PUBLIC SHOULD EMBRACE PROJECT PARTNERSHIP

In plotting a course of resolution for its facility needs, the Cape Girardeau Board of Education acknowledged an important truth Tuesday night: the foundation of a public school district is built not of bricks and mortar but of citizen support. In announcing a plan called "Project Partnership: Schools and Community," Superintendent Neyland Clark and the school board are throwing open their ideas and designs for education's future here and asking for public input. We commend this gesture and urge citizens to take part in the process.

There are a great many issues for Project Partnership to take up.

The enrollment trend of Cape Girardeau public schools is one of escalation: the bench~~mark enrollment is up more than 300 students since 1983.

Much of the population of Cape Girardeau has shifted to the west and north; elementary district lines will one day need to be redrawn to more accurately match the number of students to the facilities available.

Classrooms are crowded. There are seven trailers that house classes outside various schools in the district. The district has not constructed a new school building since 1967, the Vocational- Technical Building. Tied to this discussion is a long-running study of a middle school concept, which is dependent on the district's facility needs as well as its philosophical desires.

There is a surplus of financial uneasiness, ranging from local tax needs to statewide support for education.

What the new superintendent and school board are saying, then, is, "Come along, join us in addressing these problems, help us find the best solutions." While construction of a middle school might be the centerpiece of this project, the proposed Citizens Advisory Commission of Education can be a beneficial and ongoing resource for the district. By opening the process even further than it is now, the school board expands its potential for support ... and probably picks up a lot of worthwhile viewpoints along the way.

Citizens of Cape Girardeau have their tax dollars riding on school district decisions. More importantly, the future of this community rides on the quality of the work done in its schools. The linkage of schools and the communities they serve has never been more important than now, when so many important issues are pending. Bringing in the public in a significant way makes sense on practical and political levels; citizens have a lot of good ideas to offer, just as they have votes to cast when circumstances warrant their support at the polls.

We endorse Project Partnership and hope the public embraces the opportunity to make a substantial impact on the school system.