001I do too. And actually I'm admitting her right away. You mean I'm admitting her? I think she might be able to just join. She should be able to just join. Yeah. Yes. Ready to go? Thank you. I now call the Board of Education regular meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Is there a motion to approve the agenda for Monday, April 27th, 2026? So moved. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed say nay. Okay. We are starting uh two members short. One is trapped in the rain and is getting here as as fast as she can and the other is trying to get online. Um but we are going to go ahead and get started. Um next we will pass the meeting to our area chiefs for student highlights.
002Good evening, everyone. Um I'm Adam Zimmerman, the area chief um of area one. So, yeah. Um I get the special privilege of highlighting Tashi Fields. Uh Tashi is not with us today. She had a big day. She took and passed her CNA exam. Um so, that was a big deal. She's an 11th grader at CityView. Yeah, absolutely. >> [applause] >> We are proud to highlight Tashi for her dedication and positive impact in the CityView school community. She's academically conscientious, always putting in thoughtful effort and striving to do her best. Tashi is also a positive leader who encourages others, setting a strong example to follow, and helps create a focused, supportive learning environment. Her willingness to help others both academically and socially truly stands out. Whether she is supporting classmates with schoolwork or simply being kind
003and inclusive, she makes a difference in her community. Her hard work, leadership, and compassion do not go unnoticed. We see you, Tashi. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> Alyssa. Okay. I get to introduce Alyssa Christensen, 12th grader at Metro High School. So, Alyssa Christensen is a dedicated and driven student who will be graduating from Metro High School with a strong commitment to both academic excellence and personal growth. Alyssa will be the a first-generation high school graduate who has challenged herself in a variety of ways, including participating in the outdoor education trip to the Black Hills and being a member of the Metro Fitness Club. Through these activities, she developed teamwork skills, confidence, creative problem-solving, and a focus on her physical well-being. This year, Alyssa enrolled in college-level courses, demonstrating her readiness for the next step in her
004education. Alongside her studies, she will earn her certified nursing assistant credential and will continue to gain valuable hands-on experience working at a local care center, where she has further developed her passion for helping others. Looking ahead, Alyssa plans to attend Kirkwood Community College before transferring to the University of Iowa to pursue a degree in diagnostic medical sonography. With her strong work ethic ethic, caring nature, and determination, she is well prepared to succeed in her future career in healthcare. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> This is all for you. You're welcome. And you can just sit down and we'll have part call you back up. There you are. Okay. Hey, buddy. Okay. I am uh here I have pleasure to introduce Zakai here. Zakai is a spotlight student from West Willow. He is an outstanding third grader. We
005have enjoyed having Zakai at West Willow since he was in four-year-old preschool. He has grown so much over the year from a very energetic preschooler to a much more mature third grader. He has shown that he has the ability to demonstrate the pack expectations at West Willow. He makes friends easily and the friendly smile he has on each day. Zakai has really uh made some awesome reading gains over the past several years from the winter 2024 to winter 2026. He has grown 122 words on his fast progress monitoring. Good job. >> [applause] >> That is obviously fantastic. Zakai has put in uh a lot of effort. He has a supportive family and has made wonderful um has had wonderful teachers at West Willow to help him reach his goals. We are so proud of his
006efforts and it has been wonderful to watch him grow through the years. Congrats to one of our strong West Willow wolves. >> [applause] [applause] >> Okay. Um not everybody knows this, but area two has the pleasure of being able to support our wonderful homeschool assistance program. So, we're going to highlight two students from that program this evening as well. The first student is unable to be with us today, which is Lawrence. Lawrence is an eighth grader enrolled in the Cedar Rapids homeschool assistance program, having been homeschooled um since first grade. Although quiet and reserved, Lawrence has may has a great sense of humor and is a quick to smile. He is kind and considerate, often welcoming new students and helping them ease uh to feel at ease. He is respected um he is respectful to
007staff members and is always willing to help. Lawrence's interests include history and culinary arts and he enjoys sharing the things he has learned in these subjects. Thank you for being a wonderful member of the program. >> [applause] >> All right. Hello. Yeah, let's go. Oh, yeah. I love it. Okay. All right. This is Cass. Uh Cass, better know or sorry, known as Cass, was nominated by the Cedar Rapids homeschool assistant program teachers for her exceptional character. Cass is a confident and respectful self-advocate, consistently standing up for herself and others against wrongdoing. She speaks up to defend those involved if she hears something unkind. A friend to everyone, Cass actively includes others and always has a big smile. Furthermore, she demonstrated bravery by sharing her personal experiences with her heart surgeries during the American Heart Association
