Cedar Rapids schools Superintendent Tawana Grover gets new 3-year contract

CEDAR RAPIDS — A new contract for Cedar Rapids schools Superintendent Tawana Grover extends her stay in the district by one year — to summer 2027 — and gives her a 3 percent salary increase.

The contract was approved unanimously Monday in a special session by the Cedar Rapids school board. School board members Jennifer Borcherding and Kaitlin Byers were not present, and Jennifer Neumann attended virtually. Board members approved the contract without comment.

The three-year contract, which was extended to June 30, 2027, sets the superintendent’s salary at $314,150, plus benefits, for the next year.

The 3 percent salary increase is the same percentage for certified and non-certified administrators — those not required to have teaching certificate — in the school district.

The contract also states that the district will contribute to a tax-sheltered annuity program in an amount equal to 12 percent of the superintendent’s contract salary, plus the superintendent’s travel allowance amount, which will be paid into the program on a monthly basis. This is a 2 percent increase from last year.

Grover began as superintendent of the school district in April 2023 and became the district’s first female Black leader.

She inherited planning for a multimillion school bond referendum that voters overwhelmingly said “no” to in October 2023. Since then, school leaders have gone back to the drawing board, working to create a new facility plan with community input and explore taking another school bond referendum to voters in the fall of 2025.

Grover also is leading the district in a plan to create college and career academies and pathways in an effort to increase graduation rates and ensure students leave school with something more than a diploma — such as college credit or industry certification.

The school district is preparing to launch freshman programs at three high schools for the 2025-26 school year. The academies will be small and supportive learning environments contained within a larger high school setting. The following year — the 2026-27 school year — the district will launch academies for sophomores, juniors and seniors at the schools.

Under Grover’s leadership, the school board approved a new three-year strategic plan last fall with goals to improve student achievement, close opportunity gaps and decrease physical aggression of students, among other things.

The plan also seeks to increase enrollment, bolster family engagement and improve retention and recruitment of staff and ensure staff is diverse and culturally competent.

As superintendent, Grover oversees the second-largest school district in Iowa and an annual budget of about $315 million. She reports to the elected officials on the Cedar Rapids school board.

There are 32 schools in the Cedar Rapids Community School District serving about 15,700 students. The district’s minority enrollment is 40 percent. Also, 39 percent of its students are economically disadvantaged, according to U.S. News & World Report. There are about 3,100 employees in the district.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com