Superintendent candidate familiar with challenges facing Iowa City school district

If Mark Bezek becomes the Iowa City school district's next superintendent, he'll face a lot of issues similar to ones he's dealing with in his current job in Elk River, Minn.

Growing enrollment? Boundary issues? Financial concerns? Check, check and check.

“Elk River is almost a mirror image of Iowa City,” Bezek said at a meet-and-greet Tuesday night attended by more than 30 people.

Bezek is one of three finalists for the Iowa City schools superintendent job. On Tuesday, he toured the district, met with people and ended the day with a public, televised interview with the school bard.

Stephen Murley, superintendent of the Wausau school district in Wisconsin, will be here Wednesday, followed on Thursday by Brad Meeks, superintendent of the Farmington school district in Minnesota.

The school board is replacing Lane Plugge, who's leaving in June for a job in western Iowa.

Bezek, 53, has been superintendent of the Elk River school district, north of the Twin Cities, for four years and was a superintendent and principal with other Minnesota school districts before that.

Elk River is a growing school district, like Iowa City, and has about 12,400 students this year. Bezek said its budget is about $130 million. The Iowa City school district has 11,900 students and a budget of $118.4 million.

Bezek said their growth has been so rapid they've had to adjust school boundaries every two or three years. The district currently is developing a boundary policy laying out what triggers changes, and it will be based on building capacity, he said.

The growth, coupled with dwindling state aid, has also stressed the budget, Bezek said. The district cut $6 million from the current year's budget, and another $500,000 for next year, he said. The cuts for this year included about 50 people and transportation, plus early retirements, he said.

Iowa City is facing similar budget pressures. Bezek said he had administrators develop a plan for the cuts and then sought input from the school board and community. He also uses surveys, focus groups and developed a strategic plan for the district.

“We have to make unpopular decisions, but they have to be grounded in solid financial practices and they also have to be grounded in” what the community wants, he said.

Bezek said he liked what he saw in Iowa City and would take the district to “the next level” rather than just manage what's currently in place.

“There are so many possibilities here,” he said.