SCHOOL OFFICIALS NEED TO HEAR PUBLIC'S REACTION TO PLAN

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education has unveiled a long-range plan for the school district. The board is actively seeking input from the community over the next month.

Here is your chance. Now is the time to ask questions and make suggestions about the plan: Do you like the proposed grade configurations? Is the tax increase within reason? What schools would be replaced? What's in it for me?

The school board and administrators are genuinely interested in the public's sentiment on this plan. They say the matter is not set in stone at this point, and we believe them. They want a proposal that would be the most palatable to the public.

Silence on the public's part simply reinforces the current proposal. That's fine. But these same silent people should them not vote down the proposal at the polls next April. That's dishonest. Now is the time hammer out a plan that everyone can live with.

Considerable thought and effort has gone into this proposal. The district has approached the matter systematically. It began with public hearings where community members outlined what they'd like to see in the schools. Committees then reviewed those suggestions and brought them together in a single list. That list went to the school board for its consideration, and then a draft proposal went back to the Vision committee for its approval. This draft proposal was released to the public on Monday, and the school board will consider final adoption Nov. 18.

This vision for the future includes plans to build a new vocational school, elementary school and high school, and extensive remodeling of current elementary schools. Eventually, May Greene, Washington and L.J. Schultz schools would close. The board plans to announce the locations for the new schools before the November adoption of the plan.

The package would be financed by a 69-cent property tax increase.

The plan isn't limited to buildings alone.

Programs and grade configurations are driving building plans. District wants to move in stages to kindergarten-to-fourth grade elementary schools, a fifth-and-sixth grade center at the current junior high building, a seventh-and-eighth grade center in the current high school building and a new ninth-to-12th grade high school.

The district wants to beef up its use of computers in the classroom -- from a very young age. They also want to step up vocational training, offering classes for both young and old. The district hopes the new vocational school would serve a larger segment of the community.

What to do you think about the proposal? The Cape Girardeau school board and administration really wants to know.