Bennett said board members have been collecting suggestions from members of the community about possible building plans.

"We really haven't had an opportunity to sit down as a group and really dialogue the issue," she said.