116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
$50K grant to better support special education students ‘disengaged’ from C.R. schools
Iowa Department of Education cites district’s ‘need’ and ‘commitment’ to the work
Feb. 11, 2026 4:59 pm
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CEDAR RAPIDS — A $50,000 grant awarded to the Cedar Rapids school district will fund initiatives next school year aimed at improving student achievement and outcomes for students with disabilities.
The district was awarded the IDEA-DA Continuous Improvement Grant by the Iowa Department of Education for demonstrating the district’s “greatest need” and “strongest commitment” to this work.
IDEA-DA stands for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act-Differentiated Accountability and is a continuous monitoring cycle focused on improving educational results and functional outcomes for all students with disabilities, according to the Iowa Department of Education.
Jenny Johnson, an instructional coach in the Cedar Rapids district, said the district doesn’t have a good process established to respond to students — especially those with special needs — who are disengaging in school. With the grant, educators will be compensated for their time in researching and establishing a framework to help students reengage, whether that be helping them improve their attendance, participate in a work-based learning experience or improve academically.
Sarah Kruse, executive director of special education for the Cedar Rapids district, said a big part of engaging kids in school is to ensure they have the tools they need to achieve their postsecondary goals.
The district’s grant application was grounded in critical data points that reflect current challenges with student engagement.
While the district’s overall five-year graduation rate is 81 percent, the rate for students with Individualized Education Plans is nearly 65 percent.
The current ninth grade early warning system shows that 55 percent of students with IEPs are off track by the end of their first year of high school. Data reviews within the district indicate an infrastructure is needed to identify earlier students who are disengaged and provide consistent, data-driven responses.
The $50,000 grant will fund the following initiatives during the 2026-27 school year:
- Establish a formal framework to ensure that when a student is identified by the early warning system as being disengaged in school, staff have rules and role clarity to provide a coordinated response rather than fragmented interventions.
- Support cross-role design teams and professional learning for building administrators, counselors and special education staff on interpreting early warning system indicators and guiding proactive responses.
A significant portion of the funds will be used for one-time purchases of durable, specially designed instruction-aligned materials to allow staff to respond to student needs without increasing their current workload.
Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com
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