Cape School Board candidates praise 1:1, discuss future of district

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct that Tony Smee was referring to Anthony Robinson in a quote.

Candidates for Cape Girardeau School Board each drew on their respective strengths in answering a question about the 1:1 tablets and laptops initiative for students Thursday at a SEMO Pachyderms forum.

Tony Smee has been on the Cape Girardeau School Board for eight years, and he answered the question from the perspective of government experience. He works as the chief deputy appraiser for Cape Girardeau County.

"I'm going to use a political term -- I'm doubling down on the importance of 1:1. I'm behind it 100 percent," Smee said. "It gives immediate feedback on what students are getting and not getting. Teachers can make immediate corrections."

Phil Moore has served on the board six years. He said 1:1 allows teachers to flip the classroom. Instead of giving a lecture and asking students to do homework, teachers can provide a video lecture as homework, and the students can work on problems during class time. This technique allows for one-on-one instruction.

Moore's profession is in banking; he recently accepted a marketing executive position with Banterra Bank. He said finances are his specialty.

Doing 1:1 devices as lease-purchase options allowed the district to spread out costs over the length of a program, he said.

"The financial decisions you make now, you have to see through," Moore said.

Jared Ritter is the youngest candidate running for a school-board position, having graduated from Cape Girardeau Central High School in 2010. Ritter also spent two years as a teacher at Central Academy before he moved into real estate full time. He said the main reason he is running for school board is to give the board the perspective of a teacher. Ritter said the Cape Girardeau School District's 1:1 program has benefited students by introducing different teaching techniques.

"I'm an old fashioned English teacher -- pencil and paper, you can't beat that," Ritter said. "The teacher standing in front of the class -- studies have shown that's the least beneficial way to teach. The most beneficial way to teach is to have students teach each other."

Missy Smith works for the Missouri Department Health and Human Services as a child-care supervisor directing licensing for child care, such as day-care facilities. She has a background in pre-kindergarten programs. But when it comes to school-board topics, she has taken the perspective of finding out what she doesn't know. On the 1:1 question, she deferred to Smee, Moore and Ritter.

"I'm excited, energetic, and I'm a fast learner," Smith said.

Smee, Moore, Ritter, Smith and Tracy Curtis, who did not attend Thursday's forum, are running for three open seats on the board. The election is April 4.

Smee said his biggest focus as a candidate would be to improve the performance of high-risk students.

"My son is fourth in his class; he will have opportunities," Smee said. "The kid that is 250th in the class often doesn't have opportunities past his next meal."

Smee is hoping the recent hire of superintendent Neil Glass and deputy superintendent Anthony Robinson will help focus the district in reaching high-risk students.

"If he can't help us fix it, nobody can," Smee said of Robinson.

Moore said the school board should be focused on hiring and firing the superintendent, budgetary responsibility and some oversight.

"When boards get into procedure, that's when boards have problems," Moore said.

Smith said one of the reasons she is running for school board is to be a part of children's education. She has one child in public school and another at private school.

Jackson School District

Greg Farrow also spoke at the forum Thursday. He will be one of three people -- along with Bruce Thomas and Sara Varner, who did not attend the forum -- joining the school board in Jackson. Because Jackson has three candidates for three open positions, the school district will not have an election.

Farrow works as a AAA insurance agent in Cape Girardeau. His wife is a teacher in the Jackson district, and he has three children in Jackson schools. He said he wants to provide the perspective of a teacher's spouse to the school board.

"I've shard the joy and burden," Farrow said of teaching. "We've shared stories of students being hungry and them not feeling safe."

Farrow fielded questions about Proposition J -- which, if passed by voters, would allow the school district to borrow $22 million to fund its facilities-improvement plan -- particularly the district's plan to demolish the old high-school building if the proposition passes April 4. The school board voted last month to demolish the building.

"Me and my wife like HGTV; I've never seen a refurbished house come out on budget," Farrow said. "The old A building, the mold is so high you can't go in without a mask. ... If I had been on the board, I would have done the same thing."

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236 S. Broadview St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

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

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