Iowa City school board to consider next facility projects, including competition pool

IOWA CITY — School officials are bringing a new facility master plan to the Iowa City school board later this month that could include $14 million for competition pools at the city of Coralville’s proposed recreation and aquatic center.

Superintendent Matt Degner said a proposed facility plan would be presented to the school board at its May 27 meeting. The board is expected to vote on that plan in June. Iowa City school board meetings are at 6 p.m. at the district’s administration building, 2255 N. Dubuque Rd., Iowa City.

Improvements to performing arts venues at City High, West High and Liberty High schools also could be a priority under a new facility plan. A 100-page facility study was presented to the school board last month that found a need for improvements in outdated auditoriums and more stage space where students can rehearse and perform.

Adam Kurth, chief financial officer, at Tuesday’s board meeting presented financing options for a facility plan. This includes taking a general obligation bond issue to district voters, which requires 60 percent supermajority approval to pass.

Other financing options are Secure an Advanced Vision for Education, a capital projects fund funded by statewide sales taxes allocated to school districts based on certified enrollment, or the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy, a capital projects fund levied by school districts. Voters approved in November 2021 a statement that describes how the district will use its SAVE funds and a 10-year extension to the PPEL levy.

Thousands of empty ‘seats’ in Iowa City schools

As school officials consider the needs of their facilities and how to better support programming, a capacity and utilization analysis — commissioned by the district — was presented to inform long-range planning and capital investment in facilities.

The analysis predicts enrollment in the district to drop by almost 800 students over the next 10 years from the district’s current enrollment of 14,367.

It shows the Iowa City district would have extra capacity of 7,322 students by the 2029-30 school year. That’s 3,467 seats across 20 elementary schools, 1,626 seats across three middle schools and 2,229 seats across three comprehensive high schools.

The analysis was created by Woolpert Inc., an architecture, engineering and strategic consulting firm.

“When you have small schools, those at a higher utilization may be supplementing small schools,” said Susan Miller, a consultant with Woolpert. “The question we think about is, what is it we want all of our children to have access to? We want everyone to have access to a music teacher. We want everyone to have a gym teacher.

“Those are priorities you set for yourselves as to what your standards are for your children to experience in their learning environment. And what do you want for teachers in their schools?” Miller asked.

Degner said the analysis shows “a lot of available capacity in our existing elementary schools.”

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“That creates an interesting question for us about where do we invest additional dollars? Where would we have to make tough decisions in the future potentially if the budget situation became an emergent need for us again?” he asked.

Degner said families and the community should not see this analysis as putting a “target” on any school building.

“This is not something we want anybody to hang their hat on and say, ‘This campus is in trouble or this campus is safe.’ That’s not the point of the conversation,” he said.

At the end of the 2023-24 school year, the district closed Hills Elementary School in Hills to save $1.66 million a year. The over 100 students previously at Hills transitioned to Alexander Elementary this year and staff were placed in other positions in the district.

In August 2024, district leaders proposed a new elementary school model called “pairing” that could create more equitable opportunities for students, more consistent class sizes and offer a more efficient use of teachers and staff.

Pairing is where younger elementary students go to one campus and older elementary students would go to another campus. In Iowa City’s case, the district is exploring creating a school that serve K-2 paired with a school that serves 3rd-5th grade.

A new competition pool in Coralville

Coralville city officials met Tuesday with the Iowa City school board in a work session to discuss the board’s interest in continuing to partner on a proposed recreation and aquatic center.

School board members indicated support for the city’s ask of $14 million to be allocated to the project.

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“I’m really in favor of this plan,” school board Vice President Molly Abraham said. “It’s a long time coming. I think it’s a good project and the time has come to do something.”

A total cost estimate to build the facility is almost $59 million. The space would be 109,700 square feet and include three gymnasiums, an elevated track, a spa and three pools: a competition pool with spectator seating, a leisure pool and a recreation and community lap pool. Community meeting rooms and strength, cardio and fitness rooms also would be available.

The city of Coralville is considering going to voters this November or in March 2026 to seek approval of a local-option sales tax or general obligation bond, said Kelly Hayworth, Coralville’s city administrator.

The local-option sales tax requires a simple majority approval by voters, while a general obligation bond would require a 60 percent approval by voters.

If the school district does not partner with the city, the competition pool likely would be removed from construction plans.

A partnership between Coralville and the Iowa City Community School District would not be new. The two came together to pay for construction of the current rec center pool, which as build 37 years ago.

Currently, the Iowa City school district has four swim programs — in high school and junior high — that use the recreation center. The district pays for about one-third of the operating costs.

If the district does agree to contribute toward construction of the aquatic center, 90 percent of the use of the competition pool would be by the district. Fifteen percent of the use of the recreation pool would be by the district.

The amenities could open up an opportunity for the school district to offer swim instruction as a part of its curriculum, school leaders said.

An agreement would be created that details responsibilities of the city and school district when it comes to maintenance costs.

Last year, the city of Coralville and the school district worked with Iowa City area architects Neumann Monson to develop plans for the facility. Development of the master plan cost about $150,000. Those expenses were split, with the city paying $90,000 and the school district paying $60,000.

Iowa City schools last bond passed in 2017

Voters in the Iowa City Community School District passed a $191.5 million bond in September 2017. It was the largest bond ever put to Iowa voters at the time.

The bond financed a facility plan that included renovations at the district's high schools, junior highs and Shimek, Wood, Wickham, Garner, Horn, Kirkwood, Borlaug, Alexander, Lemme, Mann and Lincoln elementary schools.

A bill signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2023 restricts when school districts can bring bond referendums to voters, coinciding with state and federal elections in November.

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