Time for C.R. school modernization to take root

The Cedar Rapids Community School District has released the draft of its middle and high school facility plan for community review. The plan is a pathway to update buildings and realign facilities with current educational standards, enrollment projections and future school budget expectations.

Over the last year I volunteered with other parents, teachers, and community partners as a member of the Facility Master Plan Committee to learn about options, understand financial limitations and ultimately create the plan being shared. As district parent, my kids will graduate before they benefit from much of this work. But as an alumnus, community member and supporter of growing our community, I wanted to be a part of this critical process.

When you see this plan for the first time, you’ll likely raise many of the same questions we tackled as members of this committee. Often the questions raised among committee members were tough, at times voices were raised and disagreements emerged. But even in disagreement, the focus was on putting students first and forging a plan that would prepare the district to meet educational and community needs for many future generations.

Many committee parents had an interest to create true feeder schools — so that students aren’t torn away from their friends when they move on from elementary or middle school to the next level. This emerged as a top focus. Creating a path to ultimately adjust to four middle schools was important to reduce operational and administrative expenses while maximizing teachers’ classroom and preparatory time.

Population trends and community growth patterns were studied. Inclusion and fairness were discussed frequently. The iconic beauty and neighborhood tie of some of the district’s more seasoned facilities were also a common topic. Safety, accessibility and long-term fiscal efficiency were cornerstones of the discussion. As opinions emerge for and against this plan, I ask you to know that likely every point raised was hashed through by volunteers on the Facility Master Plan committee.

I don’t think the plan is perfect, as creating the perfect plan is an impossible task. On such a complex task as this, and with limited bonding capacity, perfect should not be the enemy of good. This is a good plan and a critical first step in meeting student needs and future school funding challenges.

There’s a saying that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second-best time is today. It’s time for a plan to modernize and streamline our fleet of middle and high school buildings to take root. The needs will only increase and the fiscal challenges to meet those needs will only become more difficult and costly to taxpayers if we wait. This is a good place start.

Whether a parent, grandparent or community member without students in our schools, please learn about the facility master plan and consider supporting the issue when goes to voters in March. The students who will attend our Cedar Rapids schools over the coming decades will likely be the same ones caring for our health, running our local business and industry, educating our grandchildren or great grandchildren and serving as our community leaders.

Our students, and the educators who work with them every day, deserve our support for building, upgrading and maintaining modern educational facilities that, like our students, are future-ready.

Scott Drzycimski is Director of Public Affairs for ITC Midwest, headquartered in Cedar Rapids. He is a Cedar Rapids native, Cedar Rapids Jefferson alum and parent of two students in the Cedar Rapids district. He chaired a parent-led organization in support of the most recent PPEL ballot issue and was a volunteer member of the Facility Master Plan Committee that worked to craft the plan being presented to the community.