Student transfer meeting scheduled for Thursday

The Cape Area Family Resource Center will hold a public meeting Thursday to inform parents of students at Jefferson and Blanchard elementary schools about the opportunity for some of those students to transfer to other schools in the Cape Girardeau School District.

Jefferson principal Mark Cook will discuss the "school choice" transfer option available under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. at the resource center at 1202 S. Sprigg St.

Denise Lincoln, resource center director, said some Jefferson School parents don't understand the "school choice" provision even though superintendent Dr. David Scala sent a letter to parents explaining the situation.

"I do think there is an information gap," said Lincoln whose center operates an after-school program serving 44 children. All but one of the children are from Jefferson School.

Newspaper articles also have explained the issue. But Lincoln said many residents on the city's south side don't read the local newspaper.

People in the neighborhood receive information largely by word of mouth, she said. "Sometimes information gets passed on accurately and sometimes it doesn't," Lincoln said.

She said the resource center hopes the meeting will bridge the information gap.

"This is just an effort to allow parents to get good information and make choices for themselves and their kids," she said. "We are here in this neighborhood solely for the purpose of helping families become resourceful, responsible and self-reliant."

The goal of the meeting is to provide information to parents, not to trash Jefferson School, she said.

"I think we do need to support our local schools," said Lincoln. "We are not trying to get people agitated."

While the resource center largely serves the south side neighborhood, parents of children in Blanchard School also are welcome to attend, she said.

Parents of students at both elementary schools can request their children be transferred to other elementary schools in the district where students are performing better academically. Low-income, low-scoring students will be given first priority, school officials have said.

For the second consecutive year, Jefferson and Blanchard schools didn't make adequate yearly progress in state test scores. Jefferson School failed to meet this year's goals in both communication arts and math. Blanchard's black students failed to meet the goal in communication arts.

Under federal law, the Cape Girardeau School district could move a maximum of 63 students from Jefferson and Blanchard elementary schools to the other three elementary schools in the district if parents desire it. No one will be forced to move their child, school officials said.

Combined, Jefferson and Blanchard have more than 600 students in kindergarten through fourth grade. But the school district only has to allow as many students to transfer as it has space available in the other schools, officials said.

School officials expect few parents to move their children.

Parents will have to fill out an application form by Oct. 13 if they wish to have their children transferred to another elementary school.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123