A 200-DAY SCHOOL YEAR? NOT FOR CAPE

Cape Girardeau public school officials say a proposal to extend the school year to 200 days may work in Sikeston but not in Cape Girardeau.

The Cape Girardeau district gets about half as much money per student in state funding as does Sikeston, said Cape Girardeau Superintendent Neyland Clark.

Since Cape Girardeau school buildings are not air conditioned, discussing the addition of days to the school calendar is out of the question right now, he said.

Sikeston Superintendent Bob Buchanan has proposed increasing the school calendar by 20 days, from 180 to 200 days. He said state funding is available to make the change without any cost to the district.

"I'm not here to pass judgment on what's right for Sikeston schools," Clark said, but state funding for student attendance plays a big factor in considering such a change.

According to 1990-91 state figures, Sikeston ranks 310th among 537 districts in state aid and receives about $1,200 per student. Cape Girardeau ranks 512th and receives $688 per student.

"The state financial formula that places Cape Girardeau at 512th of 537 district sets up a tremendous disadvantage to districts like Cape," Clark said.

"There are gross inequities in the system, and that's evident by the fact that Sikeston would be able to do this" on their state funding, Clark said.

"Unless the state corrects these gross inequities, we are going to see more of this certain schools doing things other schools cannot."

In addition, Clark said, Sikeston school buildings have been air conditioned since the mid 1960s. Most Cape Girardeau schools are not air conditioned.

"It's ludicrous to think of expanding the number of days without air conditioning," Clark said. "We would be talking about adding 21 days. That's almost a month. We barely squeeze in now between the real heat.

"If we had air conditioning we would be talking about a whole host of things that might be educationally advantageous for our students."

Air conditioning for schools has been mentioned as part of an upcoming ballot issue in Cape Girardeau.

In the meantime, Clark said, "We're more concerned that we do a good job with the 179 days we have."

Mary Hart, president of the Cape Girardeau Community Teachers Association, said air conditioning would be a requirement before considering expanding the school year.

"It's vital," Hart said. "That's just the way we are. Everyone is used to air conditioning. We are hot-house flowers. We'd all be wilting."

Air-conditioning issue aside, Hart said, changes are likely. Hart suggested that perhaps summer enrichment programs would be another option. "It would be nice to have, say, basketball camp in the morning and a foreign language camp in the afternoon."

But she said extending the school year is a possibility down the road. Provided teachers are compensated for the additional days, they would likely accept such a change, she said.

"I think it would be more acceptable if there would be a week or a few days between each quarter to catch our breath and get prepared for the next quarter," she said.

One concern would be overlapping the school year with the start of college. Many teachers take college courses during the summer.