008presentation and uh very brave for uh holding that snake. Um I might add that really scared. You're a snake person. I'm glad I'm glad snake people exist. Uh um uh yeah. What? Mystic is the snake's name? Mystic horse. Okay. I love it. Um we are absolutely thrilled to have her in the program. >> [applause] >> Yep. >> [applause] >> Okay. That was so joyous. Thank you. Um Moving on, we will hear from those who have requested to address the board. Um Board Secretary Shultice, do we have any requests this evening? We do. We have eight requests. Eight requests. Um before we begin, um I just I just want to share a few thoughts. So, as we convene tonight to to vote on the recommended facilities and reconfiguration plan, I want to acknowledge the gravity um
009of this evening. This work um this recommendation is the result of months of rigorous work and we wouldn't be here uh without the dedication of several key groups. So, I want to extend our deepest gratitude to um SPEC and the Community Coalition, our building staff and leadership, and our community. Whether you spoke at a board meeting, sent us ideas in emails, responded to a survey, or attended an open house, it's been important to us as a board to hear your voices. Tonight, we take a historic step toward right-sizing our district to match our current enrollment reality. By reconfiguring our grades and establishing a true feeder pattern, a goal that has eluded this district for decades, we are creating a sustainable and equitable educational experience for every child we serve. Tonight, we take a his- I'm
010sorry. Finally, we recognize that there is his- uh significant emotion in this room tonight. Change, especially when it involves our neighborhood schools and the structures our families rely on, is deeply personal and always imperfect. We've heard your voices and we acknowledge the weight of these decisions on our families, our students, and our staff. Our focus remains on the long-term benefits of this plan. Stronger staffing levels, expanded preschool access, more opportunities in academics, the performing arts, and athletics, and the financial stability necessary to invest in our kids' future. We're not just simply settling for shrinking. We are redesigning the future. I know that tonight's decision will leave some families at an inflection point. And I know I speak for every member of this board when I say that we truly want all of your students to
011stay and thrive here. We want to see them walk across the stage as Cougars and Jayhawks and Warriors, and we want to celebrate their success with you. The work does not end with this vote tonight. In fact, it kicks off an intense time of planning to ensure we make the process and the transition of our schools as seamless as possible for our students, our families, and our staff. And our pledge is to ensure that happens and to involve you. Thank you again from all of us for being with us tonight. With that, with eight speakers this evening, you will be given up to 5 minutes for your remarks. Please respect the time limit allotted to each speaker. Board Treasurer Shelton will serve as your timer and indicate when your time has expired. If you have
012submitted a request to address the board and choose to refrain from speaking in the interest of equality and fairness, your time may not be yielded to another speaker. To abide by the open meetings law, there will be no dialogue between board directors and public during this meeting time to except to clarify the nature of questions or comments from the individual speaking. We ask that the audience and speakers refrain from using inappropriate language and outbursts as a matter of respect for all in attendance. And lastly, I'd like to remind our speakers that the board cannot address personnel and student matters. The board policy outlines a process for addressing and resolving concerns, and we ask that speakers refrain from using personal names and information during public comment. Before we begin, I'd like to remind our speakers to
013state their names and if you wish, your address when called to the podium. Board Secretary Shelton, please call our first speaker. Thank you. Our first speaker is Craig Seeley speaking on methods. I can't see you unless I'm not with my glasses on. I said that backwards, but anyway, um I was so glad that the good Lord guided me to this book because this is the other one that I heard about. It's by Cynthia Tobias, Every Child Can Succeed. And it is so interesting. I'm reading it out there. I did anyway. But I want to talk about at first what I'm concerned about. And that's what's going to happen to the public school system worldwide. And if they keep going like they've gone, you'll end up with 75% of the um body of each school very
014dissatisfied or on Redland or whatever because of the way they were treated in the public school. You'll end up with 20-some percent who are readers that are very successful and the teachers really like them because most of your teachers are readers. And so, you just have to find out some way what each child's dominant learning style is. And I already um you know, auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and tactile. And it is important to your success and more students coming back that you're going to have to consider do we want to close any school because how much will it cost us to build ones we need because so many students are coming back because they're learning. All of them are learning. Because they're go- once they get out of here, if they're still all right in the
