Iowa City School Board approves plan for redistricting, reassigning Roosevelt students

The Iowa City Community School District board Tuesday night voted unanimously to pursue a controversial redistricting plan intended to accommodate the shuttering of Roosevelt Elementary and the opening of Borlaug Elementary in Coralville.

The plan, which was the recommendation of district officials, would send 78 Pheasant Ridge neighborhood students from Roosevelt to Weber, while students from surrounding neighborhoods would attend Borlaug.

That idea has drawn the ire of Pheasant Ridge residents, some of whom are alleging discrimination. Parents in the neighborhood, which lies within a two-mile radius of both schools as well as Horn Elementary School, say they would like to choose which school their children will attend.

District officials and school board members described the plan as a compromise that best serves the district as a whole.

“It's not that we don't care about the individual situations…we're trying to make the best decision for 12,000 kids,” said Mike Cooper, the board's vice president.

Cooper said that parents should be happy with any of the schooling options.

“These aren't good schools. These are great schools," he said.

In constructing the plan, officials considered four key factors – fiscal considerations, building utilization, keeping neighborhood students together and balancing demographics, including race and socioeconomic status, they said.

Several people at the meeting said that balancing demographics is insensitive and discriminatory against a neighborhood which has a high immigrant population and an elevated percentage of children who receive free and reduced-price lunches.

“If I lived in Pheasant Ridge, I would have been insulted,” said Peter Small, of Iowa City.   “It seems to me that you were addressing people as an abstraction.”

Ima Hamed, a Sudanese immigrant with one child at Roosevelt and another who recently graduated, said the process is “dehumanizing.”

Several Pheasant Ridge parents said they would rather send their children to Borlaug, where many of their former teachers from Roosevelt will likely end up. Those teachers, they say, have more experience dealing with students who speak English as a second language.

Board member Tuyet Dorau, said that, though the district has given Roosevelt teachers first choice at spots opening at Borlaug, there is no guarantee that the school will carry the same staff that is currently at Roosevelt.

Dorau, who herself was a refugee and received free and reduced-priced lunches, said she was offended by parents' charges of discrimination against the board.

“I just don't see discrimination as a part of this process,” she said,

Current Roosevelt students who prefer not to attend Weber next year may transfer to any school that has openings, according to district policy. Those students, however, would not have access to district busing.