SCHOOL CHOICES

Separate announcements just days apart have left two top administrative posts up in the air within the Cape Girardeau School District. First the principal at Central High School, Dan Tallent, announced he will resign at the end of the school year, some six months from now. Then Neyland Clark, the superintendent, announced he plans to stay until his contract expires in 1998, some 2 1/2 years from now.

Both announcements generated considerable reaction, particularly at a time when the school board has been trying, with much success, to focus on the real issues of public education without drawing a lot of heated debate or dissension. By and large, the school board has kept a low profile, as it intended. Its goal, as formulated by one council member several months ago, was to "make school board meetings boring." In the intervening months the board has succeeded in meeting that goal as it went about the orderly business of approving bills and making other policy decisions that are within its purview.

The announcement by Tallent came as a surprise to many school district patrons. He is in his second year as principal at the high school, and comments from teachers, students, parents and school board members have generally praised his efforts to create a good learning atmosphere. When he said he planned to resign, several comments were heard to the effect that he would have made a good superintendent for the district.

That possibility became more real when Clark said he planned to leave the district at the end of his contractual commitment. While his announcement was presented as a resignation, it was, in fact, more of a carefully worded announcement that he intends to stay as long as he can. There have been plenty of rumors in recent months that Clark was seeking other jobs and was on the verge of turning in his immediate resignation. By announcing that he has no job prospects and intends to fulfill his contractual obligations, Clark was saying that he doesn't intend to leave the district on his own before 1998.

The superintendent, who has been in the midst of controversies of one kind or another almost from his first day on the job in 1991, said he wanted to give the school board plenty of time to find a suitable successor. In reality, 2 1/2 years' notice is virtually unheard of. Moreover, it would be difficult to interview candidates for a job that won't start until the fall of 1998. Most school administrators with the qualifications to be superintendent don't have the luxury of making plans that far in advance.

Although the school board's efforts to restore calm and order to the district have been successful, the two resignations leave a good many patrons urging the board to take an even more visible and positive leadership role. With a lame-duck superintendent and a high school principal on his way out, it falls to the school board to ascertain what its options are and to make clearheaded and productive decisions.

In just a few months the board has established a great deal of credibility and reliability as it has operated without rancor and in the best interests of public education as a whole. Board members understand that the public is watching closely to see what happens next. The board also wants to ensure that the goodwill and stability that have been built up isn't dissipated by any faulty moves on its part.

Earning and keeping the faith of school district patrons has been an important part of the board's thinking long enough to create a high level of expectation that it will make tough choices and effectively communicate those to the public without a lot of folderol. That is the kind of leadership supporters of public education in Cape Girardeau have come to expect.