CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — In an abrupt deviation from its facilities master plan, the Cedar Rapids School District is proposing to immediately start the process of building two new elementary schools on the city’s west side.
Chad Schumacher, the district’s director of operations, told the School Board at its July 22, 2024, meeting that Van Buren Elementary, 2525 29th St. SW, and Hoover Elementary, 4141 Johnson Ave. NW, should be replaced with new, larger schools.
Both expect an influx of new students, as more housing is built on the west side of Cedar Rapids, he noted, citing meetings with city officials; something that had not been done when the plan was updated in recent years. Schumacher did not indicate that Iowa’s new school choice voucher system is being taken into account for future years. The change could mean more competition for the state’s public schools.
While stating the district is being fiscally responsible, Schumacher, formerly with OPN Architects before joining the School District last year, did not cite any deficiencies in the structure of either school building, nor did he suggest renovating or building additions to either school, which likely would cost less than demolition and constructing entirely new buildings.
A sign at Hoover Elementary in Cedar Rapids notes preschool registration is underway. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Originally estimated at $20 million per new school, the cost of the new elementary schools jumped to $25 million and then to $30 million for its most recent new building, the third of 10 new “mega schools” approved by the School Board in 2018.
While that original plan called for the eventual demolition and replacement of Hoover Elementary, Van Buren was expected to close under the master plan.
Schumacher said once architects are hired, construction could start in December 2025, with the new buildings open in 2027.
Enrollment at Hoover increased from 360 students in the 2021-2022 school year to 416 in the coming school year, while Van Buren’s enrollment went from 368 to 466 in the same period.
Portable classrooms will be used at Hoover to reduce class sizes that hovered around 27 students per room last year to 21 in the coming year, said Hoover Principal Clint Stone. While not ideal, Stone said the portable classrooms are preferable to overcrowding.
Schumacher said both proposed schools would have room for 600 students.
At the end of this school year, the district closed both Garfield Elementary and Arthur Elementary, on the city’s east side, to consolidate students at the new Trailside Elementary, expected to open this fall.
School district residents have no say in how their taxpayer dollars are used under the district’s elementary master plan, due to the funding source. By using the 1 percent sales tax stream known as “SAVE,” the school board circumvents a vote by the public on the measure, normally required in projects of even lesser magnitude.
This September, the School District will ask voters to renew its Physical Plant and Equipment Levy tax paid by property owners. Each time a new $30 million school is built using the SAVE funding stream, less money is available to go to the maintenance of current schools, which the levy funds.
The bell from the original Van Buren School can be seen in front of the current Van Buren Elementary. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Last fall, voters rejected the district’s $220 million bond referendum that would have been used to build a new middle school and for updates to the high schools, among other items.
Last month, the School Board rejected an offer of more than twice of its sale price for Garfield Elementary, which will be used for housing.
Rob Cole of Cedar Rapids addressed the School Board at the meeting, saying it appears that the value of the apartments to be reserved for district employees under the agreement with the developer was overestimated.
That negates the claim that the value of the agreement was more than the nearly $380,000 assessed value of the school, Cole said, asking the board to consider reexamining the agreement to sell Garfield for just $160,000.
Read more: School Board rejects higher offer for Garfield School
The original Van Buren School opened in 1884 and closed in 1970 when the current Van Buren Elementary opened in August 1970. The bell from the past school stands in front of the current school.
President Hoover attended the groundbreaking for Hoover Elementary in 1954. The school opened in 1955.
The School Board has yet to make a decision on the fate of Harrison Elementary School, considered the most architecturally significant of the district’s school buildings.
Related: Survey prompts School Board to examine alternatives to Harrison demolition
[…] Story continues […]