New middle school might be removed from Cedar Rapids School District bond proposal

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The Cedar Rapids Community School District could remove its biggest hurdle in passing a multi-million-dollar bond referendum by eliminating the construction of a new middle school from the proposal, according to a task force.

Members of the task force convened to examine school bond options almost unanimously agreed that now is not the time to ask voters to approve building a $104 million middle school, which is nearly half of the $210.6 million total cost of the bond proposal.

Just under 30 members met Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in what was touted as a meeting to discuss results of a survey sent to school district voters.

More: Survey omits cost breakdown of school proposal

No survey results were released, however, other than age ranges of the nearly 8,000 respondents — 42 percent were 65 and older — and whether or not respondents were school district employees — 10 percent were — and if they had children attending school in the district, of which 24 percent did.

Surveys were sent to about 70,000 voters in the school district, with 7,850 responding.

Chad Schumacher, the school district’s director of operations, mentioned when asked that approximately 41 to 42 percent of respondents indicated they would support the $211 million bond referendum, which needs 60 percent approval to pass.

In 2023, voters overwhelmingly rejected the district’s $220 million bond, which also included a new middle school at an unidentified location, with just 39 percent voting in favor.

The district this time identified a site where the school would be built, on land still outside the Cedar Rapids city limits between Cloverdale Road and Ushers Ferry Road, north of busy Collins Road/Highway 100, but economic uncertainty is making the proposal challenging, Schumacher said.

While leaders say the district has two more middle schools than needed for the current enrollment in six schools, the School Board voted in January to spend $7.5 million on the 50 acres of land in an undeveloped area, far from the city’s core. The new school would replace Harding Middle School, one of the district’s newer buildings, from 1965.

Related: Cedar Rapids School Board votes to spend $7.5 million on land for new school

Schumacher said there is support for keeping the older middle schools, such as Roosevelt and McKinley, citing tours that examined the facilities.

“We found out they’re really good buildings,” he said. “They’re really well built.”

The task force did not make a formal proposal for the School Board to consider, but most preferred an option to remove the new middle school from the bond proposal for now, and coming back to voters to approve it at a later time.

Other projects under the bond proposal include:

— Building an addition for Kennedy High School in northeast Cedar Rapids for a freshman academy, as well as expansion of Kennedy’s cafeteria for $12 million;

— Renovating Wilson Middle School in southwest Cedar Rapids to serve students from Grant Elementary and Taylor Elementary, now known as Cedar River Academy for $35.7 million (Wilson students would attend Roosevelt Middle School.)

— Renovate and expand McKinley Middle School in southeast Cedar Rapids to accommodate Franklin Middle School students for $58.9 million (Franklin would serve Metro students and other programs.)

Committee members also suggested adding the costs of renovating Roosevelt in the bond proposal. That expense, at $25 million, had not been included, as the district would have used other funding sources.

In 2024, the School Board voted to demolish Van Buren and Hoover elementary schools, even though no deficiencies were cited, so that larger elementary schools could be constructed on the sites, to accommodate more students.

New elementary schools in the district have recently cost about $32 million each, and with tariffs underway on building materials, those costs could escalate.

Related: School Board votes to demolish elementary schools; build new

Ron Corbett, vice president of economic development for the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, also spoke at the task force meeting, noting that the economic alliance conducted its own polling regarding the school bond.

The polling found that, at most, 55 percent of respondents would likely or definitely vote for the bond referendum, still short of the 60 percent required to pass.

If historic schools such as Wilson, Roosevelt, Franklin and McKinley were saved, 57 percent of respondents were more likely to approve the referendum, according to the alliance’s polling.

Improving school safety and accessibility also scored high in the scientific poll, conducted by Victory Enterprises of Davenport with 501 Cedar Rapids School District residents.

Corbett cited voter anxiety about the economy, inflation, tariffs and other economic uncertainties, including Whirlpool’s recent announcement of 650 layoffs. He noted that many workers commute from Cedar Rapids to the Amana plant.

School Superintendent Tawana Grover also noted that economic uncertainty could mean the School Board will look at other bond options to reduce the overall price tag.

The board will be presented with survey data at its next meeting, at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 7, at school district headquarters, 2500 Edgewood Rd. NW. A revised bond proposal will be presented at the School Board’s April 28 meeting. The bond referendum could go to voters in November.

“Now is not the time,” Grover said of the $211 million proposal. “We’re facing a crisis as a country.”

The school district is already facing a $12 million budget deficit.

More: Teachers consider removing own children from district as cuts loom