Planning for new Iowa City high school may be near

IOWA CITY – The Iowa City school district could begin planning for a new high school in a couple of years, officials said Monday, although the timeline is still sketchy.

It all depends on enrollment numbers and projections.

During the redistricting process a year ago, the district set up “triggers” based on enrollment to move forward with planning for a third comprehensive high school to go with City High and West High.

Once three-year enrollment projections estimate that high school enrollment will surpass 3,750 students, and actual sixth-grade enrollment is between 900 and 925 students, the district will start budget, design and boundary work for a new school, the school board has said.

Based on new enrollment projections the board, meeting at its Facilities Committee, discussed Monday, the sixth-grade figure likely will be met in the next one to three years, Superintendent Stephen Murley said. The high-school figure, according to the projections, could be at hand as early as fall 2015 or the following school year.

Geoffrey Smith, a University of Iowa geography graduate student, has calculated enrollment projections for the district in recent years. He used different methods to provide a few projections for the board, and they showed the trigger point being reached in different years. He said he was trying to create a wide range for the board to see.

Board members said they would want firmer numbers before making decisions, although the high school projections show they likely have a couple of years before they need to consider starting the planning process.

“You don't want to start building a school you don't need,” Gayle Klouda said.

Designing and building a school is expected to take three years.

The board has previously said the district, which like most in Iowa has had financial difficulties in recent years, also must be able to afford to operate a new high school before it builds one.