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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids parents petition school board to ‘slow down’ new Pathways program
Construction to begin by summer on Freshman Academies, career and technical education wings
Dec. 10, 2024 12:01 pm, Updated: Dec. 11, 2024 8:01 am
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CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids parent Brooke Oja submitted a petition to the school board Monday during public comment asking it to “slow down” implementation of the district’s College & Career Pathways program.
The petition on change.org received almost 600 verified signatures from community members. Iowa Code requires a school board to place requests on its agenda within 30 days of receiving a petition signed by 500 or more eligible voters.
The next regularly scheduled Cedar Rapids school board meeting is Jan. 13, 2025.
School officials are currently reviewing the petition to ensure it complies with the requirements and “will proceed accordingly,” Cedar Rapids district spokeswoman Heather Butterfield said in an email to The Gazette. “As we understand Iowa law, a public hearing must be scheduled within 30 days if the petition meets the legal requirements.”
Oja asked the board to listen to feedback from educators in their district on the Pathways program, saying she’s spoken with some educators who have concerns.
“I’ve taken time to talk to parents and staff around the district, and it’s apparent that we have questions that are not being answered,” Oja said during the Cedar Rapids school board meeting. “Let’s hold off and continue to develop the plan, so that we don’t see failure. Our students are not guinea pigs.”
School leaders working to answer ‘every’ question
Superintendent Tawana Grover said the district is working hard to answer “each and every” question from families about the program. During her board report at Monday’s meeting, Grover said school officials want feedback from families, and the questions they have will help guide the creation of the program.
“Some of the very questions they’re asking around transportation, if their student attends one school and wants to participate at another school, how this impacts staff, how this impacts athletics? Those are all of the pieces we want to get parent feedback. I think there are differences of opinion on those matters, and hopefully, our parents will be able to give us some guidance in terms of what they feel is right and best,” Grover said.
College & Career Pathways will launch next fall at Kennedy, Jefferson and Washington high schools with Freshman Academies designed to connect students to smaller learning environments where they can explore their career interests.
Ninth-graders will take core classes in the subjects of math, science, language arts and social studies in addition to a new “freshman seminar,” aimed at preparing students for high school and life.
The following school year — 2026-27 — College & Career Pathways will be offered at four high schools, including Metro, which is not typically attended by freshmen. Staff are beginning to work on designing courses for these programs, Grover said.
About 1,000 people attended last week’s three informational meetings about the plan. More informational meetings are being planned for January.
Families are invited to join a Parent Advisory committee to give voice in shaping the future of the College & Career Pathways program. The committee will hold its first meeting next week.
Interested community members can visit crschools.us/frontpage/college-and-career-pathways to express interest in joining the committee. The site also has a Frequently Asked Questions section.
Construction to begin by summer break
At the board meeting Monday, Invision Architects — selected earlier this year to renovate and build additions to Jefferson and Washington high schools for the Pathways program — presented an update.
Work on the $60 million project — about $30 million at each school — could begin as early as spring break in March but will begin this summer. Funding is coming from two places:
- The district is leveraging $30 million from its Physical Plant and Equipment Levy, an existing capital projects fund for the purchase and improvement of grounds, construction and remodeling of buildings, major equipment purchases including technology.
- An additional $30 million from Secure An Advanced Vision for Education, an existing statewide sales tax, also is being set aside to fund infrastructure for college and career learning.
Invision architect Jason DeVries said the design they presented Monday is the “tip of the iceberg” as they begin to engage teachers in the plans.
Each school will have a space for their Freshman Academy with a separate entrance and dedicated staff to “foster early connections” to school, DeVries said. Students will spend more than half their day in these spaces.
The architects began meeting with about 50 teachers from each school last month. There will be additional meetings to consult with teachers on the construction plans as they develop their curriculum in January and February next year.
Similarly, neighboring College Community School District opened its 9th Grade Center this year in Cedar Rapids, a space dedicated to students in their first year of high school.
Invision architect Laura Peterson said the Pathway spaces for programming for 10th-12th graders will be flexible classrooms that can “ebb and flow” with changes to the curriculum that match the needs of the community.
Misinformation can be ‘detrimental’
School board member Kaitlin Byers said she is appreciative and grateful families are engaging with the district on the Pathways program. She warned against spreading misinformation.
“Misinformation spreads very quickly. It can be really detrimental to a community and an effort of this size. While some of the criticisms can be justified, we feel in order for us to do big things and do great things, we need to establish levels of trust that we’re doing it for the right reasons. We’re doing it for our students,” Byers said.
The Cedar Rapids Community School District dips below the state average in academic achievement, graduation rates and postsecondary readiness, according to the Iowa Performance Profile. The district’s four-year graduation rate is 77.53 percent, about 10 points below the state’s average. Almost 37 percent of students are earning college credit while in high school, compared to the state average of 69 percent. And 7.5 percent of students are engaged in work-based learning — including earning an industry recognized credential — compared to the state average of about 25 percent.
“That is nowhere close to all students, and we need to address that, and we need to own up to that, and we need to do better,” Byers said.
Byers said Pathways will “create more choice for families” and “bring more meaning to education.”
“We want our kids to be confident and happy and curious and critical thinkers and good friends and neighbors and be invested in their learning. On top of that, connected to their interests and a pathway for their future,” Byers said.
Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com
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