Cedar Rapids schools ‘back to the drawing board’ after bond referendum fails

CEDAR RAPIDS — The day after a $220 million bond referendum that would fund improvements to Cedar Rapids schools was voted down, Superintendent Tawana Grover said she is ready to “unify” residents around a new plan created with input from “all corners of the community.”

Educating voters about the district’s facility needs will be critical as the district “goes back to the drawing board.” This includes informing voters of one of the stickier aspects of the bond — how larger school buildings can drive teacher collaboration, which in turn can improve student outcomes, Grover said.

“We have some realities we have to face as a community, and I want to better understand how to help the community embrace these realities,” Grover said. “Our middle schools are operating at 68 percent capacity. That’s a financial burden that has to be addressed.”

According to unofficial results, about 38 percent of voters in the district were in favor of the measure — far short of the 60 percent needed to pass it. There was an almost 24 percent voter turnout for the school and city elections in Linn County, with some voters turning up at the polls to vote only on the Cedar Rapids bond referendum.

The highest approval it got in any precinct was about 54 percent.

Ultimately, the district’s facilities master plan would have reduced the number of middle schools in the district from its existing six. This is intended to create a stronger “feeder system” for students in K-12, allowing students to stay together with classmates as they move from elementary to middle to high school.

The proposal is for these schools to be built larger, with the elementary schools growing from around 200 to 500-600 students, and the middle schools having capacity for 1,200 students.

“We received a lot of questions in regard to the size of schools,” Grover said. “I don’t know if it’s so much for or against as it is understanding how they’re going to operate.”

The bond referendum would have funded the construction of a new middle school, purchasing land for the middle school, career and technical education additions and new turf fields at the high schools, renovations to Kennedy High School’s cafeteria and kitchen, an upgrade to Metro High School’s gym and renovations to Franklin Middle School.

One of the considerations for the district would be breaking up the bond into smaller projects, although school leaders say the $220 million price tag was more economical than taking smaller bond referendums to voters year after year.

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Will the bond come back to voters in 2024?

Coming off the failed referendum, Grover said it would be “disingenuous” to say the district will bring back a new proposal to voters one year from now in November 2024.

“We need to have these additional conversations that will dictate what the plan might look like before we can go back out again,” Grover said.

If a new school bond referendum is placed on the ballot next year, it would be during a presidential election, increasing voter turnout and making it more challenging to get 60 percent approval.

“We’re willing to do whatever is necessary for our students and what our community is ready for,” Grover said. “Research indicates one in 10 school bonds pass during a presidential election. If Cedar Rapids wants to beat the odds, I’m all for that. But I want to make sure we’re being thoughtful and strategic.”

Many people in the community have not been in school buildings in Cedar Rapids “in a very long time,” Grover said. She would like to open schools up for more people to see the state of the facilities and the needs of staff and students.

This could happen through bus tours like the one the district hosted for media and community leaders last month, which The Gazette attended.

School board President David Tominsky — who was reelected Tuesday — agrees it’s important to get residents into schools to talk to building leaders, teachers and students about what is working and the challenges they face.

Grover also wants school leaders to meet residents where they are — whether that’s a homeowner’s association meeting or a picnic in the park in their neighborhood.

Devising a new plan

Many opponents of the bond voiced concern about historic buildings being demolished under the district’s facility master plan, although that was not a part of this bond referendum.

Grover said the bond wasn’t a “knock against older buildings.” Those buildings just weren’t designed to meet the needs of students today, she said.

"What’s most disappointing here is knowing the needs of our kids and that we could not get this passed on their behalf,“ Grover said. ”How do we come together so our kids know they are valued, that they are special and that they deserve the best Cedar Rapids has to offer? They don’t have to go to another school district. That’s the challenge when our values are saying one thing and our resources are saying another.“

Talk of a multimillion dollar bond referendum in the Cedar Rapids Community School District began almost two years ago under the leadership of former Superintendent Noreen Bush. Bush died in October 2022 after being diagnosed with cancer.

The initial proposal included building a new aquatic center to replace the three pools in the district’s high schools. While that was not a part of the proposed bond on the ballot Tuesday, many voters expressed confusion at the polls about what projects they were being asked to fund.

