Hills Elementary to close at the end of the school year, Iowa City school board decides

IOWA CITY — Hills Elementary School is closing its doors at the end of the school year in an effort to preserve educational programs and staff in the Iowa City Community School District as Iowa schools continue to face budget shortfalls.

The Iowa City school board unanimously approved the decision Tuesday, saying that while they don’t want to close the school, it’s in the best interest of all students as they deal with the reality of needing to “slash” the budget.

“There are no other cuts to be made unless we are willing to start touching student programming — things like music, foreign language, our librarians and extracurricular activities,” school board member Lisa Williams said. “I consider those programs to be essential to our students’ experiences, and I will continue to pursue cuts that save us operational dollars.”

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The decision saves the district about $1.66 million, getting the district closer to the $7.5 million in expenses needed to be trimmed from the district over the next two years.

The Iowa City school leaders have been “slashing” the district’s budget for the last 18 months, Williams said. Over the last three years, $24.7 million has been reduced from the district’s spending plan, she said.

“Last year, we cut millions from our budget by eliminating 11 administrator positions, offering early retirement plans to teachers — many who were not ready to stop teaching, but they left because it was in the best interest of the district. We delayed the purchase of much-needed curriculum,” Williams said.

The budget cuts are a result of decades of “chronic and persistent underfunding by the state,” Williams said. “It is a direct result of the governor and legislature’s decision to take your tax dollars and divert them away from public schools.”

About 100 community members turned up at the meeting and 20 people gave emotional pleas to keep the school open in the town about six miles south of Iowa City.

“I hope you all start advocating for public education the way you have advocated to keep your school open, because it’s impressive,” Williams said to the crowd.

“If you want to do something to help our schools, vote in November for those candidates that really want to support public schools,” school board member Molly Abraham said.

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The more than 100 students currently enrolled at Hills Elementary could be sent to Alexander and Weber elementary schools, Superintendent Matt Degner said during a board meeting last month.

Its teachers and staff will have the option of being reassigned to another school in the district, and students still would have access to the services they get now at Hills, including preschool.

'Every email’ read by school board members

Some residents who spoke during public comment said they were frustrated that school leaders did not go to the city of Hills to meet with residents and Hills Elementary families.

Williams and other board members said over the last few weeks they had read “every email, every news story and followed discussions on social media,” in regard to the possible closure of Hills Elementary school.

“Nearly every email and letter spoke about how the school was the heart of the community,” Williams said.

“I understand this is a significant decision with serious ramifications for the Hills community,” Williams said. “I do not believe the closure of Hills will have an adverse impact on students. The educational experience these students will have at their new school will be the same high caliber educational experience we currently have at Hills.”

Abraham said every email and letter to the editor about Hills Elementary gave her an “empathy” for the “anger, sorrow, distrust, fear and angst” people feel about the decision to close the school.

“Our north star has been to not cut staff and not cut programs. I fully believe students from Hills will be embraced by whatever school they choose to attend,” Abraham said.

Williams said she believes the city of Hills will be worse off without the elementary school. “I hear you, and your concerns are valid, and I agree with them, but I cannot let those concerns influence my decision.”

She referenced Iowa Code, saying the law “prohibits” her from using school funds to “save a rural community.”

“Every dollar we spend must be for improving student outcomes,” Williams said.

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School board President Ruthina Malone said she and the board take “full responsibility” and “accept the blame” for the decision to close Hills Elementary.

“I am truly sorry to the students, families and community members for the tough decisions we must face that have ramifications for everyone in the Iowa City Community School District with every single budget reduction we did last year, that we will do this year, and that we will do next year.”

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Residents: Keep the school open

Mayte Flores and Marcela Hurtado — residents of mobile home parks in the Hills Elementary attendance boundary — said the school is a place where their children are “treated with respect and dignity.”

“It is a place that has helped them to excel and feel proud of their roots and culture,” said Flores, translating for Marcela who spoke in Spanish.

Hills Elementary is one of the most diverse schools in the Iowa City Community School District. About 36 percent of students at Hills are Hispanic or Latino and more than 13 percent are Black, according to U.S. News & World Report. About 70 percent of students at Hills are economically disadvantaged.

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Mary Kelley said her granddaughter — a first-grader at Hills Elementary — is learning Spanish and helping her classmates learn English. “Those children are each other’s family,” Kelley said. “They take care of each other, they support each other, they know each other. Closing that building I think is going to devastate the community.”

Hills City Council member Emily Hudachek — who herself attended Hills Elementary as a child — said the large turnout of community members should give the school board “pause” in shutting down the school.

“It’s time to show the community — but more importantly the students — that they matter and that their voices have been heard,” Hudachek said.

Michael Tilley, who has four kids in Iowa City schools, was the sole speaker in favor of closing Hills Elementary. “We’re going to lose some of the great things about our district to keep Hills open … Make the hard call tonight,” Tilley said.

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Closing the smallest school in the district

Hills Elementary is the smallest elementary school in the district and has the highest cost per-student of schools in the district.

Most of the students at Hills Elementary are bused to the school from outside the small community of about 1,000 residents. Only about 45 students who attend Hills live in the town and other students are bused to the school from areas north of Hills, the southern portion of Iowa City and unincorporated parts of Johnson County.

District officials did explore other options for Hills, including the feasibility of transferring other students into Hills, according to board documents. They found this doesn’t make fiscal sense because while it would decrease the cost per pupil at Hills, it would increase transportation costs and per-pupil spending at the other schools.

Enrollment at Iowa City elementary schools next year is projected to be 70 percent of the district’s capacity. This leaves about 3,000 open spots for elementary students.

A large portion of the projected decline in elementary enrollment can be attributed to the plan to move sixth-graders from the district’s elementary schools to its middle schools this fall, a change approved by the school board in February 2022.

Like many school districts in Iowa, Iowa City schools has faced declining enrollment since the pandemic began in spring 2020. During the 2019-2020 school year, the district had an enrollment of about 14,500 students. This dropped to 14,200 students during the 2020-21 school year, and rebounded to 14,440 students this year.

The Iowa City school district isn’t alone in the need to make budget cuts. Des Moines Public Schools officials announced a $14 million budget reduction for the 2024-25 school year.

Last week, the Linn-Mar Community School District reduced 50 staff — including 19 teachers — as part of $2.5 million in budget cuts.

More than 100 school districts across Iowa this year are going to have to “increase their property taxes to cover the shortfall in their budgets due to underfunding by the state,” Williams said.

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