015head, they will revert to their dominant learning style and what they do for a job because that's where they will be the most successful. And so, it has to be developed. We I've seen it so many times. You go into a I taught in every building in Cedar Rapids, every district within driving dis- district every distance. And I also taught in the private schools where you can teach out of your certification. So, I've seen a lot. I've gone to seven different colleges and universities. Didn't graduate from them all, but I learned a lot. So, I wanted to share with you um some of these things that are in here. And I hope I can turn to the right pages. And there goes my glasses. I should have have a you know. But anyway, so um
016have you heard of this? And their learning styles, concrete ses- sequent- I can't even pronounce the word. Sequential. Hard working, conventional, accurate, stable, dependable, consistent, factual, and organized. This is just an um an a brief s- list of what it talks about in this one chapter. Abstract sequential. Analytical, objective, knowledgeable, thorough, structured, logical, deliberate, and systematic. Abstract random. Sensitive, compassionate, perceptive, imaginative, idealistic, sentimental, spontaneous, flexible. Concrete random. Quick, intuitive, curious, realistic, creative, innovative, instinctive, and adventurous. Now, these are more their their personality types than it is um their dominant learning style. The question is, which dominant learning style has a certain personality type? Or do they? Do they Are they randomly um the four different personality types, which I haven't explained. But the main thing I want to say again, if you have to build
017new schools, how much are they going to cost? How much money are you going to lose in the schools that you're going to close? Um and what's that going to do to your financial situation? I believe you should wait. I believe you should really check out what I've been talking about, make all of our kids successful instead of 20%. Thank you. Our next speaker is Tyler Turner on SPEC presentations. Hello. I'm Tyler Turner. I'm a parent. I have been on the community coalition and the SPEC uh It's not the committee cuz it's this committee, but um on SPEC as well. And I wanted to come tonight and just kind of speak to the presentation that you're going to hear later. Um Throughout the process, I've had concerns about different things and I've I've tried to
018poke holes in in the different things that we've talked about. What you're going to see tonight is is you know, one of a lot of different things that we've talked about. Um tried to raise concerns where I thought that they needed to be raised. Um And I feel like I've done that. I feel like uh that was my job on on this on this committee. Um And tonight is kind of the culmination of that, right? We're we're going to present that. We have the letter that went out to everybody today. Um And despite all of those concerns and questions and you know, kind of a little bit more outspoken than a lot of the people on the committee, uh I still am on board with with what we're presenting tonight. And it's going to be
019a tough decision for you guys to make. Uh I don't envy you guys to put your name down on record for for these changes that are going to impact just about everybody in the community. Uh and it's it's going to be tough for a lot of people and I think we all empathize with with with all of us cuz we're all in this together. Uh but I am on board and in favor of of what we're recommending to you guys tonight and what you're going to hear later. Um So, despite all the things that I may bring up at meetings and problems that it may seem like I have, I I do believe that we have ultimately come to a spot that we can move forward from. So, I'm hoping that you guys take that
020recommendation on board from from the rest of the committee and appreciate your time. I appreciate your time on the on the committee, too, Scott. I I I thought you were a good representation of the rest of you guys and all of us as a as an elected official on that. Um so, thank you. Um that's all I got. Thank you, guys. Our next speaker is Mitch Randall on district restructuring. Hello. My name is Mitch Randall. I'm a Marine Corps veteran, a father of five children, a PTA volunteer, a Junior Achievement volunteer, as well as other charitable organizations. I work professionally in strategic operations and organizational transformation. I understand that difficult decisions often must be made under pressure. But strong leadership also also means knowing when additional clarity strengthens confidence in the outcome. I appreciate the
