Reading the School District's Signals

Cedar Rapids school district leaders say they came to the discussion of possible boundary changes and school closures with eyes wide open and no preconceived notions.

But some of the parents and other folks I've talked with who are worried about the fate of neighborhood elementary schools, including Harrison, Madison and Polk, wonder if those open eyes are really glancing westward.

As the public phase of the debate begins with tonight's (Monday) 5 p.m. school board meeting at Grant Wood AEA, I keep hearing about the “land purchase.”

In July, the board voted to buy 37.3 acres of farmland along Worcester Road on the city's western edge for $652,750. The parcel is near the planned route for an extended Highway 100 loop to U.S. 30.

It's not a massive expenditure, but it's not chump change. For example, it would take $660,000 to make Harrison Elementary ADA compliant, according to the district's facilities report.

Parents and neighborhood leaders see the land buy as evidence that the district has preconceived plans that are steering the fateful facilities process. They imagine their neighborhood schools disappearing in favor of a larger, consolidated school out west.

Superintendent Dave Benson says it's not so. The district simply wanted to get “skin in the game” along the 100 corridor before developers snap up the land. “There are no specific plans at all,” Benson told me.

I have no reason not to believe Benson. But I also can't blame folks for worrying that the fix is in. When it comes to government decisions, at all levels, the fix is in so much these days that it's tough to remember when it was out. Regardless, it's also interesting that two big  government entities in this town are placing different bets on growth.

We had city leaders in this month who talked about efforts and programs yielding 242 new and rehabbed housing units in the city's core neighborhoods, with more on the way, not far from schools that could close. The city is determined to steer development to sites inside the city already hooked up to city services.

The school district is betting on another bumper crop of cornfield cul-de-sacs sparked by a highway project that may or may not happen in the next decade, while considering closures that could undermine the city's efforts. Benson insists that we can have both infill and outward expansion. “Both things need to be considered,” he said.

I agree, but ultimately the district's actions will speak louder than words. And speaking of speaking, the time has come. If you care, show up and be heard.