CAPE DISTRICT FACES BIG FINANCIAL DECISIONS

Dr. Dan Steska, superintendent of Cape Girardeau's public schools, showed refreshing candor this week when he called together community leaders who have helped in the past to deal with school finances and improvement planning.

Steska told them the district needs a tax increase for students to continue to be educated in the manner to which parents have become accustomed, which means their kids perform well above the national average.

Typically, when situations like this arise in government, officials let community leaders wrestle with the issue for a while before tentatively asking, "Do you think we might need a tax increase?"

Hard numbers for the district

But Steska is being straightforward about it. And he's got hard numbers to back him up.

The district's current levy is $3.41 per $100 assessed value, 12 cents below the state average, although Cape Girardeau receives $1,273 less per student in state funding. The district's annual budget comes to $39.4 million to serve 4,030 students.

Here's the problem: The district is in the midst of major renovations, additions and construction, including the new Central High School and new Career and Technology Center. Overall, the district faces a net addition of 233,000 square feet of buildings that must be heated, cooled and maintained, and that alone will cost an extra $2.3 million over five years.

There are issues with teachers and other staff members as well. The district has a 15 percent to 16 percent turnover rate annually because teachers' salaries are $2,600 below the rest of Southeast Missouri and about $4,600 below the rest of the state. With a total staff of 600 instructional and non-instructional employees, the district has hired 311 people over the last four years.

The teachers have been doing above-average work with below-average salaries, but there's only so long anybody will put up with being underpaid. And salaries will be frozen at the end of the current school year and stay that way unless additional money comes in.

There are several variables

How much of a tax increase is being considered? Well, there are several variables.

The county will go through a massive reassessment next spring, and property values are expected to rise 6 percent. Nobody knows how much the Missouri Legislature will allocate for Cape Girardeau's public schools.

Still looming is final judgment on a Hancock Amendment lawsuit whose outcome could mean the loss of a major piece of funding. The district was expecting $1 million from the state to pay for the new Career and Technology Center. The construction bills are in, the state's money is only hold, and it's tough to come up with the $1 million in an already strained budget.

All of these variables should be worked out by mid-May. School officials can be specific then about the amount of a tax increase.

Basically, Steska is saying the district needs $22.3 million more over five years, and he wants a vote next August on a tax increase that would require a simple majority. He made a presentation Friday to the chamber of commerce's board of directors and has appointments with a couple of civic groups. He said he'll speak to any group that wants to learn more about the district's financial situation.

It's important that everyone in the community make time to hear this presentation so they can make a rational decision when the time comes.