021superintendent's communication today and the additional materials shared before tonight's meeting. I also understand that tonight is the point at which the board is being asked to make a decision. However, if the district's position is that we can no longer wait, then one important piece should already be complete, full forward-looking modeling tied to each scenario. At the prior meeting, several specific concerns were raised publicly that still do not appear fully resolved in the materials provided, including transportation impacts, concerns about student route duration, programming implementation cost, and inconsistencies in published capacity figures for Viola Gibson Elementary School. I understand that some cost depend on which option is selected. But that does not prevent both scenarios from being modeled so that the board and the community can better understand the long-term operational impact of each path. My understanding
022is that AI-assisted tools were utilized in helping process and organize community feedback. If that technology can help efficiently synthesize large volumes of community input, it also seems capable of helping support transportation analysis and broader scenario-based cost modeling. The same timeline that brought the district's recommendation to a final vote should also have produced that level of modeling. Transparency is valuable, but long-term modeling is what gives a decision its full weight. Especially when one of the district's strongest-performing elementary environments is directly affected. Educational integrity should be modeled with the same rigor as facility utilization. Whatever decision is made tonight will shape trust in the process just as much as it shapes district structure moving forward. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Our next speaker is Sarah Hale Kysilka on the topic of SPEC. Good evening. I'm Sarah Hale
023Kysilka and I'm a parent in the community and I'm speaking tonight as an individual who also served on the community coalition and on the SPEC committee. Uh over the past several months, we've worked to address the charge given to us by the board proclamation, focusing primarily on feeder pattern coherence and geographical alignment. Uh the decisions on the table tonight are ones with lasting consequences and we owe it to our students to get this right. There are aspects of the process I personally would have approached differently. I was among a minority of committee members who spoke concerns about timeline and recommendations. Um but where the community ultimately landed is not what I personally would have recommended, but I am one person on a committee. And that said, I want to be clear. While I personally might
024have concerns about the proposals before you, um and the position that they put in the district for long-term success, I do not believe that those concerns rise to the level of malfeasance or malintent at the level of the committee as some people might have suggested. Um so, I wish you the best of luck in your deliberations tonight. Thank you. Our next speaker is Brittany Henry on education. Good evening, board. My name is Brittany Henry. I live in Cedar Rapids, but I am a citizen of heaven. I have a third-grader that attends Maple Grove. Before I go any further, I would like to thank the Cedar Rapids Community School District for their willingness and response in getting my son re-enrolled into Maple Grove when our previous enrollment in another school had suddenly and unexpectedly, yet strategically
025and intentionally ended. God's ways are higher than our ways. I'm here to talk about education, but I'm here to specifically talk about the program Prodigy. Maple Grove won a math award from Prodigy recently. If you don't know what Prodigy is, here's a brief description of the plot of the game. The player controls a wizard who is the main protagonist of the game in the place called Prodigy Island. The game initially starts with a short short tutorial where the protagonist is shown outside of a house. A fairy named Noot greets the player, telling them that they have to go to the academy, a school where wizards are trained to cast spells. At the academy, the protagonist encounters a wizard named Theo Edelweiss who lends the player their old wand to use. Noot teaches them how to
026use magic to defeat Theo. After casting two spells, Theo goes back to class and then players encounter a set of five monsters to choose from to use as their first starter [snorts] pet. Monsters, when caught and trained, can also be controlled by the player. They can cast spells and attack in battles with other wizards and or monsters. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says, "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their child son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, who is a medium or spiritualist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does such things is detestable to the Lord." Revelation 22:15 says, "Outside are the dogs, those who practice the magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices
027falsehood." There are a few on this board who have discussed their faith, some more vocally than others. As a Bible-believing, Jesus-following Christians, we know that in the last days many will not put up with sound doctrine, but instead will gather a great number of teachers around them to say what their ears want to hear. Many will depart from the faith and follow after deceiving spirits and doctrines and demon demons. If we publicly profess our faith via the means of social media or within our church building, but we don't stand firm for our faith in it in every situation, that either makes us fearful or fraudulent because if we do not stand firm for our faith, we don't stand for anything. And God has told us over and over again in his word, "Do not fear."
