Superintendent: New Iowa City school district enrollment data shows 'urgency' for facilities work

New enrollment figures reinforce the pressing need for $258 million worth of projects in a facilities plan the Iowa City Community School District has spent much of the year developing, the superintendent said Tuesday.

The district's certified enrollment this fall is 13,160 students, an increase of 386 students, or 3 percent, from last school year, Superintendent Stephen Murley said. Certified enrollment includes all students living in the district, including those who open enroll out or are in the home school assistance program, and counts those receiving certain services as less than one student.

Perhaps more telling of the school district's growth is its head count enrollment, which is the number of students in district schools. It is now 12,894, an increase of 415 students, or 3.3 percent, over last year.*

The new enrollment numbers come as the school board is trying to finalize the timeline for construction projects in a 10-year facilities plan it adopted this past summer. That plan includes a new high school, three new elementary schools and renovations and additions at existing school buildings.

The enrollment data “validates what I consider to be a sense of urgency for the work in front of us,” Murley said.

District administrators are still analyzing the enrollment information and should have a detailed report ready the middle of next week, Murley said. The annual enrollment report breaks down enrollment by building and grade level, and where in the five-city school district the growth occurred will be interesting, Murley said.

Eastern Iowa City is slated to get two new elementary schools, while the high school and an elementary school are to be built in or near North Liberty.

DeJONG-RICHTER, an Ohio-based educational planning firm, predicted last spring that the Iowa City Community School District would have nearly 3,000 more students in fall 2022.

Its projected head count for this school year was 12,826 students. At 68 students less than the actual head count, Murley said the projection was about what administrators anticipated but also showed that the district is not growing any slower than expected.

*This story has been updated with the accurate head count. Earlier information provided to The Gazette was that the enrollment was 12,890 students. It is 12,894.