Cedar Rapids school board elects new president, VP

CEDAR RAPIDS – John Laverty and Gary Anhalt are the new president and vice president of the Cedar Rapids Community School District's school board, respectively, after fellow board members elected them in an organizational meeting Monday night.

Laverty, elected to a third four-year term on the board last week, works as a senior associate director of admissions at the University of Iowa. He previously was board president from 2010 to 2012, when the district adjusted school boundaries, closed Monroe Elementary School and converted Polk Elementary School to an alternative education center.

Anhalt, first elected to the board in 2009, is a retired teacher and former president of the Cedar Rapids Education Association. He has not previously served as board president or vice president.

Laverty and Anhalt are at-large board members, meaning they do not represent a specific area of the school district. They were the only board members nominated for their respective positions. They will serve one-year terms as president and vice president.

Board member Mary Meisterling served as president from 2012 until Monday.

Also Monday, new board members Rafael Jacobo and Kristin Janssen took office after their election last week.