SIKESTON SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT TO RETIRE

SIKESTON -- Days of fighting for improved public-school funding are numbered for Robert Buchanan: Sikeston's longtime school superintendent will retire at the end of the school year.

Buchanan's retirement was announced Tuesday by the Sikeston Board of Education. The board also announced that Arnold Bell, Sikeston's assistant superintendent, will be the district's new superintendent.

"Over the past 32 years there have been some very interesting, and I would say trying times, in school finance," Buchanan said.

In the early 1990s, Buchanan was among educational leaders in Missouri pushing both in the legislature and in the courts for equitable funding to public schools. The resulting Senate Bill 380, the Outstanding Schools Act, has been good for many Southeast Missouri school districts, Buchanan said.

"It has been a positive chance for public education," he said.

Buchanan serves as a member of the state performance commission, which reviews implementation of Senate Bill 380. He is also a member of the Committee for Educational Equality, the committee that was responsible for litigation that resulted in the new funding formula for Missouri schools.

He also served as chairman of the Southeast Missouri School Superintendents Association. That group opposed withholding state money from rural public schools to pay for desegregation spending in St.. Louis and Kansas City.

After 32 years in public education, the last 11 as superintendent at Sikeston, Buchanan said he is ready for a change.

"The time is right. I've had the opportunity to serves as superintendent in what I think is the best school district in Southeast Missouri," he said. "The future is going to be extremely good. I think we have the right person to fill the job, with his experience in technology and school finances."

When Bell took the job as assistant superintendent for Sikeston schools a year and a half ago, he hoped to become superintendent when Buchanan retired. Before coming to Sikeston, Bell served as superintendent in Caruthersville and Oran.

"Moving to Sikeston was a strategic move for me," Bell said. "I'm just happy it worked out. I'm very proud to be working in Sikeston. There are so many good things going on."

Sikeston has been a leader in introducing new technology to classrooms. Its schools offer courses via fiber optic cables to schools in Bell City and Scott County Central.

The Sikeston community is working on partnerships with the public-school system, Southeast Missouri State University and Three Rivers Community College to establish a vocational training center.

"That looks like it's going to be a reality for us," Bell said.

Technology on all levels is important to Bell. He has brought computer upgrades to accounting procedures and linked each of the districts' local computer networks into a wide area network.

"I guess it could be my industrial arts background," Bell said. "I like to tinker around."

He also sees technology as a key tool in the educational process. "Technology will never take the place of teaching," he said. "It's a tool, But we are probably just scratching the surface."

Buchanan will remain on the job through June 30. Bell takes over July 1.