Grover — who began as superintendent of the district in April — inherited the project.

“While the bond did not pass, it does create an opportunity for me to be a part of the process from the beginning,” she said. “We have to have a better understanding of our community and what matters to them, so we can devise a plan that will resonate.”

Trust in the school board

Grover said the she is encouraged by the results of the Cedar Rapids school board election, with three incumbents — David Tominsky, Cindy Garlock and Jennifer Neumann — remaining on the board.

“There is some level of faith in our school board,” Grover said.

She also is looking forward to welcoming newcomer Kaitlin Byers, who was elected to District 4.

As a newer superintendent with a now new school board, Grover said she hopes they can “reset” and “come together around common goals we can all support.”

Bringing in educators and other experts like demographers will be critical in helping district officials — and voters — understand where community growth is happening and its impact on student enrollment, Grover said.

The district also has several new administrators added to the team in the last six months who will be integral to the process, Grover said. This includes new operations director Chad Schumacker and three new chiefs of schools who oversee one of three “areas” with elementary schools, middle schools and high schools to create a stronger feeder school system.

Students ‘lose out’

Cedar Rapids middle school student Mira Gibbons said the rejected school bond means students “lose out.”

In a Facebook post Tuesday, the 12-year-old said it’s difficult for some kids to get involved in extracurriculars in small schools where there aren’t as many students with like-minded interests.

Mira is a student at Franklin Middle School where she takes algebra, science, PE and PACT, which provides curriculum enrichment experiences for academically gifted students. She spends the other half of her day at Washington High School where she takes orchestra, 9th grade literature and Advanced Placement World History.

“My middle school has 500+ kids but not enough for a swim team or a chess club or other math and academic competitions that other schools in the area (Prairie and Linn-Mar) are able to participate in,” Mira wrote. “Our middle school orchestra is woefully small and lacking in outside opportunities like a chamber group due to lack of interest.”

Mira, who is on the swim team, said the pool at Washington High School is “sad, dark” and has cockroaches. It’s 25 yards long with six narrow lanes that can’t accommodate everyone, she said.

She compared this to the Linn-Mar Community School District’s aquatic center, built in 2013 with funds from the physical plant and equipment levy, which is a property tax that allows local schools to support infrastructure and equipment needs.

The Linn-Mar pool is “amazing, beautiful and spacious,” Mira said.

“I love my district, but I’m a swimmer, a violinist and a Cedar Rapidian. Why should I have to accept such disparity in facilities and opportunities or open enroll because of it?”

Continuing career and technical education work

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The Cedar Rapids school board in September approved a contract with Steele Dynamics Consulting Services to provide services to develop a three- to five-year action plan to create college and career pathways. The $70,000 contract is being funded by a federal magnet schools grant the district was awarded last year.

As a part of this effort, a task force is being created for strategic planning collaboration to provide input on four to six high-skill, high-wage and high-demand career pathways that meet the demands of the Cedar Rapids area labor market, among other things.

While the district has not secured funding to renovate space to expand career and technical education, Grover said the work will continue.

Even if the bond had passed, Grover said it would be necessary for the district to build strong relationships with business and industry leaders to improve these programs.

“We want to make sure our students graduate with the skills necessary to be able to work in our city, community and region,” she said.

What did voters say?

At the Northwest Recreation Center in Cedar Rapids, Jamie Lentz voted "yes" on the bond issue. Lentz has two kids at Harrison Elementary School — neighbor to the recreation center — and a son at Roosevelt Creative Corridor Business Academy.

Lentz said she voted in favor of the referendum because the school district is in dire need of updated facilities. Take, for example, the infrastructure challenges at Taft and Harding middle schools, she said.

Kennedy High School football coach Brian White voted in favor of the bond, even though he predicted it would fail.

For White, it's more than paying for turf fields — which a portion of the bond would fund at each of the high schools. He said residents also need to invest in education and kids’ futures.

"I can't fathom why the people of Cedar Rapids won't invest in our youth," White said. "Generations before us invested in our schools. Why can't we do that now?"

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