Cedar Rapids School Board to vote in May on revised bond proposal omitting new middle school

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The Cedar Rapids Community School District Board of Education heard details of a new bond proposal at its April 28, 2025, meeting.

Initially proposed at $210.6 million, with a new $104 middle school, the proposal was revised to omit the new school. The new proposal has a $117 million price tag.

Property owners would pay nearly $90 more annually in taxes on a $200,000 home if the bond referendum passes in November.

The School Board is scheduled to vote on the final bond plan at its May 12 meeting.

In January, the School Board voted to spend $7.5 million of taxpayer dollars on land outside of Cedar Rapids to build a new middle school, even as district leaders say they have two more middle schools than needed for the number of students enrolled in the six current schools.

More: School board votes to buy land for new school as neighborhood schools face closure

The presentation did not include any mention of what will become of that 50 acres of land between Cloverdale Road and Ushers Ferry Road NE, nor the fate of two schools that would close under the plan.

District leaders previously said Harding Middle School would be demolished, rather than sold, if the new middle school is built, but have not revealed the outcome for Grant Elementary and Taylor Elementary, now known as Cedar River Academy, which would close under the plan.

Students from both elementary schools would move into Wilson Middle School, while Wilson students would move into Roosevelt Middle School, all on the west side of Cedar Rapids.

Feedback from METRO High School showed a preference to stay at its current location in southeast Cedar Rapids, rather than moving into Franklin Middle School. The new plan reflects that by keeping Franklin students at the northeast Cedar Rapids school, rather than moving them to McKinley Middle School.

McKinley would still receive a $45 million renovation, while a $25 million renovation at Roosevelt was added to the proposal. Wilson would be renovated for $35 million, while Kennedy High School would receive a $12 million renovation.

Chad Schumacher, the school district’s director of operations, said the proposed renovations at the 1920’s-era middle schools showed a commitment to the district’s historic school buildings.

Schumacher pointed to a project he had been involved with in a previous job, as the Iowa City School District updated the century-old Longfellow Elementary in 2018.

“It was built back intentionally and thoughtfully,” he said, showing photos of the remodeled school.

More: Iowa City updates schools at half the cost of Cedar Rapids plan

Last year, even as school district leaders point to declining enrollment, the School Board voted to demolish Van Buren and Hoover elementary schools — though no deficiencies were cited — so 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

Building additions at the two sites were never proposed, which could potentially have saved millions in taxpayer dollars, possibly even negating, or at least diminishing, the need for a bond referendum, as savings could be reallocated to those proposed projects.

Kevin Wymore of Cedar Rapids addressed the school board during the public comment period to note that the district had $51.5 million in two building budget pools as of early 2024.

He quoted an editorial piece by Superintendent Tawana Grover that the “cost to do nothing” would lead to deferred maintenance on the buildings, something Wymore described as “almost scare tactics.”

“I don’t believe there will be any collapse of buildings or significant unmet needs,” if the bond referendum doesn’t pass, he said, citing the district’s building funds.

School Board members said the new proposal shows they are listening to constituents, but the revision came only after surveys showed voters likely would have rejected the $210 million bond referendum in November.

Under an $850,000 contract, the School District enlisted Shive-Hattery Architecture & Engineering, based in Cedar Rapids, to help the district move forward after a $220 million bond referendum was defeated in 2023.

More: School survey points to bond defeat