CHARLESTON BOARD TO RETHINK SCHOOL VOTE

CHARLESTON -- A weekend fire at Charleston Junior High School has caused a school district tax-levy vote to be put on hold.

An election to decide a tax increase that would raise $4.9 million for the district was planned for June 4. But school board members Tuesday decided to ask the Mississippi County Circuit Court to postpone the election for at least a couple of months.

Saturday's fire, the cause of which is undetermined, destroyed the school building, supplies and equipment valued at close to $500,000.

Investigators from the state fire marshal's office began surveying remains of the 66-year-old building Tuesday morning for a possible cause. The last day of classes was Friday.

School Superintendent Bill Bacchus said Tuesday that insurance money collected from the loss likely will lower the amount needed by the district from the tax levy.

"There is some question as to how much will be needed," said Bacchus. "We're unable to put that all together now and we don't feel like we'd have it together by June 4."

The tax proposal called for a 98-cent increase in the district's tax levy to fund construction of a middle school at a cost of $3.5 million and to improve other buildings.

Bacchus said now that the election has been postponed, administrators are most concerned with finding a place to hold classes when school begins in the fall.

"We will go ahead and try to fund a junior high," Bacchus said. "But we'll need temporary housing for students for at least the next two years. We're looking at a construction period of 18 months or so."

He said the board will meet June 6 to decide on temporary classroom space for the 250 junior-high students.

One possibility is to hold classes in the National Guard Armory three blocks from the school until a building can be completed, Bacchus said. He said that would allow the district to continue to use the buildings where band, shop and home economics classes were held.

Students, teachers and administrators were shocked and saddened by the fire, which was reported at 10:20 a.m. Saturday and was still smoldering Tuesday.

"I've seen a lot of tears flowing from teachers' eyes and from kids' eyes," Bacchus said. "It's a sad thing to see memories go up in flames."

Firefighters believe the fire originated in the center of the two-story brick building, where witnesses first spotted smoke. Lightening was reported in the area at the same time, police said.

A spokesman for the Charleston Department of Public Safety said the investigator for the state, James Amann, is expected to take a week to 10 days to determine the cause of the fire.

Meanwhile, Bacchus said he hopes to be able to open the school's vault today. The vault, which housed school records, appears to be intact but is buried under rubble and has been too hot to attempt to open, he said.

Despite the loss, Bacchus said the district will be ready for the start of school in the fall.

"This is not going to be a lost year," he said. "We already have teachers working on textbook and equipment orders and we'll start considering furniture soon."