SCHOOL BOARD LEARNS FROM CAPE ROADS TAX

Coming off a win for Cape Girardeau's transportation sales tax, the Cape Girardeau Board of Education thinks some strategies that helped the sales tax pass could be used to help the school district.

Board members met Saturday in Cape Girardeau for their annual planning session. They agreed to develop a five-year strategic plan by March.

Board member Harry Rediger, who is also chairman of the city's Planning and Zoning Commission, is coordinating the strategic planning process.

The goal is to establish planning committees at each school building to list needs and priorities for educational programs, finances and facilities.

A board of patrons or steering committee would oversee the process and make sure the district continues heading toward its goals.

Board members said a bond issue probably is in the future for Cape Girardeau's schools. But lots of planning needs to take place to determine what might need to be built, upgraded or changed.

Rediger explained that planning for the city's successful transportation sales tax began after the tax failed at the polls in 1987. A list of needs was developed. Some were funded, others unfunded. Each year the city whittled away at the list. Eventually, people in the community realized that the list wasn't going away with existing money.

Then town meetings were held and everyone in the city was invited to give their opinions on what street priorities should be.

"It took eight years to bring it around," Rediger said."

Rediger sees lots of similarities between the transportation tax and the school system.

Superintendent Neyland Clark said: "Folks out there want their pothole fixed. They want their building air conditioned. They want a new track."

Board member Bob Blank said the board must guard against a "me too" appearance. "We don't want to rush into this," he said. "This is a long-term project."

Clark agreed. "The groundwork for the transportation tax had been laid since 1988. We're not going to shrink this down to six months."

Rediger said the school system has a tougher road ahead than the transportation issue faced. "A sales tax is more palatable than a property tax," he said. School districts cannot levy a sales tax.

He predicted that nothing would be presented to voters before 1997 or 1998.

First, the planning must take place, Rediger said. The school and community need to have a clear picture of what is needed and where the school district is headed.

Toward that end, the board participated in a self-evaluation to see where the board itself is headed. Members rated their performance so far. The current board has been together for just three months, and so far, members agreed, things have gone smoothly.

Blank said: "We're all pulling the same wagon. I just have a question about where the wagon is headed."

The board set two goals. One was to establish a five-year plan by March; the other to improve communication with the community through development of a newsletter.

The school board convenes again Monday for its regular monthly meeting. A tax-rate hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. The regular meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Vocational-Technical School. On the agenda is discussion of salaries for the 1995-96 school year.