Johnson County officials to discuss Iowa City Schools request to address issues

IOWA CITY - Elected officials across Johnson County plan to deliberate on the Iowa City Community School District's request for local governments to help address zoning and housing discrepancies in relation to students.

Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan said the first step in addressing the school district's concern over the impact affordable housing and city zoning has on low-income families and their enrollment in area schools is to meet individually.

'I think we all have public ideas on that topic...our individual groups have to at some point take this on,” he said.

Monday's joint meeting discussion was in response to an Oct. 13 letter from district officials to the mayors of Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, University Heights and Hills and the chair of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. In the letter the school board asked that each municipality adopt comparable policies on inclusionary zoning, reinvest in areas in the community dealing with socio-economic isolation and place restrictions on rental units and rental density.

School Board member Jeff McGinness said the board is looking for local conversation on how each community can best address the issue as it stands in their respective boundaries.

'We're not looking for a cookie cutter or one size fits all,” he said. 'Each community has its own challenges.”

However, Coralville council member Bill Hoeft added that such a change will require considerable discussion before coming to fruition.

'This is a huge issue with a lot of moving parts,” he said.

The school board's letter comes nearly two years after the board passed its diversity policy in early 2013, which requires schools to be within a certain range of each other in the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, a measure of poverty. It also sets capacity requirements on high schools and junior high schools before more secondary schools can be built.

While he agreed with the need to discuss the issue, Iowa City Mayor Matt Hayek said such zoning changes would take years to take effect, adding that he hopes the school board continues its focus on the diversity policy.

'I hope it's not a distraction from the diversity policy and the importance that has for the community,” he said.

Officials present at Monday's meeting agreed to formally discuss their individual ideas and responses to the school district's letter in the coming weeks in order return with talking points at the next joint meeting Jan. 26.