VO-TECH SCHOOL FUNDS OMITTED FROM BUDGET

JEFFERSON CITY -- A $1.8 million request for Cape Girardeau's new vocational-technical school was left out of Gov. Mel Carnahan's proposed state budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

However, an official with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said the absence of the funding in the department's budget request was an oversight and the project's funding likely will be added.

Carnahan announced his $16.8 billion proposed state budget Wednesday.

Over the past three years, the state has allocated $3.15 million for construction of the Cape Girardeau Vocational Center. Funding for the project, which originally carried a $6.3 million price tag, was to be split evenly between the state and the school district. However, school district officials announced last summer that because the project had been expanded, an additional $1.8 million in state funds would be needed.

As he has in previous years, state Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, sent a letter to a DESE official in August making the vo-tech funding request. Kinder said state Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, sent a similar letter to the same official.

"We don't customarily hear back from him, so I wasn't worried when I did not get a response," Kinder said. "You just wait to see it in the governor's budget."

Kinder was shocked to find out Wednesday morning that DESE hadn't included the item in its supplemental budget request to the governor. Kinder said the DESE official with whom he usually works had included the request, but it was subsequently removed after that official left the department due to health reasons.

Sherry LaPage, DESE's budget director, said she is working with the Office of Administration to get the item restored.

"I don't know the reason why it was pulled from the supplemental budget," LaPage said. "Now we are trying to get it put back in because it is a valid request."

If DESE can't get the request added to the upcoming budget, its other option is to amend the current budget to include the vo-tech funding, LaPage said.

"I don't know if there will be any hurdles to get it placed in the supplemental budget," LaPage said.

Budget Director Mark Ward said he learned of the request 15 minutes before the proposed budget was released to the public. Ward is uncertain if the money for the project will be added.

"They informed me that they have a request that was not included, and that is where it stands," Ward said.

If the funding request is not added to the governor's budget, Kinder will attempt to add the money as an amendment to the budget bill in the Senate. Kinder is confident the funding will be restored.

"It is a setback, but DESE has acknowledged its mistake and we will work through this," Kinder said.