116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
$7 million Central City schools facility plan prioritizes safety, accessibility
A school bond referendum will head to voters in the district Nov. 4
Sep. 19, 2025 5:30 am
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CENTRAL CITY — A $7 million school bond referendum that would fund a new secure entrance to the elementary school and classroom renovations and repairs is headed to voters in the Central City Community School District Nov. 4.
“We need to ensure we know who is in and out of our buildings, so we can maintain safety of our students and staff,” said interim Superintendent Lisa Glenn, who joined the district July 1.
Projects that improve accessibility for people and students with disabilities also will be funded by the bond, including making the stage in the gym wheelchair accessible.
Katy Koehler, counselor at Central City Elementary School, said maintaining a facility accessible to people of various abilities is important to kids’ sense of belonging in school.
“It has an impact on behavior, academic success and, further down the road, future readiness,” Koehler said. “One of my biggest goals is for students to feel safe, welcomed, accepted here at school. Accessibility is a huge piece of that goal.”
A lot of accessibility concerns are in the school’s gymnasium, which has a stage where students perform in musicals, plays and concerts. The only way to access the stage is by walking up narrow stairwells.
The bleachers also are not wheelchair accessible. “That doesn’t feel very welcoming,” Koehler said.
“When I think about being able to see any student who wants to participate in activities that might take place in the gym or on the stage be able to, I get goose bumps,” Koehler said.
The referendum, if approved, would add about $2.70 to the district’s property tax levy. This would set the property tax rate for fiscal year 2027 — which begins July 1, 2026 — at about $16.10 per $1,000 of taxable assessed value.
Over the last three years, the district’s property tax rate has declined as it paid off a $4.6 million school bond referendum approved by voters in the district in 2004, said Kerry Peyton business manager for the Central City Community School District. That bond referendum funded the addition of a wing to Central City High School and the industrial technology building.
The property tax levy began to drop in fiscal year 2024 when it went from $17.60 to $16.88 per $1,000 of taxable property value, Peyton said. In fiscal year 2025, the levy was $15.17.
Today, the property tax levy is $13.46 per $1,000 of taxable assessed property value.
A survey conducted in February by Shive-Hattery, an architecture and engineering firm contracted by the district, indicated voter interest in a school bond referendum.
When asked if they support the Central City district exploring a bond referendum to address facility challenges, 60 percent of surveyed residents responded “yes,” 25 percent responded “no,” and 15 percent said they were not sure.
Of the people who responded, 67 percent said they want the district to look into improvements to the elementary building, 66 percent said they want the district to look into making improvements to the stage and 62 percent said they wanted the district to look into making improvements to the preschool building.
The survey was mailed to 1,836 voters in the district and 54 percent sent back their responses.
A school bond referendum requires a supermajority of 60 percent approval.
Callie Carson, a kindergarten teacher who served on a 17-member task force that helped identify priorities for the bond, said she feels like her voice was heard.
“I had some ideas. Better bathrooms for kindergartners, secure entrances — I do feel like it really made a difference in the decisions that were made on that task force,” Carson said.
The task force was made up of community members, parents and educators with a goal to bring together voices that could clarify what matters most to the community and help shape a facilities master plan that balances immediate needs with long-term priorities.
“We don’t have bathrooms in the classroom or very close to us, so we lose instructional time having to send them down to use a bathroom farther away. They’re little. They get distracted. They can’t find their way back, especially at the beginning of the year when they’re new to the building. To have something more appropriate for them would make a big difference,” Carson said of kindergartners.
Lindsay Lentz, a K-6 reading interventionist with 20 years experience in the district, said adding storage to classrooms also is an important part of the bond referendum. It could reduce distractions in the learning environment by having classroom materials “stored away properly,” she said.
“This bond is a chance for our community to really make our building and campus match the high levels of learning we’re doing,” Lentz said. “I graduated from Central City. Some of these classrooms are classrooms I learned in myself. I live directly across from the school, so that’s a nice commute.
“There’s a really tight knit community here. I feel like we have a school that really supports teachers, so we can do our jobs the best we can and help students learn. We want kids to be proud to come to Central City. We’re proud to be here,” Lentz said.
Other projects under the plan include:
- Replacing broken windows and doors in preschool classrooms to improve safety for students and staff;
- Repairing locker rooms and replacing lockers;
- Improving features in special education classrooms such as the life skills kitchen and restroom facilities;
- Relocating the teacher’s lounge and repurposing the current space into instructional space;
- Renovating the Family and Consumer Science classroom;
- Relocating the third grade classes to bring teachers closer together for better collaboration;
- Adding new carpet, ceilings and paint to elementary classrooms and replacing chalkboards with new whiteboards.
The Central City Community School District has a certified enrollment of about 400 students.
Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com
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