Status of Iowa City district’s plans frustrates North Liberty parents

Feeling like their children's needs are not being met, some North Liberty parents have discussed breaking up with the Iowa City school district.

For many, the idea of forming a new district is more of a sign of how frustrated they have become at what they see as the school board's wavering on whether to build a high school in the fast-growing North Liberty area.

But it is a notion some people take seriously, said parent Marisa Keeney, who added that she is not sure whether a separate school district would be in her town's best interest.

“It usually comes up when people are getting frustrated with the lack of movement - I shouldn't even say movement - the back and forth related to whether or not another comprehensive high school is going to be built on the north side,” said Keeney, who has three children at North Liberty's Penn Elementary School.

West High, where North Liberty students attend, is over capacity and projected to continue to add students. Parents also want a high school closer to home.

Having part of a district split away would be unprecedented in Iowa history and is unlikely to happen, state education officials said.

“Not without going through a lot of hoops,” said Carol Greta, an attorney with the Iowa Department of Education.

There's a state law on school district reorganization that focuses on consolidation and doesn't even address breaking away. Greta said a split “seems counterintuitive to the intent of the law,” but the procedure would be the same as consolidation.

A petition with a certain number of signatures and other information would need to be submitted to the local Area Education Agency board, which would decide whether to send the matter to voters.

The trend in Iowa is consolidation of shrinking school districts done with the support of school boards. Greta wasn't sure how an AEA board would view a proposed reorganization that lacked the backing of a school board.

Complicating matters for North Liberty is that a second school district, Clear Creek Amana, juts into the western edge of city limits.

Public school systems receive several thousand dollars in state aid for every student, and many Iowa school districts are struggling with the loss of funds from declining enrollment.

The Iowa City school district, which covers Iowa City, North Liberty, Coralville, Hills and University Heights, would not be keen on losing a growing part of the district, Superintendent Stephen Murley and school board President Marla Swesey said.

“I think (the) Iowa City (school district) has been fortunate to be growing because of the numbers of people in that area, and we like growth,” Swesey said.

North Liberty's population increased 149 percent from 2000 to 2010, and is now more than 13,000 people.

Since 2005, the Iowa City district has opened two elementary schools and a junior high and Clear Creek Amana has opened an elementary school. The Iowa City district's Penn Elementary has been in place for 50 years.

There's strong support in the community for a high school, and the Iowa City school district is exploring a possible 900-student high school in or near the town.

In 2010, the school board voted to build a new high school when the district had the money and enrollment to do so. Current projections show the enrollment target is approaching.

This spring, however, school board members said they wanted administrators to look at alternatives to building a new high school.

Also, dating back at least to 2010, some Iowa City parents have opposed a new high school.

There also are growing calls for a new elementary school in east Iowa City, to go with the need for another North Liberty elementary school. The district cannot afford to build two new elementary schools unless it taps into money it's saving for a high school.

Murley expects the school board to make decisions on these issues after a district committee studying a North Liberty high school submits a report in June.

Like many North Liberty parents, Anne Johnson believes the Iowa City school district is first-rate academically, but West High is too crowded and too far away. That's why she and her family - husband Jay and children Rylee, 10 and Drew, 7 - are building a house in Solon to start the children in school there next fall.

“I haven't seen any proof that we're moving toward a third high school in the near future,” said Johnson, who ran for Iowa City school board in 2009.

Of the 418 students who open enrolled out of the Iowa City school district this school year, the highest number, 157, went to Clear Creek Amana, and the third most, 77, to Solon. Those districts border North Liberty.

Murley, calling that a significant number of kids from one area, said when it is facilities rather than programs that are causing people to leave, it's incumbent on him and the school board to be clear on their short-, medium- and long-term plans.