THERE'S STILL TIME TO DEVELOP A VOLUNTARY PLAN FOR BLANCHARD-FRANKLIN ATTENDANCE AREAS

An imbalance among some of Cape Girardeau's elementary schools will come up again at the next Board of Education meeting May 15. The board is soliciting input from parents as it considers a boundary change between Franklin and Blanchard elementary schools.

Presumably, an agreement was worked out during a recent meeting between a small group of Franklin parents and district officials. But let's face it: This was no compromise. It appears to be the boundary proposal originally suggested by the administration. In addition, the district officials gave some assurance that class sizes at Franklin would remain small.

There are some hard feelings that a small group of parents spoke to the administration without involving the Franklin PTA president. While parents always have the right to meet with administrators, it would have been a good idea to open up the discussion for any and all to attend.

The board should also consider long and hard before any class size assurances are offered to Franklin that are not offered to the other elementary schools. Class size limits should be the same for all schools.

There's also the question that of the 68 students likely to be eligible to move to Franklin, half may not move at all because of the current grandfathering option that resulted from the last round of boundary decisions just about a year ago.

Couldn't this be better handled by a voluntary boundary change? That certainly should be discussed with parents at Franklin and Blanchard.

After all, this is a short-term solution that will only be needed for two years. When the new high school is completed, the fifth and sixth grades will relocate to their own attendance center.

Is it really worth upsetting parents over this -- the same parents who overwhelmingly approved the most recent bond issue?