SCHOOL TAX HIKE DISCUSSED

JACKSON -- The Jackson Board of Education Tuesday night discussed the possibility of resubmitting a 35-cent operating tax levy proposal that was defeated by voters last month.

"Obviously, the need for more money to operate this school district is no less today than it was back in April," said school Superintendent Wayne Maupin in addressing the possibility of resubmitting the tax levy in August.

Maupin said if the tax levy proposal is to be put on the August ballot the school board must make a decision at its June 9 meeting.

Maupin held out hope that the Missouri legislature may yet allocate $85 million for education before it adjourns Friday. But, he said, only $10 million of that will be "new" money to be divided up among all of the state's school districts. The rest would make up what was cut out in this year's education funding.

Maupin said he would wait until the legislature adjourns Friday to see what action it takes on state funding and then contact each board member over the weekend.

Maupin reviewed with the board some of the major efforts made during the past two years to reduce school district expenses. Among them were: no new capital improvement program this year or next; no purchases of new school buses to replace older buses; no increase in pay or benefits for teachers the past two years and possibly a third year; and no new teachers or staff hired this year or next year with local funds.

Maupin said the reductions are not apparent to the public, but are still major cuts.

"So far we have not cut programs, we have not cut staff," he said, "But we have not purchased new classroom materials for several years, and now we are looking at reducing our share of employee health-care costs."

Maupin said he was concerned with morale because many teachers have been frozen in their pay scale bracket for several years. "Those are definite concerns to me and the faculty," he said.

During the meeting, a group of parents met with the board to express concerns about a possible sharp increase in class size in kindergarten and the lower elementary school grades next fall.

Maupin said there are now 270 children in 11 sections of kindergarten with an average class size of 24-25 students. But School Board President Jack T. Knowlan Jr. said total enrollment in kindergarten could go over 300.

Knowlan told the parents there is currently no extra money to hire additional kindergarten or elementary teachers. He said the classroom size problem is also spreading to the upper elementary grades as more students enroll in the district each year.

Knowlan said lowering classroom size has been a top priority of the board for the past five years. He urged the parents to get out into the community and let people know of their concerns about larger classroom sizes.

"If we don't get additional income either from the state or locally, class sizes are going to go up," he warned.

Board member T. Wayne Lewis said the district needs more money simply to keep the teachers it now has.

Knowlan said the district has cut out as much as it can without affecting staff and students. "Any more cuts will negatively affect our academic program and the quality of education," he warned.

Because of an increase in costs, Maupin said the school district is facing a $130,00 increase in employee health insurance premiums next year, which the district cannot absorb. The board will likely ask for new bids on the health insurance policy later this summer.

Assistant Superintendent Fred Jones provided reports on the new reading recovery program now in use in other districts and the Chapter 1 remedial reading program in the Jackson district. He said a lack of money means the board will have to have to make some decisions on both programs.