028The Hebrew word for cast is kabar, which means to bind, to unite, to join together, to have fellowship with. In scripture, kabar is used to warn against unholy association. Jesus said, "What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." I know that this is just a game to most of you, but the reality of it is that this is very serious and in your education system you are binding our children to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, and which without repentance can keep them from the kingdom of heaven. God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. When God said, "Let there be light," he saw that it was good and he separated it from the darkness. Jesus came as
029a light so that whoever believes in him will not be kept in the darkness, but have the light of life. He called us out of darkness and into his wonderful light. Jesus came to set us free. He is the way, the truth, the life, and the truth will set you free, and who the son sets free is free indeed. But we have an enemy, the devil, who comes portraying as an angel of light, whispering in our ears, "It's only a video game." We water it down like it's no big deal because it's just a visual. However, if it was no big deal, why would Jesus say that the eye is the lamp of the body? If the eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of life, but if the eye is unhealthy, your
030body will be full of darkness. And if that light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness? Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. God will not hold us guiltless. This community, this state, and this nation needs true repentance. Jesus said, "Every kingdom divided will not stand," and that every city and household divided against itself will not stand. The great and dreadful day of the Lord is quickly coming upon this world and we will have to give account for what we choose to do or not do with the opportunities God has given us. If If you want permanent solutions, >> for you. I'm sorry, your time is up. Thank you. Our next speaker is
031Stephanie Earby on the topic of the school plan. >> They're coming at you there. Good evening. My name is Stephanie Erb as they said and I have students children currently in the district and one that's graduated also and I also attended the district. Several months ago I came to a board meeting I think in January opposing the implementation of the intermediate model. I did not want my kids school to change and I felt that this was a really rash decision. I wonder if you have heard from many people on the west side or many Jayhawks because in the meetings that I've attended I haven't seen a huge representation. I've seen posters in the room packed from several other schools and so if you could just please imagine my son's friends and classmates and their parents
032and everybody behind me that would love to be here and are unable to. We have as everyone does what they can with what they have and we don't have a lot of Jayhawks that can come to speak to you tonight. So I hear I'm here representing a lot of them. I decided >> [gasps] >> in that first time I spoke with you I said Jefferson families have felt ignored forgotten not protected and not valued by the district and this board for years. After that night I talked with a friend and she suggested that I attend some of these meetings to figure out the why and how we got to this decision. With each meeting that I've attended I have understood the why. I've left with more comfort in the committees that have presented and I've
033left with more trust in our current board. Not to say that I love the changes that are being made. I do not think they are perfect and they are not as drastic as I would have chosen to support the west side. They do affect the schools my kids will go to it did make a change for them but I do believe that I trust these decisions were made and are being made to support all three high schools and our district as a whole. It was clear from living in it and sending my older kids through Jefferson that we on the west side have been struggling and it was clear from the data that you have all shared that Washington was struggling as well. While scenario two of the boundaries the intermediate model school closures and
034the consolidation doesn't create a the best case scenario for each individual family with students in our current district today. I do think it is the best scenario for us to have three viable high schools and it provides the best opportunity for our district as a whole to continue to thrive. So I wanted to thank you for making adjustments along the way as you've listened to us. I want to thank you for making adjustments to how you've run these meetings. Thank you for the questions you've asked for listening to us and attempting to calm the storm and deliver a solution to an emotional and difficult situation. I know you're hearing from individuals that this is going to be very hard and traumatic for themselves and their kids but we are in this this situation because difficult
035decisions were not made years ago. And again I ask you to think of all the families that I'm here representing tonight and I hope that you'll be brave enough to make that difficult decision today not as a final plan but just as a step in the right direction. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Our next speaker is Emily Dissler on SPEC. Good evening. My name is Emily and I live on the southwest side. My son attends West Willow. I want to thank the board for the work you've done over the past several months and I'd like to express my support for scenario two as proposed by the strategic planning executive committee. I know the closures and changes are difficult for everyone. I work at Truman which has already gone through major changes from a west side
