Proposal to ‘pair’ elementary schools gets strong reaction from Iowa City families

IOWA CITY — Scores of parents in the Iowa City Community School District turned out to a school board meeting Tuesday largely opposing proposed changes to the district’s elementary schools.

School leaders, however, say no decisions have been made and the proposed changes are just ideas that will be studied over the coming months — with community input — to help alleviate “chronic underfunding of public education.”

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“Our reality is we have to look for ways to serve our students with fewer resources and be as effective as possible with the ones we have,” Superintendent Matt Degner said. “We brought these ideas to the board and you (the public) as a way to mitigate the impact of declining resources, and the belief that we have an opportunity to benefit our students. Some may produce savings and others may help us use the dollars we have more efficiently.”

More than 80 people were in attendance at the board meeting and about 13 people spoke during the public comment period to question the logistics of the plan and advocating that their own school stays open.

Matthew Fleming, parent to a student at Shimek Elementary School in Iowa City, said the proposal would disparage the small neighborhood schools the district worked so hard to create over the last few decades.

“The school board and district administration … built strong, supportive communities around these schools, and attracted devoted teachers, students and staff. It produced excellent educational outcomes. In short, the system you built is working for the very children and families you’re tasked to serve. This proposed plan would degrade or wholly destroy schools and their communities that this organization helped create and flourish over decades,” Fleming said.

‘Revisioning’ elementary schools

Three options that “revision” how Iowa City elementary schools use teaching staff to be more efficient and that would be more cost effective were presented to the board.

The options include “pairing” elementary schools to create more equitable opportunities for students, more consistent class sizes and offer a more efficient use of educators.

Pairing is where younger elementary students go to one campus and older elementary students go to another campus. In Iowa City’s case, the district is exploring whether to create a school that serves K-2 paired with a school that serves 3rd-5th grade.

Another proposal is an academy structure for some elementary schools, offering special instruction and programs not available elsewhere and designed to attract a more diverse student body from throughout the district. Students could enroll in these programs through an application process based on program interest.

Finally, repurposing select elementary schools as preschool centers dedicated to early childhood education serving 3- and 4-year-olds also is being considered.

These options initially were presented to the school board during two work sessions over the summer. They will continue to be explored through volunteer committees that begin meeting this fall, said Eliza Proctor, executive director of elementary schools.

The committees will be made up of educators from elementary schools and parents and guardians expected to attend meetings monthly or more after school hours.

“It’s extremely important to gather feedback from each school community and make sure voices are heard,” Proctor said.

Outstanding questions surrounding the plan — like what schools might be “paired,” how it would impact the budget and transportation and if elementary schools would need to stagger their start times — would be explored through these committees, Proctor said.

These proposals would continue to be explored through listening sessions open to the public and hosted by the school district during the school year, Proctor said.

School leaders look to avoid ‘closing another school’

Like many other school districts in Iowa, the Iowa City district has made reductions to its budget over the last few years. This year, the budget was reduced by $5.5 million — with some of those cost savings coming from closing Hills Elementary School.

School leaders say another $2.5 million will need to be reduced next fiscal year.

“As with any challenge put in front of us, we want to make sure the solutions are good for our students and community,” Degner said, adding that the district is committed to making budget reductions without making cuts to student programming or staff.

“We’re trying to avoid a situation where the only solution we have left at our disposal are class sizes that no parent would want their child in or completely close another school,” he said.

How could the plan save money, resources?

The Iowa City district has 20 elementary schools that range in the number of students they serve from about 170 to 630. The class size in each school also varies drastically, from between 14 to 32 students per classroom.

Pairing schools would reduce the number of classrooms in each school from 21 to 18 and create more balanced class sizes across all grade levels for 400 students per school. This also would reduce the number of elementary schools needed to 16 buildings, with the goal of the average class size being 22 students.

A timeline proposed that it would be determined this school year which east side schools would be best to pair for the 2025-26 school year. Another elementary school would be determined to serve as an early childhood center.

Proctor said the goal would not be to immediately get to 16 elementary schools with 18 sections of students each, but a move toward that would “help increase efficiency and likely would positively impact class sizes.”

The options presented initially focus on elementary schools on the east side of the school district that feed into Southeast Junior High and City High School.

There are nine elementary schools that feed into Southeast and City High, as opposed to five elementary schools that feed into Liberty High School and six elementary schools that feed into West High School.

The east side elementary schools are smaller, serving an average of 284 students per school. Schools with more sections of a single grade level operate more efficiently because there are more classrooms of the same grade to divide students between.

Having only one section of a grade level in a school building also can isolate teachers who don’t have peers to bounce ideas off and help them problem solve. By pairing schools, there are more teachers who each teach the same grade level.

“We have the most attendance centers that serve our students that feed into City High and the lowest average of students per building,” Proctor said. “Our goal is to find solutions that use our resources more effectively and provide innovative experiences for our students.”

For comparison, the elementary schools that eventually feed into Liberty High have an average of 389 students per school, and the elementary schools that eventually feed into West High have an average of 407 students per school.

School board reacts

Iowa City school board member Shawn Eyestone said school leaders have to find new ways to ensure the district is financially stable moving forward.

“I can tell you the status quo will get us in trouble. We’re already in trouble,” Eyestone said. “We’re trying to find real, lasting, long-term success for our district. Unfortunately, that’s going to cause some short-term pain points.”

School board member Charlie Eastham said the board wants to work in partnership with the community to find ways to maintain the public school system.

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“We are not making these considerations because it’s a bright idea the district is trying to pursue. We are making these considerations because the vision and sustainability of neighborhood schools is not a vision this Legislature agrees with anymore,” Eastham said.

School board member Jayne Finch said the public turnout Tuesday “warms my heart.”

“What’s clear is our elementary schools are absolutely foundational to families and neighborhoods,” Finch said. “It’s a testament to what our teachers and staff are doing with our students every single day. I don’t know yet how I feel about all of these proposals, but I am coming to it with an open mind, because I know it’s important for us to be proactive rather than reactive.”

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