THREE FILE TO RUN IN SCHOOL BOARD RACE

With nine days left before the filing deadline, only three people have announced their candidacy for the Cape Girardeau Board of Education.

The Rev. William Bird, Gary L. McIntyre and Andrew Ostrowski are seeking positions on the school board.

Voters will select candidates to serve three, three-year terms on the school board during the election April 6.

Bird has been the only incumbent to announce his candidacy so far. Seats held by board members Bob Bland and Steve Wright also expire in April. Wright resigned from the board in December to accept a position in the school district, and Blank has not said whether he will run for a second term.

Bird, who is completing his first term on the board, is pastor of the Greater Dimension Church of God in Christ. He and his wife Rose Mary have five children, four of whom attended Cape Girardeau public schools. Their youngest son attends parochial school.

Bird said his decision to run for office three years ago was based on the "need to get involved and be a catalyst for change." He said he now realizes that change takes time and he is seeking a second term to continue working toward long-range goals identified in the district's master plan. He said he also wants to see more minority teachers in the district and better pay for teachers at all levels.

"Great progress has been made in the community as far as work with students and as far as some other issues important to the community," Bird said. "However, the pay scale needs to be raised for all teachers, and as the condition improves, there's going to be some things that can be done. We're definitely going to be looking at that as one of the priority issues."

Ostrowski, a graduate student working on a master's degree in public administration, lost to Attorney General Jay Nixon in his bid for the nomination to U.S. Senate last year. He has lived in Cape Girardeau since 1994 and plans to marry fiancee Christine Monier next month.

Ostrowski said he wants to improve "the integration of the educational process and critical thinking skills" of students. He said that while campaigning for Senate last summer he found many people were unable to analyze information, even if they had some knowledge about a subject.

"What I saw was a lack of education," he said. "I met a lot of people who go through the school process but lack the ability to integrate the topics."

Ostrowski said he supports increasing teachers' salaries and allowing them more freedom in the classroom. However, he also wants to see more teacher accountability and supports performance-based merit pay for teachers instead of a traditional salary schedule.

McIntyre, a Cape Girardeau native, is the store manager of the Plaza Tire at 1634 N. Kingshighway. He and his wife, Barbara, have one son, who attends Alma Schrader Elementary School.

This is McIntyre's first bid for a public office. He said his sole reason for running was to play a different role in his son's education.

"This is our one and only child, and I wanted to be a part of the school system that is teaching my son to be an adult," he said.

McIntyre praised the district's school board, administrators teachers and students. However, "there's always room for improvement," he said, adding that he would like to see better relationships developed between teachers and administrators.

"If we're losing teachers to another school district, we need to find out why," said McIntyre. "I think we've got an excellent program here, especially the vocational school, and I'd like to see that expanded if possible because I think there are a lot of young people who want to learn a trade."

Candidates must sign up at the district board office, 61 N. Clark, before 5 p.m. on Jan. 19 to be included on the ballot. The successful candidate must be a citizen of the United States, a resident taxpayer of the district who has resided in Missouri for one year preceding the election, and at least 24 years of age.