036elementary school to an early childhood center. Now it appears we may lose Truman altogether. That's hard. Truman serves some of our district's youngest learners at a critical stage and while I understand the financial realities I do hope every effort is made to preserve those early childhood services at Truman. I also understand that the district does not have the resources to keep every building open. I understand that you are tasked with making decisions for the long-term health of the entire district not just one school or one neighborhood. I recognize that Truman may be asked to make another sacrifice. When I step back and look at the district as a whole I feel hopeful about scenario two. I'm excited about the direct feeder program. I'm encouraged by the boundary adjustments that will strengthen Jefferson and help keep
037Washington viable. I'm excited about the opportunity for an intermediate school on the north side to support Kennedy. The plan may not be perfect for everyone but it reflects months of hard work community input expert analysis and thoughtful decision making. Along the way you've already made important choices to support schools like Pierce for Kennedy and Johnson for Washington. I'm supportive of scenario two as proposed for the west side. If scenario two is chosen I would respectfully ask the board to pause any decision regarding the closure of Truman until we can ensure there are viable options in place for a gradual release of preschool classrooms into newly configured schools. It is critical that this transition be thoughtfully planned so we can ensure that there are enough spaces available for our pre-K students and families. And I ask
038that you continue that you support safe Taft Jefferson thoughtfully consider the future of Truman and vote to move forward with scenario two. Thank you. Thank you. Our final speaker for the night is Chad Brockman from uh speaking on SPEC. Thank you everybody. My name is Chad Brockman. I'm a Coolidge Taft Jefferson alum and a West Willow Taft Jefferson um parent. I want to thank you guys. Um I don't think anybody asked to solve the problem that you're here solving today. Um and you guys are doing a fantastic job up here. You are a model for our community on how to resolve a very difficult situation. You were thrown uh the worst of situations an absolute terrible budget situation and through community input through bringing in independent experts through uh engaging a planning committee you've put
039together a plan that has been proposed that based on survey results was chosen 65% to 35%. There's not a lot in our country today that you can get two options in front of people and and they choose 65% to 35% one of those options. In the process you've heard concerns um and and you've listened to those concerns and you've responded to those concerns. You heard concerns about closing Johnson Elementary School. You saved Johnson Elementary School. You've heard concerns about the viability of Washington High School. Scenario two solves the viability of Washington High School. You've heard concerns about Pierce Elementary School potentially closing. You saved Pierce Elementary School. My niece and nephew went to Pierce Elementary School. My two oldest boys went there for a couple years very happy to have Pierce still alive and you've
040heard concerns about the need for a northeast high school um for Kennedy or middle school excuse me for Kennedy and you've um addressed that concern. Um from the west side we just wanted to be treated fairly. I think a lot of us on the west side were concerned that the powers that be right or wrong would have solved the problem by taking from the west and maintaining for the east. You guys have alleviated that concern through this process. When we look at scenario two when we look at scenario one we feel that the west side was treated fairly compared to the east side. So thank you sincerely for that. I should expect it. I've always said this is probably one of the most educated elected bodies in the state of Iowa. I should have expected
041nothing less from you guys. You've handled yourself with grace and you have earned in my opinion the public trust through this process. You should be proud of yourself and your service. Um this is a time of great division here in our community probably broader than that and I think you've shown how or what we can do when we come together. So I thank you for that. We're excited about scenario two on the on the west side. I'm excited for Kennedy to to get a middle school on the north side. I'm excited for Washington to be viable. I grew up in the 90s. I remember the Jeff Wash games. That was exciting. I'm excited for Washington to remain viable and I'm very excited for what scenario two does for Jefferson High School. I think people's concerns
042about their schools closing are absolutely valid or changes that are happening to their schools they're absolutely valid. I remember a few years ago Coolidge used to be one of the best if not the best testing school in the district and it was about to get a little bit bigger and its population was going to change. I think I would have been against it at the time and and hindsight has proved me entirely wrong on that. The district knew what they were doing. I'm glad they had the courage to do what they did then. My school that my kids go to isn't number one in testing anymore. But they come home from school and and and they have friends who speak other languages, friends who are immigrants from other countries. Um it's a wonderful education. It
043may not be number one on testing, but but I think it's actually better. And that's why we leave our wisdom and our judgment to you guys as you look at things through a little bit bigger lens than our narrow lens. Um and and it's not easy. I know it's I know it's not easy. I know you're hearing pressure from a lot of different people. Um I know you don't have an easy vote ahead of you. But I think you have an opportunity ahead of you, an opportunity to really get this right for the district, to get this right for all of the kids in the district, not just the kids whose parents have had the time or the resources to be able to come up here and advocate for their particular school. Um We're excited
