Iowa City School Board to decide whether to move forward on new recreation levy

The Iowa City school board on Tuesday will decide whether to move forward with a public education and recreation levy that could appear on the ballot in September.

The tax, which in part would fund school playgrounds, would not exceed 13.5 cents per $1,000 of taxable property valuation, according to a recommendation given to the board last month by a committee that discussed the issue.

That would have added up to $674,144 in total revenue for this school year, according to the recommendation. The tax would take effect for the 2016-17 school year.

The board vote Tuesday would not place the issue on the Sept. 8 ballot but would allow the district to seek community input over the next four months. The board would then vote in May to put the issue before voters.

If the tax does come to a vote, a simple majority is enough to approve it. The levy would then be in place until voters or the school board discontinues it.

According to the recommendation, 60 percent of those funds would be used to develop, upgrade and enhance playground facilities, with 20 percent going to student and adult programming and 20 percent to help fund the district's Family Resource Center.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, the board will decide what to do about the district's diversity policy, which late last year was deemed non-compliant with federal law by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Board president Chris Lynch said last week that the board needs to rescind the current policy to comply with a Jan. 31 state deadline.

The board on Tuesday also will discuss the district's 2015-16 school calendar, which has been complicated by the state Department of Education's decision last month to no longer automatically grant waivers from a 1983 law mandating that school start the week of Sept. 1.

A preliminary district calendar for next school year sets a start date of Aug. 19. Superintendent Stephen Murley said last week administrators will present the board with an alternate calendar in case the district cannot get a waiver from the state. Murley said getting a waiver will be difficult.