$220M bond to fund Cedar Rapids schools heads to ballot

CEDAR RAPIDS — A $220 million general obligation bond issue that would fund construction of a new middle school and improvements to high schools in the Cedar Rapids Community School District is heading to district voters Nov. 7.

The Cedar Rapids school board unanimously approved a resolution Thursday ordering an election after the district received 6,909 valid signatures. The district needed about 6,300 signatures from eligible district voters to place the issue on the ballot.

School board President David Tominsky said the number of signatures collected is a “real testament” to the community’s support of the resolution. “I’m really excited about the community learning more about what exactly they’re voting on and why,” he said.

While the district has not announced a location for the new middle school, Tominsky said 30 to 40 acres of land are needed. He said the school will be on the northeast side of the community and feed into Kennedy High School, 4545 Wenig Rd. NE.

“I think our goal is to make sure schools are closest to students. A lot of work is being done to evaluate where the best place is for that school,” Tominsky said.

  Buy Photo

To take a school bond referendum to voters, at least 25 percent of the number of registered voters in the district voting in the last election of school officials must sign a petition, according to Iowa Code. Notice and language of the measure is due to the county auditor by noon Friday — 46 days before city and school elections.

Meeting the threshold is a big number for the Cedar Rapids Community School District — a much larger requirement than in neighboring school districts, Tominsky said.

For example, the College Community School District collected 1,690 signatures — double what was required — to put a $43 million general obligation bond issue on the Nov. 7 ballot. Those bonds would fund the construction of a swimming pool and wellness center in the College Community district.

Volunteers with a Cedar Rapids “Vote Yes to Invest” committee collected 7,624 signatures — about 700 of which were considered invalid because signors did not include the date they signed or an address within the school district. Signatures were verified by school board secretary Ryan Rydstrom along with two other district officials.

“This is just the beginning,” said Scott Drzycimski, chair of the Vote Yes committee. “Voters will have their say on some really critical investments in upgrades to Kennedy, Jefferson, Washington and Metro high schools, along with starting the process of modernizing the middle schools in the district.”

The proposed bond would help fund a facility plan that ultimately would reduce the number of middle schools in the district from its existing six. This would create a stronger feeder system for students in K-12, ensuring students stay together with classmates as they move from elementary to middle to high school. School leaders have said they believe this would provide more equitable services to all students while reducing the district’s operational and maintenance costs.

If the bond is approved by voters, the Cedar Rapids schools property tax rate would increase from $14.67 to $17.33 per $1,000 of taxable value. For a homeowner with a home assessed at $200,000, the bill based on the taxable value of that home — about 54.7 percent of its assessed value — would be about $282.02 a year, or $23.50 a month.

In Iowa, school bond issues — basically, loans that schools take out, typically for 10, 15 or 20 years — require a supermajority of 60 percent to pass. In passing bond issues, voters in the district agree to repay the loan, with interest, through their property taxes.

Now with the signatures collected, Drzycimski said the Vote Yes committee will continue to work to educate voters on the referendum and encourage them to turn out to vote and ensure the passage.

Save CR Heritage hosted a community forum following the school board meeting Thursday in the Whipple Auditorium at the downtown Cedar Rapids Public Library. Save CR Heritage is a nonprofit dedicated to saving historic properties in Cedar Rapids.

“We want to provide voters with complete information about the proposed bond issue and hope the school board is equally concerned about transparency when it comes to such a monumental shift within our schools,” Nikki Halvorson, president of Save CR Heritage, said in a statement.

The facilities plan

The $220 million bond referendum would fund the Cedar Rapids district’s purchase of land for and the construction of a 1,200-student middle school.

It also would fund new turf fields and career and technical education classroom additions at Kennedy, Jefferson and Washington high schools. Kennedy High’s cafeteria and kitchen and Metro High’s gymnasium would be updated under this plan.

Franklin Middle School would be renovated and turned into an 800-student school for seventh- and eighth-graders. Sixth-graders in the Franklin school boundary would attend McKinley, which would be converted into a school for 400 sixth-graders.

Harding Middle School would be closed under the plan.

A second $225 million bond referendum — proposed to be taken to voters in 2029 — would address the remaining middle schools.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com