Iowa City schools ‘slow down’ plan to reimagine elementary model

IOWA CITY — The Iowa City Community School District is delaying its plan to “revision” its elementary schools after the initial proposal was met with a strong reaction from the community imploring it to slow down.

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At a school board meeting last week, Superintendent Matt Degner apologized for the “stress and frustration” the initial plan caused parents and families.

“Since our last meeting, I’ve spoken with our demographer to request additional information, including a facility study,” Degner said. “This in-depth process will take time, but it also will help us get more accurate projections of future enrollment based on where students will live and attend school.”

The three proposed options that “revision” how Iowa City elementary schools use teaching staff to be more efficient and more cost effective were presented to the board over the summer in work sessions.

Following a more extensive study, committees — initially proposed to begin meeting this fall — will meet later in the winter to explore revisioning options, Degner said.

The committees will be made up of elementary school educators and parents and guardians. Meetings will be held after school hours.

“It’s no secret that the budget challenges we described at our last meeting are going to require many difficult conversations,” Degner said. “The recent shift in declining or leveling enrollment and the impact of vouchers were not something we or our demographers could have predicted. We continue to learn about the dynamic nature of these trends and potentially others as we plan for the future.”

Degner said he wants to “build the best and most transparent process possible” as the district continues to explore ways to be sustainable. He thanked the public for their engagement and “sharing your passion for your children’s education.”

“Hard conversations and decisions do lie ahead, but I’m confident we will work together and figure out what’s best for our district,” he said.

More than 80 people turned out to a school board meeting at the beginning of September largely opposing changes to the district’s elementary schools. About a dozen people again spoke during public comment last week asking the school board to rethink the proposal to change its elementary schools.

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“This is a necessary step back, but it’s very important we started this conversation because we are already that far ahead by having this engagement with our community and looking at creative solutions,” school board member Jayne Finch said. “We have an existing infrastructure of small, neighborhood schools that is working well for our families. We need to find creative solutions to make that work for our district.”

One proposal would ‘pair’ schools to create K-2, 3-5 buildings

The options to revision Iowa City elementary schools include “pairing” elementary schools to create more equitable opportunities for students, more consistent class sizes and offer a more efficient use of educators.

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

Another proposal is an academy structure for some elementary schools, offering special instruction and programs not available elsewhere and designed to attract a more diverse student body from throughout the district. Students could enroll in these programs through an application process based on program interest.

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Finally, repurposing select elementary schools as preschool centers dedicated to early childhood education serving 3- and 4-year-olds also is being considered.

School board member Mitch Lingo said tough decisions will need to be made about how to be sustainable as Iowa schools — including the Iowa City district — face declining enrollment because of lower birth rates.

In Iowa, enrollment is tied to Supplemental State Aid, which provides per pupil funding for schools.

Lingo said compounding the problem is Education Savings Accounts, a state program that uses state dollars to pay private school tuition.

Last year, about 140 students in the Iowa City district went to a private school, which is a loss of $1.3 million in revenue for the public school district, Lingo said.

“Vouchers bleed school districts at the margins,” Lingo said.

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