CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The Cedar Rapids School District Board of Directors has yet to vote on future school closures, but proposed boundary changes signal the vote to come later this month.
No public comment was allowed at a special School Board meeting to discuss those changes on March 31, 2026, but the public was invited to community open house events on April 1, at Kennedy, Washington and Jefferson high schools.
Attendance was sparse at Washington High School, with just 15 or so community members, along with school district staff and committee members. School Superintendent Tawana Lannin, who attended the event and was on her way to the third of the night, said turnout was higher at Kennedy High School.
Attendees were encouraged to use a QR code to share feedback on two proposed school boundary scenarios. Transportation and busing were not addressed.
Related: School Board takes one model off the table
The first boundary proposal changes for the Cedar Rapids Community School District.
Under the first scenario, high school boundaries would remain unchanged, but the proposal does not balance student enrollment across the district. Under that proposal, Washington High School would drop below 1,000 students, while under the second scenario, which changes high school boundaries slightly, Washington would stay above 1,000 students.
Both scenarios would change the district’s current school model to add three intermediate schools for fifth- to sixth-graders, with student in preschool through fourth grade attending elementary schools, and three middle schools for seventh and eighth grade, rather than the current sixth through eighth.
The two scenarios would align with one of the board’s priorities of creating true “feeder” patterns that have students progress through the school system with the same classmates through all of their school years.
Find maps and more information on the school district’s website.
Neither maintains a reasonable geographic proximity for families, according to the report from consultants RSP & Associates of Overland Park, Kansas.
Both scenarios would, however, close the same neighborhood schools: Wright, Cedar River Academy at Taylor, Cleveland, Nixon and Grant elementary schools and Truman Early Learning Center.
Wilson Middle School would become an elementary school under the plans, and Viola Gibson Elementary would become an intermediate school, along with Roosevelt and Franklin.
Taft, Harding and McKinley would remain middle schools.
The second proposed boundary changes for the Cedar Rapids School District.
The district is looking to address a $10-$12 million budget shortfall, which it attributes primarily to declining enrollment, but it has looked to close neighborhood elementary schools in order to build new “mega-schools” since 2018.
Each elementary school closure would save $1 million, district officials have said, and closures would not happen until the 2027-2028 school year.
The board has not addressed what would happen to the buildings of those closed schools.
Two new elementary schools under construction at Hoover and Van Buren are estimated to cost $42 million to $43 million each.
Lannin said, based on community feedback, a “2.5” scenario could be proposed at the next School Board meeting on April 13. Board members are expected to vote on the boundary changes, which includes the elementary school closures, at their April 27 board meeting.
More: Cedar Rapids School Board approves initial budget cuts
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