SCHOOL ISSUE RETURNS

The bell has sounded on the second round for Cape Girardeau public schools' building program.

This time around, the project has been scaled back by half and the state has changed the way it finances schools.

On Oct. 5, voters in the district are being asked to decide on a 51-cent tax increase to build a new middle school and an addition to Jefferson Elementary School.

The 51-cent tax increase would generate an additional $1.3 million in local money. The same increase would drive an additional $900,000 or more in state money, funds that would not be available without the tax increase, said Superintendent Neyland Clark.

To help voters understand the issue and how it differs from a 99 cent increase voters turned down in April, the school district plans a public meeting Thursday at Central High School auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

Local television personality Don McNeely will serve as host for the program. Superintendent Neyland Clark and Missouri's assistant education commissioner Terry Stewart will explain what the project will cost and how it will be paid for.

On Friday, Missouri's Commissioner of Education Robert Bartman will attend the chamber's First Friday Coffee. A press conference is scheduled to follow that meeting.

Clark said the facility needs in the district last spring are still present.

In April, the plan called for construction of a new middle school, a new elementary school, an addition to Jefferson Elementary School, seismic retrofitting of all buildings, air conditioning and other improvements.

The new plan, Clark explained, calls for construction of the middle school and the addition to Jefferson. "We have cut the seismic retrofit, except in new construction. We have cut the air conditioning, except in new construction," Clark explained.

The building will be financed through a lease purchase plan. Thanks to Missouri's new education funding and reform law, an increase in the local tax levy will generate additional tax dollars.

The 51 cents will bring an additional $1.3 million per year. Add to that $900,000 in additional state money, Clark said. "The 51 cents we levy generates the equivalent of another 35 cents.

"It's as if you were shopping at JCPenney and bought $130 in merchandise. You get to keep all you bought and then (store manager) Harry Rediger greets you at the door and hands you $900 more," Clark said. "That's the same thing that's happening with the formula."

The $900,000 has some restrictions on usage, according to state law.

State education department officials agree that Cape Girardeau faces a window of opportunity for added state money.

"If it's a lease purchase versus a bond issue, for God's sake do it before the legislature has a chance to change it," said Vic Slaughter, director of school finance for Missouri's education department.

"If I had a school system and needed a building, certainly do it right now before they had a chance to change it."

Slaughter explained that under a lease purchase plan, the additional tax rate is used to calculate state funding. The higher the local tax rate, the more state money it generates.

In fact, during a telephone interview, calculated impact a 51-cent tax increase would have in Cape Girardeau.

In four years, when the new formula is fully implemented, the 51-cent local tax increase would generate an additional $955,000, he said.

"Things do happen," Slaughter said, "but I think the district is being very conservative saying $900,000.

"When the money is in debt service, the state won't help a penny," Slaughter said.

But Slaughter believes the legislature might eliminate the provision that allows lease purchase arrangements for buildings to generate additional state money.

"I was in the office of a senator who is just furious that the state is helping build a building. He didn't know that was in the bill."

Clark said the middle school was selected for construction rather than the elementary school because it would affect more children.

"A middle school answers the educational needs of kids ages 10 to 14. It's the most current and believed to be the most efficient way of meeting the needs of these students," Clark said.

The proposed building is the same as the middle school proposed in April, serving children grades 6-8.

"A middle school affects every child in the district," Clark said. "It alleviates some overcrowding in elementary schools and the need for trailers at buildings because the sixth-graders will be moved out of elementary schools."

Clark said the Board of Education members solicited comments from voters following the April election. The main concern board members heard was that the district asked for too much too fast.

"We feel we have been responsive to that concern," Clark said. "We feel we raised awareness about the problems in April."

"Now we have this window of opportunity with state funding that may not come our way again, a way to recapture state money and bring it back to our community."