Cedar Rapids schools will reduce building staff positions by 6 percent

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids schools will reduce building staff positions by 6 percent to adjust to a $12 million budget deficit that district officials said is the result of declining enrollment and decreases in state and federal funding.

The 6 percent reduction — which will save $5 million — equates to about 222 employees, split between approximately 77 teaching positions and 145 campus support staff roles.

Of the 77 teaching positions affected, 20 are the elementary level, 42 in middle schools and 15 at the district’s high schools.

Superintendent Tawana Grover said the reduction in staff positions will be through retirements, attrition and “strategic realignments.” She said each year, the district sees 120-150 full time teachers either retire or resign. As of this week, the district has received 55 notices of either retirement or resignation.

“When it comes down to the human capital, the actual person or people, we should be able to keep all the people. Because instead of us going out, hiring new people and adding, we would just be able to take that natural attrition and just shave it off and be able to still place the people within our organization,” Grover said this week.

Some full-time employees may be in a different role or working at a different building as part of the realignment.

“This realignment is not a mass layoff,” Grover said. “We are working … making sure that we can find a place to offer to our staff members … also our class sizes, they remain consistent. There are no drastic changes for students. There are no programs that are being cut. We want to reassure our families that the quality of education will continue within our school district.”

Over the past 20 years, Cedar Rapids schools’ enrollment has declined by about 3,000 students, while staffing numbers remained the same or increased, the district said.

According to a count in October, the district’s enrollment is 14,567 students for the 2024-25 academic year, a decline of 337 — 2.3 percent — from the previous year.

Administrative cuts will save $7M

Through a zero-based budgeting approach, the district has identified $7 million worth of reductions that can be made at the Educational Leadership and Support Center. Zero-based budgeting requires every department expenditure to be evaluated, regardless of whether it was included in previous budgets.

Among the reductions will be 11.9 percent of the positions at the ELSC. Grover said that equates to 20-30 positions that will be eliminated.

The district also will save around $1 million by switching its insurance provider to Cedar Rapids-based True North.

“It was just through a combination of personnel operation efficiencies, cutting back on department budgets, as well as contracts for consultant services, that's how we were able to get close to that reduction at the ELSC level,” Grover said.

Schools will receive funds that could ‘buy back’ positions

Despite the planned cuts, the district also is investing $7.5 million into classrooms through its strategic realignment process.

That process includes:

“We want to take a look at all of our staffing and how it was being allocated across our school district, and how certain positions and supports align with our strategic plan and our key priorities,” said Grover. “… we were able to create a staffing model that offers us the opportunity for long term stability, equity across our campuses, and some predictability to our administrators, to our teachers, as well as our families.”

Individual schools can choose to use their supplemental funds to “buy back” staff positions that are being eliminated through strategic realignment. Grover said some schools already have begun submitting requests.

“We feel that the campuses can benefit from that level of autonomy, because they know the needs that they have in their building and that these supplemental funds will allow them to go above and beyond the core staffing model that the district provides to everyone”,” said Grover.

Public hearing on proposed property tax levy March 31

The district’s budgeting process is continuing, and a public hearing on the proposed property tax levy is set for March 31 at 4:30 p.m. at the ELSC Building, 2500 Edgewood Rd. NW.

The district has a proposed property tax levy rate of $13.84 per $1,000 of taxable valuation for fiscal year 2026, which starts July 1 and ends June 30, 2026. That rate is a decrease from the current property tax rate of $13.90 per $1,000.

Comments: megan.woolard@thegazette.com

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