New task force begins examining Cedar Rapids schools’ needs

CORRECTION: One of the task force members is a consultant for Save CR Heritage, but he does not represent Save CR Heritage, he said. The initial article misreported who is included on the task force.

CEDAR RAPIDS — A task force of community members and school officials that will develop a new facility plan for the Cedar Rapids Community School District and determine next steps toward a possible bond referendum in 2025 will begin meeting Tuesday.

A new facility master plan could include closing buildings to reduce operating costs and eliminate future maintenance expenses, and renovating or building new schools to create more modern and supportive learning environments.

“We’re not just looking at facilities as bricks and mortar but as conduits to providing programming within our buildings. How can we develop, build and remodel spaces to provide the best opportunities for our students?” asked Chad Schumacher, Cedar Rapids schools’ operations director.

Two or three proposed facility plans created by the task force could be presented to the Cedar Rapids school board for consideration between March and May 2025, Schumacher said.

From there, the district would send a survey out to the community to gather more feedback and gauge interest in supporting a plan with a possible school bond referendum in November 2025.

The task force will be made up of 80 to 100 community members, business leaders and school staff who will meet monthly to develop a plan in alignment with the district’s goals, Schumacher said.

Included on the task force are leaders of various neighborhood associations, nonprofit and faith groups and representatives from The History Center and the Cedar Rapids Historic Preservation Commission.

The plan will be informed by research and data, including information gathered by architects from Shive-Hattery and MA+ who in March toured all 32 schools in the Cedar Rapids district, assessing the buildings and the ways students and teachers use them for learning.

“We have an idea of what we do need to address, but we really want the task force to share with us what they believe are the priorities,” Schumacher said.

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‘A lot of questions’

Cedar Rapids City Council member David Maier, who is joining the school task force, said investment in public schools is needed.

Maier said he is joining the task force as a private citizen and not as a member of council. However, “more coordination, cooperation and transparency” is needed between the city and school board, he said.

“I was embarrassed as a member of the community when the school board talked to the City Council at a meeting last year and there was such a big disconnect,” Meier said, referencing a joint meeting between the council and school board in July 2023. “It’s OK to disagree, but when you get together in a public meeting there shouldn’t be surprises like that. I felt like it was political theater and non-productive.”

Maier said he is going to “do what I can to prevent that from happening” again. “I do think there needs to be more collaboration” between the city and school district, he said.

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Cedar Rapids school board President Cindy Garlock, who also will be on the task force, said this process differs from the facility plan and bond referendum brought to voters in November 2023 — which failed.

“It feels like this time we are really gathering community input on the front end to help guide us. We’re being very intentional and thorough in making sure we have the right people at the table and are listening to the community,” she said.

Facilities play a vital role in providing the “best possible education” for kids, said Garlock, speaking as a former teacher. It’s “incumbent” on school leaders to educate the public on how facilities impact student learning, she said.

The school board also has to consider the “financial health” of the district and maintaining smaller school buildings is costly, she said.

Cedar Rapids school leaders have used task forces in the past to guide facility planning with mixed results.

Last year, the school board initially voted to move forward with demolishing Harrison Elementary School and build a new building on the site — a decision that deviated from two recommendations made by a volunteer focus group based on an assessment of both schools from Legat Architects, an architecture firm in Iowa City.

The school board since has reversed its decision and is reassessing the future of the Harrison building. A new plan for Harrison and neighboring Madison Elementary School is expected to be presented to the school board at its next meeting at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 26 at the Educational Leadership and Support Center, 2500 Edgewood Rd. NW in Cedar Rapids.

Dorothy de Souza Guedes, president of the Oak Hill Jackson Neighborhood Association, is joining this next iteration of a facility task force because she believes in public education.

De Souza Guedes, however, said she’s not optimistic that the task force’s recommendations will be taken seriously by the board. She also is concerned about how architecture and engineering experts will “guide” task force members “to the answer” that aligns with an already created plan.

“I’m a person that’s going to ask a lot of questions,” de Souza Guedes said. “The task force is looking at the school district as a whole, and there’s going to be a lot of information to process.”

Voters say ‘no’ to last bond

Last November, voters in the Cedar Rapids school district overwhelmingly defeated a $220 million bond referendum that would fund improvements to schools.

But the need to address aging buildings and consolidate schools to be more operationally efficient and provide equitable educational experiences to students continues, school leaders say.

The district also is creating college and career programs in three of its high schools that will better prepare students for high-wage, high-skill and in-demand careers.

While the school district already has committed $60 million toward the college and career programs from capital projects funds, a larger investment will be needed, Schumacher said.

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Goals of the school district

Guiding some of the facility discussions will be goals set by the school district in a strategic plan approved by the Cedar Rapids school board in September 2023.

The strategic plan has four pillars:

The school board is expected to approve another plan later this month that aims to create a safe and secure learning environment.

That plan includes five recommendations, created by a Safety Advisory Council of school staff and community members, that seek to address the needs and concerns of the school community, move away from punitive discipline to restorative and healing-centered models and reduce the disproportionate discipline and behavior infractions of students of color and in special education.

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