Iowa City school board approves land buy amid budget worries

IOWA CITY — The Iowa City Community School District is purchasing nearly 19 acres of land southwest of Iowa City as a potential future school site, but has no immediate plans to develop the property as a school.

The school board Tuesday unanimously approved the purchase of the property south of Rohret Road for $607,100, or $32,500 per acre, from Steven M. Carson and trustees for several Carson family trusts. The property is being purchased with the capital projects fund Secure an Advanced Vision for Education. SAVE is funded by statewide sales taxes allocated by the state to school districts based on enrollment.

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Any plans to build on the new property would be a part of a new facility master plan after the 2029-30 school year that would need approval by the school board.

“This is a long-term investment. While we are having difficult conversations tonight, it’s incumbent for us to look at the future of the school district,” said Chace Ramey, deputy superintendent of the school district.

Before approving the purchase, the board had a lengthy discussion about recommendations made by district officials on how to trim $7.5 million in district expenses over the next two years.

One of the recommendations is to close Hills Elementary School, which would save the district about $1.66 million. School officials cited budget constraints and overall declining enrollment in the district as the reason to consider closing Hills, the smallest elementary school in the district.

The recommendations made to reduce the district’s budget — including closing Hills Elementary — are expected to be voted on by the board at its next regular meeting at 6 p.m. March 26 at the Educational Services Center, 1725 N. Dodge St., Iowa City.

Superintendent Matt Degner said the timing of presenting this property purchase to the school board is “unfortunate.” However, school officials think the purchase is an important long-term investment. The purchase expense comes from different school funds than operating an elementary school, Degner said.

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The decision to purchase the property was made based on development plans for the area, which includes significant housing construction over the next decade, according to board documents.

In November 2021, the Iowa City school district asked voters to consider an extension of its plans to spend SAVE money. The extension passed with 87 percent approval. The extension allows the district to continue its facility master plan through the 2029-30 school year. The purchase of new property is a part of that plan.

The district has been engaged with the city of Iowa City’s planning staff, developers and the public for years regarding the projected growth in the community, Ramey said.

The city recently has completed the construction of a sanitary sewer trunk line under Highway 218. The trunk line eventually will extend westward to currently undeveloped property located on the south side of Rohret Road. It is anticipated that once developed, several hundred homes could be built there in the next several years.

The district owns another two pieces of undeveloped property in the northern tier of the district. One site sits across from Liberty High School south of Dubuque Street in Coralville. The other is located north of Liberty High School off North Liberty Road in North Liberty.

“These two parcels we have has given us a lot of flexibility. … It’s such a quicksand we’re on about what enrollment’s going to look like, what our needs are going to be,” school board member Lisa Williams said. “We’re not building anything on them any time soon.”

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