Kyle McDonald

Kyle McDonald

Date of birth: Aug. 23, 1968

Place of birth: Charleston, S.C.

Spouse, children: Wife Amy, children Madeleine and Allison

Occupation: Sales representative

Employer: Sanofi Aventis Pharmaceuticals

Businesses owned, all or part: None

Previous offices held or sought: Cape Girardeau School Board.

What is the most important issue facing the Cape Girardeau School Board?: There are two important issues facing Cape Girardeau schools at this time: 1) the graduation/dropout rate for the high school and 2) the increase in the number of transient students.

What in your education or background makes you qualified for this office?

I initially ran on a platform of being a concerned, fully vested parent of two children within Cape Girardeau public schools. I saw a disturbing trend of families leaving the district for private school and wanted to find our why. Now the topic of interest is how to keep our students engaged in their education process, so as to decrease their dropping out of school and increase their graduating from high school to become successful, productive members of our community and society. I'm not sure that this has anything to do with background or education, but it is the right of every citizen to run for public office when they see an issue that needs to be addressed and they have the desire and willingness to be a part of the solution.

Why are you better qualified than your opponent(s)?

Better than one's opponents is a very subjective statement. I believe that I have a vested interest in what occurs within the district since I have two children that are being educated within the school system. I have spent the past three years participating in strengthening our district by serving on several committees, both district and community sponsored, as well as serving the board as vice president and currently, the president. I have taken my role as a board member very seriously and put in plenty of extra time and energy to see that the tasks at hand are fully completed and effectively executed.

What features would you like to see in the district's facilities plan?

Serving on the district's facilities steering committee has given me some insight into what is needed for our schools to be successful. I would like to see our high school plan, that the community asked for and approved through a bond issue, finally completed. This would include an auditorium for our incredibly talented students in drama, band, choir, dance and other fine arts to showcase their talents and dedication to excellence. Also, additional rooms added onto the building to eliminate the need for teachers to "float" from available class to available class on carts. This is valuable time that could be spent mentoring students or preparing for the next class. And finally, the building of an athletic complex to showcase our sports programs, including football, soccer, track and field, marching band, etc. This would give our students pride in our sports teams and a home-field advantage that they currently are missing by playing at Houck. Also, as part of the facilities plan, I would like to see the pre-K program expanded into all of our elementary buildings to give all children the opportunity to excel once they get to Kindergarten. Also, most of our elementary buildings need to be expanded to allow for the "recapturing" of commons areas that have been taken to build classrooms. The majority of our buildings are older and need to be renovated or remodeled to allow for updating to modern standards and for safety and public perception. These are the most drastic and severe changes that need to be made to our school buildings.