Cedar Rapids schools trim $2 million in expenses amid enrollment declines

CEDAR RAPIDS — As student enrollment declines and school officials say Iowa’s per-pupil state aid has failed to keep up with rising costs, the Cedar Rapids Community School District is looking to trim $2 million in planned spending from its general fund — more than 80 percent of which pays staff salaries and benefits.

K-12 student enrollment in Cedar Rapids schools dropped 1,170 students — almost 10 percent — from 17,129 during the 2018-19 school year to 15,959 during the 2022-23 school year. The enrollment loss of 127 students from the current fiscal year to next is a decrease of about $2.57 million in per-pupil state aid, said Karla Hogan, Cedar Rapids schools executive director of business services.

State aid, which is based on the number of students attending a district, runs a year behind. The district's student count in October 2023 will be used to determine funding for the fiscal 2025 budget.

“We have to make up for those students we’re losing,” Hogan said.

While the district is working to cut $2 million in spending from its original budget plan, those cuts are not expected to impact student learning, and school officials hope to avoid job cuts, Hogan said. The $2 million decrease is less than 1 percent of the district’s overall budget for fiscal year 2024, which begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2024.

Hogan said each department in the school district will reconsider if the district is getting the best value for the cost of a product or service. They also will evaluate whether services are duplicated as they start to look for ways to cut expenses.

There are "thousands“ of these types of contracts to consider, Hogan said. The cuts do not need to be made by the start of the fiscal year.

One example of a purchase service agreement is with SchoolMessenger, the company the district uses to send communication to parents about weather delays and other important information, Hogan said.

The district’s total income is fiscal 2024 is estimated at $328.6 million, while its total expenditures are planned to be $333.8 million.

The proposed fiscal 2024 budget lays out a total $438.5 million plan, compared with the current year’s re-estimated budget of $421.3 million.

A public hearing on the proposed budget is scheduled for April 10, at 5:30 p.m. at the Educational Leadership and Support Center, 2500 Edgewood Rd NW, Cedar Rapids.

Under the budget, property owners in the district would pay a proposed levy rate of $14.73 per $1,000 of taxable valuation, a decrease of about 6 cents from the current property tax rate.

For a homeowner with a $200,000 home, the property tax bill would be $1,603 per year, or $134 a month. For the owner of a $150,000 home, the property taxes would be $1,202 annually, or $100 a month.

Even though the district’s tax rate is decreasing, that doesn’t necessarily mean property owners will pay less.

Property tax bills are determined by the assessed valuation of the property. If a property’s valuation increases, even if a tax levy decreases, the owner could pay more.

Elementary school facility work continues

Over the next fiscal year, work will continue on the school district’s newest elementary school Trailside, under construction at 2630 B Ave. NE.

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The school will replace Arthur and Garfield elementary schools as part of the district’s facility master plan and is opening fall 2024. There is $23 million allocated toward Trailside Elementary over the next year.

The money for construction and paying off revenue bonds comes from the 1 percent statewide sales tax — called SAVE, or Secure an Advanced Vision for Education — that funds school infrastructure projects.

Another $4 million is being allocated toward the planning of the future of Harrison and Madison elementary schools. Last year, the school board voted to combine the schools’ attendance zones by fall 2025.

District officials are considering two options on how to do that: Renovate the existing Harrison building at 1310 11th St. NW, or build a new building on the grounds of Madison Elementary, 1341 Woodside Dr. NW. The project could be bid as early as January or February 2024, Hogan said.

Funding new preschool, magnet high school

District officials plan to spend another $11 million in federal pandemic relief dollars — the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief — over the next fiscal year.

The district received $50 million in those federal pandemic funds, to be spent over four years. The fund expires in September 2024.

A majority of the remaining funding — $8 million — is allocated to increase staff salaries to keep up with inflation, Hogan said. This includes salaries for educators at Truman Early Learning Center, a full-day preschool program with before- and after-school care, opened last fall in the Cedar Rapids Community School District.

District officials are funding the preschool with federal relief dollars for two years. By fall 2024, the district will have to resort to state funding, which currently funds preschool at half the usual per-pupil rate because preschoolers typically are in centers only part of the day.

Karla Hogan, Cedar Rapids schools’ executive director of business services, said the district is “banking” — or saving — state funds it is receiving for preschool this year and next to continue budgeting for full-day programming for the 2024-25 school year.

Another $3 million of the federal relief funds will go toward mental health support agreements in schools.

Another $500,000 will go toward funding City View Community High School, the first magnet high school in Iowa opening in the school district this fall.

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