CAPE SCHOOL ELECTION DEFEATED BY 343 VOTES

Cape Girardeau voters Tuesday narrowly defeated a scaled back school bond issue that would have built a new middle school and an addition to Jefferson Elementary School through a 51-cent increase in the tax levy.

The 3,133-2,790 vote against the measure represented about 30 percent of the city's registered voters.

Denying the district a tax increase also cost it $900,000 in revenues that would have become available through the state's new education funding formula.

School officials were perplexed by Tuesday's outcome. Last April, voters vigorously rejected a more aggressive bond issue. Afterward, administrators said they got the message that they were asking for too much at one time.

They're not sure what the message is this time.

"It's disappointing. I don't know where we head from here," said Superintendent Neyland Clark.

The district's low-key strategy aimed at keeping April's heavy "no" vote at home seemed to work, but not well enough.

The issue lost most heavily in Ward 7, Arena Park, where it was defeated 306-191, and curiously in Ward 18. Voters in the Jefferson School precinct, which would have benefited directly from the tax levy, rejected the measure 200-92.

"It's disappointing when you've got a precinct that's got a district school in it that stands to gain through renovations ... and it votes no," Clark said.

The measure lost in 12 of the city's 19 precincts. It enjoyed its biggest advantage -- 455 yes to 364 no -- in Ward 2, Westminster Presbyterian Church.

School board member Gwen Bennett doubts whether voters comprehended the state revenue issue. "I really don't think they understood how much money we were going to get back from the state," she said.

Clark said he and the board of education plan to meet with officials from the state Department of Education to investigate "the what-ifs in terms of what can and can't be done."

Clark was referring to whether the "window of opportunity" is still open that would make it possible to receive the state funding.

He said he is concerned about keeping Cape Girardeau students competitive with those in other districts.

"Obviously we cannot sit still while everybody is making leaps and bounds in terms of progress in their districts," Clark said.

Board Chairman John Campbell said the district's response to this latest rejection will hinge on what it learns from state education officials in the coming weeks.

"We want to see if we can still possibly get in this window. If that happens we will possibly be back (before voters) in the next few months. If that doesn't happen it may be awhile."

Bennett doesn't think the schools' proposal can be cut down further, but she's listening. "The voters overwhelmingly told us we asked for too much so we scaled it back in half," she said. "Obviously we'll go back and ask them again."

Campbell said he feels "really sorry for the kids...I don't know what we have to do to convince the citizens that we have this need, that it's something we have to have."

Said Clark: "We will come back with a reasonable plan like we did this time."