SCHOOLS LACK ACCOUNTABILITY, PLANNING COMMITTEE ADVISED

The Cape Girardeau school district has a credibility problem, stemming in part from a lack of confidence in the district's superintendent, that has to be corrected before the school system can move forward.

Those concerns topped lists of ideas and suggestions generated at the final community meeting of the school district's Vision Planning Committee. The meeting Saturday at Clippard Elementary School was scheduled to collect information on school finances.

Participants suggested that better accountability and better explanation of where money is spent and how budgeting decisions are made is necessary to help regain the public trust.

Margaret Russell, who attended the meeting, said, "A lot of people think these meetings are just a way to go back and ask for more money."

She suggested that the school show taxpayers that money already coming to the school district is being spent wisely. "Unless people feel that, why would they want to spend more money for schools?" she asked.

Other suggestions included looking for alternatives to tax dollars to help fund school projects. A grant writer, development of a private foundation for the school system and voluntary tuition were suggested.

Participants also said the school district should look at neighboring school districts and private and parochial schools to see what their long-range plans include and how they are dealing with financial issues.

Saturday was the last of nine meetings for the public. In addition, meetings have been held with school faculty and staff. A meeting will be held Monday with students. And the idea exchange will be the program for the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee.

All the ideas will be compiled and presented at a town hall meeting Nov. 7 at Central High School.

The Vision Planning Committee was appointed by Cape Girardeau's Board of Education to collect public input about future directions for the school district. The committee enlisted the help of Vision 2000, a community betterment organization, to help conduct a series of community meetings.

Eventually the Vision Planning Committee will present a report back to the school board, which will then use the information in developing a five-year strategic plan.

The Vision Planning Committee plans to expand its membership and sift through all the suggestions to come up with the top 10 or 15.

David Hahs, spokesman for the committee, said once those top priorities have been identified, the committee wants to ask for more comments from the community to see if the items collected through the meetings reflect what people see as top priorities for the school system.

"There have been a lot of people at these meetings," Hahs said, "but a lot of other people who may be no less interested in the schools haven't attended." The committee is considering some type of poll, perhaps in the newspaper.