TALLENT SAYS DEADLINE FOR NEW SCHOOL WON'T BE MET

Contractors on the new Cape Girardeau elementary school won't meet their June 30 deadline, schools superintendent Dr. Dan Tallent said Thursday.

Tallent updated parents on construction progress within the district during a Parent Teachers Association meeting at Alma Schrader Elementary School. Parents also met candidates for the upcoming school board elections during the meeting.

Tallent said contractors will be assessed a daily penalty beginning July 1 for failure to make the deadline. He anticipates construction will be completed no later than mid-September.

"I'm really anticipating they'll come back with an August or September deadline," he said.

A special Board of Education meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Central Junior High School cafeteria to explain the construction delay. The meeting is open to the public.

May Greene and Washington elementary schools are scheduled to be closed over the summer, and the new elementary school near the intersection of Sprigg and Bertling streets is scheduled to open in August. Tallent said the buildings will close as planned if contractors complete construction prior to the start of school.

Otherwise, classes scheduled for the new school will be held at May Greene and Washington until the new facility is completed, he said.

"We were hoping to have two months to get in there and maneuver our move, but if we get two weeks we'll make it work," said Tallent.

No plans have been made to purchase playground equipment for the new facility, and staff from the closed buildings will be using old equipment, including desks and chairs, when they move.

The decision not to purchase new equipment was made so that more emphasis could be placed on expansion, Tallent said. "It's not often we get the opportunity to build in Cape Girardeau, so we wanted to make the most of it and focus our energy on providing space in our existing buildings," he said.

Parents requested information about where new attendance boundaries would be located next year, but Tallent said he had not been in contact with a committee that is studying that issue. School board members will hear a report from the committee during the regular board meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the junior high school.

"They'll make a recommendation to the board, and the board will take that under advisement," said Tallent. "Once this is presented there's going to be a lot of dialogue with the public, and a decision will probably be made in March or April."