RESIDENTS: DON'T EXCLUDE US WHEN REDISTRICTING

The Rev. David Allen thinks Cape Girardeau's redistricting committee needs his input and wants to be part of the process to redraw elementary areas.

"The truth is they can't do their job without our input," Allen said. "They need to hear from me."

Allen and many of the 60 parents and community members attending Tuesday's meeting felt the committee was trying to shut them out of the decision process.

The committee voted to hold half of its scheduled meetings behind closed doors.

But after an outburst by parents opposing the decision, the committee changed its mind and voted to conduct business in the open. The committee will meet four more times, with the next meeting Feb. 6.

A reporter with the Southeast Missourian told the committee that closing the meetings would likely violate Missouri's open meetings law.

Several members of the committee had said they felt uncomfortable brainstorming ideas in front of parents and the media. The group includes parents, school principals and two school board members, Bob Fox and Steve Wright.

Allen, whose children attend Alma Schrader School, said, "I don't feel they need to sneeze without us being there."

Debra Willis with the local NAACP said, "We are taking time away from our beloved children to be here tonight. We want to work with you, but you are putting us in an adversarial position."

Ferrell Ervin, a member of the committee, felt hostility from the audience and was frustrated by the way the meeting was conducted.

"Next time we need to have some ground rules," he said. "We didn't even have an agenda."

Several audience members offered suggestions to make future meetings run smoother.

The committee did spend some time brainstorming possible scenarios for redrawing the lines to designate elementary school boundaries.

Tuesday's meeting was the second for the committee looking at ways to balance enrollments in the district. Some elementary schools have larger class sizes than others. Parents said the committee must also look at the racial imbalance that exists in the district. May Greene has 63 percent minority enrollment, Alma Schrader, 6 percent.

At the meeting two weeks ago, a suggestion was made to pair Jefferson and May Greene. Younger students would attend Jefferson and older students attend May Greene.

On Tuesday, committee members asked that the idea be expanded for discussion purposes to pair Alma Schrader with Washington and Clippard with Franklin.

Other suggestions:

-- Creating a magnet school, a school offering a specialized program in perhaps technology or performing arts.

-- Placing portable classroom trailers at the crowded schools.

-- Building additions of a few classrooms on crowded schools.

-- Remodeling vacant buildings, like the Central Hardware building, for a school.

-- Creating a sixth-grade center.

-- Creating a kindergarten center, perhaps in leased space.

-- Leasing classroom space in crowded districts.

Four more committee meetings are planned: Feb. 6, Feb. 23, March 14 and March 28. Meetings are held at 7 p.m. at the L.J. Schultz school library.