Cedar Rapids school budget cuts affect the community

This week, the Cedar Rapids school board began approving cost-cutting measures to address a $12.9 million budget shortfall. Saying it’s a complex situation Is an understatement.

District administrators and the board are recommending staff cuts at the Education Leadership and Support Center, which houses top leadership. Administrators will take a one-year salary freeze. Thirty-three teaching slots are being eliminated through attrition.

These cuts will be painful. Eliminating teaching positions can lead to larger class sizes. Innovation is a regular casualty of belt-tightening. The district’s enrollment has been declining for a decade, including a sharp drop of 622 students this year.

Fewer students mean less per-pupil state aid at a time when legislative Republicans already have been providing inadequate funding increases to public schools. Gov. Kim Reynolds seems far more interested in helping students leave public schools than improving the education accessed by that vast majority of Iowa students.

But the biggest, most intense, and emotional issue in Cedar Rapids remains to be resolved. And that’s the possibility of closing several elementary schools, saving an estimated $6 million.

A plan floated last week by the district would close Truman Early Learning Center; Wright, Cedar River Academy, Cleveland, Nixon, Pierce elementary schools; and possibly Johnson STEAM Academy. The plan also redraws attendance boundaries and makes big changes that would reshape the district. For example, students from 12 to 13 elementary schools would shift to intermediate schools for fifth and sixth-grade students.

A “community coalition” is exploring other concepts. More than 200 people came to last week’s meeting discussing closures.

So, a portion of the public is engaged. And the district needs to reach out and gain input from more people living in neighborhoods that would be affected by possible closures.

The district has, wisely, slowed down the process. The school board is set to vote on a proposed plan on Feb. 9. But the district will take that plan to families and the community for more public input. A final decision will come in April, and no closures or consolidations will take effect before the fall of 2027.

We believe it’s time for the school district to collaborate with city leaders. The city has worked to stabilize core urban neighborhoods where some of the schools proposed for closure are located. The school district should not ignore the city’s needs as it makes a decision that will change the character of neighborhoods.

This is also a moment where the local business community needs to step up and help the district fund programs that are vital to boosting student achievement, fostering skills development, and educating a next generation workforce. Those critical areas should not be knocked out by budget issues.

So, these are not just budget cuts. These are community decisions. The district must do all it can to involve the community, and the community must make its voices heard.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com