044about scenario two. I understand there's trepidation. I understand it's going to be a very difficult vote for you. I hope you have courage to vote for it. I hope you have courage to follow the recommendations that have been presented to you so that we can move forward together as one district. Thank you very much. >> [applause] >> Thank you. Is that the end of our speakers? >> That concludes our speakers. Thank you, everybody. Are there any board reports this evening? Thank you. All right, I have one from the recruitment and retention core committee. We met on April 20th and we engaged in discussion on all surplus teaching staff has been successfully placed reflecting a strong student student centered staffing process. Human resources is continuing weekly work to prepare for potential shifts to different grade configurations
045and possible school closures. Throughout this, they remain committed to clear communication and balancing tight expectations of the handbook with loose flexibility in our staffing approach to best meet the needs of staff and students. We also had a good discussion around the DMG staffing model, timelines, and adjustments based on last year's learnings. We'll meet again in May and we'll continue to get detailed staffing updates from there. I have a board report, too. Actually, I have two, but I'll do one right now. This board report is from the academic core committee. The ALSC administrators provided updated insights on curriculum and student services in special ed emphasizing the new state requirements and ongoing system improvements. Nicole Brown highlighted the upcoming ISASP testing window and that the results will be delayed a little bit due to scoring changes. We
046also talked a bit about the new civics graduation requirement and how we will manage that and the rollout of the college and career readiness academies. The board will review that information in June. She also noted that there are adjustments to professional learning to better prepare for district consolidations. Jen Van Fleet reported continued positive behavior trends which we always love to celebrate. We have increased in school interventions reducing out-of-school suspensions. And Jen outlined efforts to refine the behavior metrics, strengthen attendance interventions, and better measure the impact of community partnerships. Sarah Cruz detailed both forward-looking initiatives such as grant-funded early warning systems to support our at-risk students and immediate operational demands including a major state finance audit and upcoming legislative legislative changes affecting special ed. Across both meetings, leaders emphasized strong use of data, proactive student support
047systems, and clear structures being used within the district. I have a second board report. This is the legislative report. Tried to give you a quick update about what's going on in Des Moines. The >> [clears throat] >> they stopped getting paid last week, but they have not settled the budget and they have not resolved the property tax dilemma. So, the budget looks like it might be in a form that they can come to agreement yet this week. And honestly, I don't know when property tax will be settled, if if it will get done in the near future. It seems like the House and the Senate versions are very different from each other. And so there has to be a lot of conversation happen and I'm not sure that that's happening right now. Both of the
048bills regarding property tax have some impacts on us as public schools regarding save funds. That's the the penny sales tax that we use for school infrastructure. There there are some changes coming to how that money will be dispersed and shifting some of that to property tax. Another bill that was on the agenda for today and I honestly, the last time I checked, I don't know if it had moved anywhere. It's the charter school bill that we've been watching pretty carefully. It moved some of the teacher supplemental salary money to charter schools. It also requires that public schools provide extracurricular activities at no charge to charter schools. So, that was on the floor for debate today and I don't know if they got to it. Otherwise, there's still a couple education bills sort of bouncing back
049and forth between the House and Senate. Somebody amends it and then it has to go back and so back and forth. But hopefully, they'll get things wrapped up maybe this week. We'll hope. Thank you. Any other I also have two board reports. So, I'll start with the policy and compliance committee. So, we met earlier this month. The meeting focused on updates to non-discrimination provisions following new legislative guidance. Our chief compliance officer Mr. Kobe provided an overview of the updated requirements and the group agreed to align with IASB's provisions. As a result, the committee presented several existing provisions to be rescinded to ensure consistency with the newly adopted policy and regulation according to state guidelines. The team also reviewed provisions up for the regular cycle review. Most required only minor revisions. There was one regulation that
050received language attention following feedback from Jen Van Fleet who recommended more inclusive language regarding student appearance and the considerations for family needs. The other update I have is from April 22nd and we had our public relations committee meeting. There we focused primarily on communications just around what the future of building consolidation looks like not yet knowing what the vote would be along with broader district communication. We discussed upcoming communications including events, media opportunities, and continued community engagement efforts. The district is now using the new communications platform for nearly all of its messaging and both the new website and mobile app remain on track for midsummer launch with the app expected to support two-way communication once fully live. On the marketing side, we've had many of you probably received these ads maybe on your social media,
