K-12 Education

The vitally important role school business officials play in Iowa can be difficult to fill, especially in Iowa’s rural schools.

An almost $8 million school bond referendum would modernize and expand classrooms to better serve students enrolled in work-based learning classes in the industrial technology, family and consumer science, and agriculture if approved by voters in the Williamsburg Community School District.

Three Cedar Rapids middle schools were rejected as satellite voting sites — a temporary absentee voting location available before Election Day — because of accessibility issues.

The superintendent of Iowa's largest school district, who was detained last week by immigration agents, falsely claimed a doctoral degree when applying for the job two years ago but was hired even after the school board learned about the misrepresentation.

Linn-Mar Community School District says it will improve communication with parents after student-led announcements prompted a federal investigation request from U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson. LGBTQ advocacy groups defended the students’ right to free speech, citing state and federal protections for student journalism and warning that political attacks harm LGBTQ youth.

Cedar Rapids school board members are evaluating the way they communicate and developing a plan for “concrete, immediate improvements” including asking questions and having more in-depth discussions in public at the board table.

Funding transportation for field trips, providing meals for teachers during parent-teacher conferences and hosting school carnivals are just a few of the ways “small but mighty” parent teacher groups support their schools.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights threatened this week to withhold millions in funding from the Cedar Rapids Community School District unless it severed partnerships and disbanded initiatives aimed at promoting equity for students and staff of color.

Iowa U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson is urging a federal investigation into Linn-Mar High School after student announcements marked “Bisexual Plus Awareness Week.” The district says it is reviewing the segment on student-run television programming.

Iowa students have rebounded to pre-COVID performance across multiple subjects, including math, reading and writing, and saw an improvement in rates of chronic absenteeism last year, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday.

Aspen Lohman, an “empathetic and incredibly skilled” first grade teacher at Coralville Central Elementary School, has been on leave since February after the trauma from repeated assaults by a student left her with post-traumatic stress disorder, acute panic attacks and depression.

Another personnel report was approved with dissent Monday as Cedar Rapids school leaders grapple with expanded roles and salary of some district administrators and staff after 27 positions were eliminated from the district office this past spring.