New Cedar Rapids schools’ leader Tawana Grover wants to inspire dreams

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids schools’ new leader Tawana Grover had “no idea” what she wanted to do with her life when she was a new high school graduate.

Grover was working at a factory in her hometown in Alabama when she was encouraged to think about her life differently by two older women working next to her. One day on her lunch break, she left to enroll in the local community college.

“I was very fortunate someone was able to say, ‘I see more in you than you see in yourself,’” said Grover, a first generation college student.

“Some people don’t even realize they can dream,” said Grover, now 47. “We have a responsibility to inspire and empower others. At the end of the day, if I can make a difference in a child’s life in that way, it is well worth being in the role of superintendent … There’s a beautiful life in front of them.”

Grover began as interim superintendent of the Cedar Rapids Community School District on Monday — three months early after being unanimously appointed superintendent effective July 1. Her contract as interim superintendent — from April 3 to June 30 — is for 63 days of work. She will be paid $1,168 a day, about $73,584 in total. Grover’s contract for superintendent calls for a salary of $305,000 for the first year.

There are 32 schools in the Cedar Rapids district serving about 15,700 students.

School board president David Tominsky said Grover is “extremely intelligent, which is always something I loved about Noreen” Bush, the district’s former superintendent who died Oct. 23, 2022. “It was that balance between really high intellect and also a truly empathetic person, somebody who could identify with people at a human level and be thoughtful about the best decision given the circumstances.”

Tominsky said throughout the interview process, Grover not only gave “high quality answers” but gave examples from her lived experiences and provided specific action steps. For example, Grover talked about strategies Cedar Rapids schools could engage in to recruit and retain staff, Tominsky said.

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Grover began her career in education in a small rural school district as a fifth grade teacher in Monroe County, Ala. She quickly was encouraged to pursue educational administration and became interim principal of a 200-student K-12 school when she was 25.

Since then, Grover has had experience in several school leadership roles. From Alabama, she went to DeSoto Independent Schools — a suburban district of Dallas, Texas — where she was an associate principal, principal, curriculum director and chief of human resources. There, she increased staff diversity and reduced teacher turnover by 26 percent.

Grover most recently served in her seventh school year as superintendent at Grand Island Public Schools in Nebraska, where she made history as the first Black superintendent in Nebraska and the first female superintendent at Grand Island Public Schools.

She led many of Grand Island schools’ firsts, including launching Nebraska’s first registered apprenticeship program to expose high school students to careers, establishing a paraeducator-to-teacher program and other “grow your own” efforts to create an educator talent pipeline for the district, and opening an early childhood education center.

Former Grand Island school board member Bonnie Hinkle said Grover was integral in creating a strategic plan for the district that identified areas of growth, such as closing the opportunity gap for historically marginalized students and children living in poverty.

Grover “has so much to offer,” Hinkle said. “She has a lot of wisdom, a lot of empathy and is a really good educational leader who inspires hope.”

In Nebraska, Grover also served on an advisory board called “We Care for Kids” focused on statewide, community-based initiatives to build support for quality early childhood education.

We Care for Kids campaign manager Kara Ficke said Grover “brought passion” to every campaign advisory group meeting. “I admire her intelligence, collaborative nature, and willingness to be a strong voice and advocate for quality early childhood education,” Ficke said in an email to The Gazette.

Now in Cedar Rapids, Grover is ready to “hit the ground running,” she said. Today, she and the school board meet for a work session to discuss board governance, the superintendent’s entry plan and the school district’s strategic plan. Grover and the board will meet with representatives from the Broad Center at Yale School of Management, which fosters the ideas, policies and leadership to help all students — particularly those from underserved communities — to learn and thrive, according to their website.

Grover said one thing that attracted her to Cedar Rapids schools’ was the equity goals outlined in the district’s strategic plan. The district had set a goal of reducing gaps in reading and math across all student demographic groups by 20 percent by June 2022. This includes students in the English Language Learner program, students with special education plans and across racial demographics.

Grover said she wants to update the current strategic plan, identify top priorities for the 2023-24 school year and consider what new goals need to be added.

One of those goals will be ensuring the district is hiring and retaining “high quality” educators and staff that reflect the diverse student body, Grover said. This starts with hiring a new chief of human resources, a position that has been open for months.

"We’re going to have to get creative in education as we think about the teacher shortages we’re facing all across the nation,“ Grover said.

During her first day on the job, Grover said she met with students and was happy they felt comfortable enough to share with her what they enjoy about school and what else they want from their learning environment.

"Being able to elevate student voice in the role of superintendent is critical to me,“ said Grover, who is planning to launch a superintendent-student advisory council where she meets consistently with students.

Grover is joining the district in the midst of a facility master plan effort, which includes a $312 million proposal to improve Cedar Rapids secondary schools. The plan hinges on voters approving a $312 million general obligation bond in a referendum. It includes building a new aquatic center to replace the three pools in the district’s high schools and a new 1,200-student middle school.

The proposed reduces the number of middle schools in the district from six to four, renovating and adding additions or new construction, and making improvements to the district’s four high schools over the next seven to 10 years.

“That’s definitely top of mind,” Grover said. “I think what the board is after is a solid plan that’s going to help elevate the learning environments for our students. I want parents to be proud to send their students to our school district.”

Grover said she loves the “visionary” part of being a superintendent. “Galvanizing and mobilizing people around a common goal and working alongside our community. That’s huge for me. That’s rewarding,” she said.

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