CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The Cedar Rapids Community School Board voted at its Oct. 14, 2024, meeting to enter into an agreement with Shive-Hattery to build its two latest elementary schools, but the agreement includes a bizarre location for one of the buildings.
According to the document agreed to by the School Board, both the new Hoover Elementary School, and the new Van Buren Elementary School, will be built on the site adjacent to Van Buren.
The same wording is referenced more than once in the document, which was unanimously approved by the School Board as part of its consent agenda: those typically routine items not considered separately for a vote.
Shive-Hattery, a Cedar Rapids architecture and engineering firm, will receive a basic services fee of $3.66 million for the two projects, estimated to cost $30 million per school, plus supplement services, such as community engagement and landscape design, of more than $2 million per school.
A building to replace the brick Hoover Elementary School would be built on the Van Buren site, according to documents agreed to by the Cedar Rapids School Board. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
The total of more than $32 million per school, to be used from taxpayer “SAVE” funds, is considerably more than the $25 million that school district officials said would be the cost for each 600-student building.
Building additions or other options that could have afforded taxpayer savings, and keep tons of materials out of the landfill as part of sustainability and climate change considerations, were not considered as the School Board scheduled a special meeting in August to make the decision.
In another twist, the board re-voted at its Oct. 14 meeting on the same resolution unanimously approved Aug. 12 at the special meeting, after an open meetings complaint was filed.
Related: School Board votes again on two new schools
The document approved by the Cedar Rapids School Board more than once references building a Hoover elementary replacement on the Van Buren site.
School district officials have praised the August decision, saying that staff had asked for new buildings because both schools — Van Buren at 2525 29th St. SW, and Hoover at 4141 Johnson Ave. NW — are overcrowded.
Shive-Hattery also was hired by the school district for $850,000 this year to guide its next bond referendum.
The school district is working on another multi-million-dollar bond referendum for November 2025, after its $220 million bond vote was overwhelmingly defeated last year. That funding would be through an increase in property taxes.
An email has been sent to the School District, asking how the site location for Hoover was overlooked more than once in the document, and what that means for Shive-Hattery’s attention to detail.
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The schools are 2 miles apart. Why not build one school in the middle? I realize it would be quite large but wouldn’t the children attend 1 middle school when they’re ready?
Our School Board is an absolute joke, except it is not funny! We said “no” to the bond vote, but they backdoored us, found the money, and are still building new schools! They are going against taxpayer wishes, and the kids are getting no smarter! We may need to watch the next School Board elections closer!