SCHOOL FORUM DRAWS CROWD; FEW ATTEND CITY MEETING; FEATURES OF NEW HIGH SCHOOL DISCUSSED

Cost, style and contingencies were the focus of questions at a forum Thursday regarding construction of a proposed high school for the Cape Girardeau School District.

About 100 people attended the forum at Blanchard Elementary School. The forum was sponsored by the school district and Vision 2000.

Many of those attending questioned what type of building the district could afford and how that building would be designed. Questions abounded regarding space allotment for programs and whether an auditorium, varsity gymnasium and football stadium should be included in the school's design.

"My feeling as the superintendent trying to look at the big picture is we need to invest our money in instructional space," said Superintendent Dr. Dan Steska. "From all the moms' and dads' standpoint, I think we need to put our money into what benefits the most kids."

A committee will be organized to help Wm. B. Ittner Inc., the St. Louis-based architectural firm hired to design the high school, develop an attractive but functional building that fits Cape Girardeau's needs. Steska said some 20 to 30 faculty, staff, students and community members would likely serve on the committee, which should be organized in the next month.

When asked if the district should look to renovating Central High School rather than building a new school, Steska said that would not meet the long-term goals outlined in the district's master plan. Communities should be proactive rather than wait until a building is dilapidated before trying to raise money for construction, he said.

"There is nothing, to my knowledge, that is wrong with the current high school, except that it's not air-conditioned, the heating and ventilation system is old, and there is no technological wiring," Steska said. "The beauty of this plan is that it ripples throughout the district."

Steska presented a financial outline that indicates the district could raise $28.1 million in revenue if voters approve an $18 million bond issue April 4. The bond issue would not require a tax increase. Instead, voters would be approving a continuation of the $3.41 tax levy approved in 1997.

Passage of the measure would finance construction of an 1,800-student capacity high school to house grades nine through 12. Once finished, the school would enable the district to reconfigure grade levels at each building.

The "very miserable, aging, hot" Louis J. Schultz seventh-grade center would be closed under the new building configurations, Steska said. The current high school would become a junior high building for seventh and eighth grades; the current junior high would become a fifth-and-sixth-grade center; and all elementary schools would house kindergarten through the fourth grades.

"That should, spacewise, really serve the community for a number of years," he said.

Forum participants expressed concern about the district's low teachers' salaries and questioned whether operating costs would not be a better investment for the money generated by the bond issue.

Said Steska, "The bottom line is it costs to educate. Yes, we can operate, we can go ahead and give raises, but sooner or later you have to address that. The only way we're going to be able to do both of these is to slowly chip away at the balances."

School officials said they do not expect the bond issue to fail. However, if it does, the master plan committee would be reconvened to help determine "plan B."

"So far all the feedback we've been getting has been by and large positive," Steska said. "If we were to get overwhelming negative feedback, we'd stop."