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CEDAR RAPIDS — A team of architects visited all 32 schools in the Cedar Rapids Community School District this week ahead of another general obligation bond referendum the district may put before voters in November 2025. The first step in plans for a new facility.
Next week, people living in the Cedar Rapids School District will begin receiving a survey in the mail or email asking why a majority of residents voted “no” to last November’s $220 million bond issue. It also asks them which facilities projects they would like to prioritize.
“It’s easy to think of a facility as a building, but it’s so much more than that,” said Cedar Rapids School District Director of Operations Chad Schumacher. “This is the fabric of our city that ensures our children have every opportunity to succeed, propels them into the workforce, and attracts people to come and live in Cedar Rapids.
“We need to have a plan that the community can support,” he said.
The average lifespan of the district’s school buildings is more than 68 years.
District leaders noted that heating, electrical and plumbing systems, as well as roofs and windows, have reached or exceeded their useful lifespan. Many schools have unused classrooms and are financially inefficient. Some classrooms are too small for current teaching standards.
Updates are needed to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements to improve access to classrooms and other areas of the school building, including restrooms.
New facility master plans may include closing buildings to reduce operating costs and eliminate future maintenance expenses. It may also include renovating existing schools and building new ones.
The plan would also refocus career and college education programs by building the space they need.
visit buildings
Heath Tate, principal architect at MA+ Architecture, said he wrote detailed notes on each school’s floor plans and took photos, walking an average of six miles per day while visiting schools over four days.
The Oklahoma-based firm was hired by the school board in February under an agreement with Shive-Hattery and other consultants to review studies of the district’s infrastructure, develop a facilities plan, engage the community, and provide Bond Campaign provides assistance and develops concept plans for school projects.
MA+ Architecture provides professional services in interior design, master planning, bond planning and furniture selection to schools and other organizations.
Tate said ongoing work by school leaders and consultants will help “right-size” the community-backed bond referendum.
Tate said he has evaluated “millions and millions of square feet” of school space during his career. He said schools built more than 60 years ago were not designed with the needs of today’s students and teachers in mind, especially given the technology now being used in classrooms.
“We’re looking at how many students are in the classroom, how much time they spend getting from point A to point B between classes, and whether the classroom is functioning the way it should for optimal academic performance,” Tate said.
“We do see potential problems that we can address,” Tate said.
Investigation and inquiry facilities
Tate said community feedback is “vital” in developing plans for facilities that serve “their children.”
The first round of surveys, sent out next week, aims to gather input from staff, families and the community on how best to meet the Cedar Rapids School District’s facility needs.
The five-page survey will be provided by School Perceptions, an education research company partnered with the school district, and will be available in English, Spanish, French and Swahili.
Survey responses will be kept confidential and passed back to School View, which will analyze the data and report the findings to the Cedar Rapids School Board. Results will be posted on the district website.
Residents can answer the survey online, return it to any school office, or mail it to School Perceptions. The investigation should be completed by April 22.
A second survey will be sent to area residents later this year.
Questions on the survey include: Do you support bonds? If you voted no, why? Which college and career preparation courses and courses are most important to you?
The survey will also ask residents whether they support renewing the physical plant and equipment tax, which is expected to be on the ballot this September.
The Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) is an existing capital projects fund used to purchase and improve sites, construct and renovate buildings, and purchase major equipment, including technology. Voters must renew every ten years.
If approved, the extension will not increase existing PPEL rates. However, Schumaker said that while that’s important to maintain the building, it still doesn’t generate enough revenue for the district to build a new school.
“We are committed to listening to the needs of the community,” Schumaker said.
Facilities support children’s education
Michael Kleene, an educational architect with Shive-Hattery who participated in a tour of the school this week, said the projects proposed in the facilities master plan will be prioritized and financially realistic based on the needs of the students, the needs of the school district and the needs of the community.
“I believe every student should have a stage to perform on and someone to be inspired by, whether in class, on stage or in person,” he said. “They should have the opportunity to express themselves and understand their abilities and strengths.”
While the district has historically had two plans – one for elementary schools and another for middle and high schools, Schumaker said the new plan will be more “comprehensive.”
“We want to make sure we are fiscally responsible to taxpayers and get the most out of our buildings,” he said.
Schumaker met with about 50 community members, business leaders, parents and people from different quadrants of the city, of various socioeconomic levels, faith backgrounds and people who don’t have students in the area.
His goal is to meet one-on-one with another 100 people by May 1.
He said the feedback showed people were willing to support a school bond issue, but that it would be difficult to support the $220 million plan that goes before voters in November.
Shumaker said questions about the district proposing to build a new middle school without knowing the location led some voters to say “no.”
“These trips to me are reinforcing what we know we need, but also peeling back the onion and saying, ‘Maybe we can be a little more creative here.’ ”
Still, the schools do need upgrades, some of them major, Schumaker said. For example, some primary schools are still using original “outdated” heating systems, he said.
The district is not starting entirely from scratch. Analysis of the district’s elementary schools in 2017-18 and a 2022 analysis of the district’s secondary buildings are still ongoing.
One of the last schools visited last week was Washington High School, where Principal Ian LeMaster said he wanted to see a facilities plan that would expand opportunities and help students feel a greater “sense of belonging.”
“I think the courses that really resonate with students are the ones that allow them to see real-world connections and glean skills that they can use throughout their lives,” LeMaster said.
Comments: (319) 398-8411; Grace.king@thegazette.com
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