MOSO CAPS returns for Joplin School Board vote

Emily Younker, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·2 min read

Apr. 27—The Joplin School District's participation in MOSO CAPS will be up for a vote again at a special session of the Board of Education, which will begin at 1 p.m. Friday at the administration building, 825 S. Pearl Ave.

A new memorandum of understanding between Missouri Southern State University and the Joplin School District, to be considered by the board Friday, would give Joplin High School a minimum of 12 seats in the program at $2,498 per student per year in a three-year commitment, for a total of $29,976 per year. If additional seats were requested by Joplin and if they were available, the district would be assessed the same per-student cost for the extra seats.

The document states that the district's general fund would cover the costs of the program.

Administrators said in additional documents provided to the board that there is interest in MOSO CAPS from Joplin High School students.

Surveys of JHS students taken in the past week by administrators and school counselors have shown that:

—52 students who viewed an informational video about MOSO CAPS indicated a "definite" interest in the program. Another 107 students indicated a "moderate" interest in the program and wanted more information.

—Of the approximately 65 students who later attended an informational meeting about MOSO CAPS, 22 expressed a "definite" interest in the program. Another 32 of those students said they were "still considering" the program and wanted to visit with their parents before committing.

Missouri Southern started a CAPS, or Center for Advanced Professional Studies, program last year. The program is a collaboration among local school districts, higher education and industry. It offers high school students, typically upperclassmen, the opportunity to work toward a professional goal in local industry.

MOSO CAPS was launched with participation from the Carl Junction and Webb City school districts. Joplin also was offered a chance to participate, with 59 seats reserved for students at a cost of $2,498 per student. That would have cost the district $147,382 per year — a fee that would have had to be paid regardless of whether all 59 seats were filled.

The school board first rejected participation in MOSO CAPS in December 2021. Board members who opposed the program at the time argued that the cost to reserve seats for Joplin students wasn't fiscally responsible, especially if any of the seats weren't filled.

One board member tried to address those concerns by soliciting donations from businesses and members of the community to cover those costs, but the board again rejected the program in January 2022, again citing fiscal responsibility as the reason.

Since those initial votes, the district has a new superintendent, Kerry Sachetta, and five new school board members: David Weaver, Donald L. Greenlee II, Marda Schroeder, Veronica Gatz Scheurich and Matthew Robertson.