Cape may move to seven-period school day

A Cape Girardeau School Board special work session Monday attracted a crowd of teachers, as officials discussed the possibility of moving from an eight-period school day to seven at the junior high and high school.

The change could save money for the district, officials said, but one of the top concerns from teachers is the proposal would limit the number of electives and Advanced Placement courses students could take.

Superintendent Jim Welker started the meeting with a presentation, explaining the proposals for the next school year to the board.

Welker reviewed the district's comprehensive school improvement plan, saying the district needs to increase its base salary for teachers to make it more competitive with surrounding districts.

But without an increase in revenue from local property taxes or state funding, officials must explore other options, he said.

The biggest expense for the district is personnel, Welker said.

At the secondary level, teachers have two prep periods. Having two prep periods at the high school takes about nine more teachers than one prep period. At the junior high school, it takes about five additional teachers, he said.

By eliminating a prep period and reducing the number of classes per day, it would save the district between $600,000 and $800,000 in personnel costs, he said, eventually enabling the district to increase teacher salaries.

Then, instead of cutting faculty who are no longer needed, the district would offer a retirement incentive to those who are eligible.

An idea Welker mentioned was possibly providing health insurance for a year, but he said there were no set incentive plans.

Jeff Glenn, vice president of the board, asked whether teachers could have one prep period and have an eight-period day.

Welker said that would be problematic without the second prep period.

In response to concerns about limiting the number of electives and AP courses, Welker said one possible solution would be to create a rotating schedule.

Board member Adrian Toole said although the district can make an effort to maintain the same number of AP courses available, there still is a limiting factor in the number of classes a student can take if they have a seven-period day. The comment brought applause from the audience.

If the board decides to go through with the plans for the next school year, Welker said they would have to move quickly, because students begin picking schedules in January.

There was no public comment during the work session, but teachers plan to voice concerns during the board's next meeting at 6 p.m. Monday.

Faculty members from the junior high school have created a five-page list of questions and concerns they hope will be addressed by the board before a decision is made.

Students also are getting involved. Eighth-grader A.J. Cook has been gathering petition signatures from students to protect their elective courses, she said. So far, she has about 320 signatures.

"There are people who have passions and different hobbies who really want to keep their electives," she said, adding the students want to keep the two elective choices they have.

Kellie Phillips, a science teacher at the junior high school, said faculty members would prefer students have elective choices instead of using funds for devices that are part of the district's 1:1 computer laptop initiative.

"At the junior-high level, they need a chance to take industrial technology, art, music to see what their strengths are," she said. "A problem we foresee is that our students that really want to be a band student but also need to take Spanish may not be able to take band, because Spanish is required for college. That would limit the fine and practical arts, and I think that would be a huge and detrimental thing."

Also listed as a concern is students, parents and teachers had no input on the proposal.

"We were not told about it until last Wednesday," Phillips said.

Those who want to comment during Monday's school board meeting must submit a request by Wednesday. The request can be emailed to welkerj@cape.k12.mo.us or taken to the board office at 301 N. Clark St.

Each person will be given three minutes to speak. The board also asked questions or concerns be sent to members before the meeting so they will be able to address specific issues.

klamb@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3639

Pertinent address:

301 N. Clark St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.