If you go: Cedar Rapids school board meeting

The Cedar Rapids school board is set to hear a facilities proposal Monday that would impact all 21 of the Cedar Rapids Community School District's elementary schools.

The meeting is open to the public and is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the district's Educational Leadership and Support Center, 2500 Edgewood Road NW.

At the earliest, the school board will vote on the plan at its January 22 meeting.

The proposed plan has a timeline of about 15 years. It would cost an estimated $224 million and would be paid for by the state penny tax for school infrastructure, or SAVE, if it's extended by the legislature.

There are opportunities for public comment at the beginning of every regular school board meeting. Before the board plans to vote on the plan, there are meetings scheduled for Monday and January 8.

'I would encourage people to understand that the school board is continuing to listen, and school board meetings are the No. 1 way for people to come and share their thoughts and ideas and concerns with us,” school board president John Laverty said.

Monday's meeting will be the first time the facilities plan is formally presented to the school board. No school board members were part of the committee that developed the plan.

Superintendent Brad Buck, who was a member of the committee, said in an interview Friday that the facilities plan has not significantly changed since it was presented to the public last month.

If approved by a majority of school board members, the plan would close:

' Garfield, 1201 Maplewood Drive NE

' Grant Wood, 645 26th St. SE

' Kenwood Leadership Academy, 3700 E Ave. NE

' Madison, 1341 Woodside Drive NW

' Nixon, 200 Nixon Drive, Hiawatha

' Taylor, 720 Seventh Ave. SW

' Truman, 441 West Post Road. NW

' Van Buren, 2525 29th St. SW

It would raze and rebuild:

' Arthur, 2630 B Ave. NE

' Cleveland, 2200 First Ave. NW

' Coolidge, 6225 First Ave. SW

' Erskine, 600 36th St. SE

' Harrison, 1310 11th St. NW

' Hoover, 4141 Johnson Ave. NW

' Jackson, 1300 38th St. NW

' Johnson STEAM Academy, 355 18th St. SE

' Pierce, 4343 Marilyn Drive NE

' Wright, 1524 Hollywood Blvd. NE

And it would remodel:

' Viola Gibson, 6101 Gibson Drive NE

' Hiawatha, 603 Emmons St., Hiawatha

' Grant, 254 Outlook Drive SW

l Comments: (319) 398-8330; molly.duffy@thegazette.com