TALLENT TO SUGGEST RAISES FOR TEACHERS; FINANCIAL PICTURE NOW LOOKS BETTER

Superintendent Dr. Dan Tallent will recommend approval of $340,000 in incremental salary increases for the 1998-99 school year during a special Cape Girardeau Board of Education meeting today.

If approved, the increases will mean eligible employees, including all teachers, will receive pay increases for years of service and professional development.

Tallent said no additional salary increases will be recommended. Incremental increases are figured separately from raises.

Board members had voted in May to freeze all spending, including incremental salary increases, during the 1998-99 school year in an effort to cut about $1 million from its operating budget. Approval would mean about a 1 percent increase in the $24 million budget for 1998-99.

Tallent's recommendation comes just one week after administrators announced the school district's financial status was not as dire as had been predicted. Deficit spending during the past three years was expected to leave the district with about $428,000 in its general fund, the account used to pay for most operating costs. However, reduced spending and increased revenue from local and state sources resulted in final balances of approximately $700,000 above estimates.

The total decrease in the general-fund balance was reduced by only $238,000 instead of the more than $1 million estimated deficit.

Sherry Ford, Community Teachers Association past president, said Tallent contacted CTA salary committee members by letter last week notifying them of his recommendation. The proposal is a good sign that administrators are not neglecting the opinions of district employees, she said.

"I think it's wonderful," said Ford. "We're very happy that our finances are such that we can offer that to the employees."