051but there was an enrollment campaign that has been underway since March 9th. So, thanks to the comms team for all their work on that. And I'm really excited to say that there are three new videos that are going to be rolling out in the coming week. And I've had the chance to review one of them and just look it over and it's really exciting. So, we also reviewed updates to board communications like social posts ahead of meetings. Overall, the focus is on improving clarity, consistency, and accessibility of communication during this high-impact period for our district. Thank you. Any other board reports? Okay. Moving on to our consent agenda, are there any items on which a director has a comment, question, or further discussion? Are there any items on which a director requires an item to
052be pulled from the consent agenda for a separate vote? Are there any items on which a director needs to abstain? Okay. We have a motion to approve the consent agenda as written. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Okay. This is a roll call vote due to the personnel report. Director Sminsky. Aye. Director Burns. Aye. Vice President Drezinski. Aye. President Director Garlock. Aye. Director Zimmerman. Aye. Director Byers. Aye. President Newman. Aye. Thank you. Okay. We have five items under administration. The first item is the approval of fiscal year 2027 certified budget. Do we have any questions before approval? Is there a motion to approve the fiscal year 2027 certified budget? So moved. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Those opposed say nay. Next is the approval of the
053publication and scheduling of a public hearing on FY2026 budget amendment. Are there any questions from the board? Is there a motion to approve the publication and scheduling of a public hearing on FY2026 budget amendment? So moved. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed say nay. Sorry, Caitlin. Okay. Moving on, we will hear from members of SPEC with a final school redesign and count and consolidation update, but first we will have a word from Dr. Linnan. Thank you, President Newman. As our strategic plan executive committee and members of our administrative team from our campus and district prepared to come, I just want to take a moment to first of all say good evening to everyone and thank you for joining us either here in person or online. Over the
054past several months, this community has really shown up engaging with us and asking hard questions, sharing perspectives, and staying in the process even when it was difficult. It reflects who we are and how deeply we care about our students and our future. All of our work on district redesign has been grounded in the success of our students, ensuring that they are future ready with strong teaching, strong supports, and strong community collaboration even as we face these significant challenges. I want to assure you that our work has also aligned with best practices known as the Barker guidelines for school consolidation. These guidelines are recognized by the Iowa Department of Education. They are largely inherent in the district's approach to major decisions. By incorporating those guidelines into our work, we ensure that we have informed the public
055of our timelines for reaching a board decision on redesign, that we've used multiple forms of communication to keep our community informed, that we've sought and considered public input so the board is well informed of community priorities, that we've engaged in a thorough research and planning process across facilities, enrollment, finances, programming, and staffing, that we've facilitated open and transparent public discussions, that we've maintained clear records of our process, and finally conducted this public meeting for the Board of Education to render a decision. So, after months of extensive collaboration and at times very strenuous work, we arrive at a defining moment for our district. We're being proactive rather than reactive. We have moved with intentionality step by step from budget reductions to school consolidations to attendance boundary adjustments to ensure we are making the best decisions possible.
056While there is no perfect solution, as was stated here tonight, we are responsible for making the best decision with the data, resources, and facilities that we have today. So, at this time I want to recognize the strategic plan executive committee as well as my colleagues from across the district. My role has been to support this process, and I have witnessed a group of individuals who took the responsibility very seriously, working through multiple scenarios, honoring community input, and staying focused on what is best for the district as a whole. I now invite them to present their final recommendation to the board. Thank you so much. Hi, good evening. Can I move that? Okay, perfect. Good evening. My name is Jamie McGrath. And I'm Lori Wi. And we are here representing the SPEC committee. So, just to
057kind of um kick it off a little bit. We our SPEC committee includes 23 different members. 13 of which are community members, one board representative, four or excuse me, six leadership building leaders, and then we did have a couple representatives that are from the district that were there to support. And so, that's kind of the mixture that's been together that's been meeting over the group that we would call SPEC. One of the things about this group that's very cool is that it comes with a variety of experiences, skill sets, and representation. Some people multi-generational district people, some people not currently or had experienced it themselves. But really did a great job I think in my opinion of taking themself out of it or what that benefited them personally and going, "Okay, how do I see
058this as a district as a whole?" So, that was a very cool thing to be a part of and I thought the group did that very, very well. So, this group also spent a lot of time and had a lot of months of analysis really community engagement and then really meaningful conversation, differing opinions for sure, but then really coming back to the core for it. And really with the clear focus like I mentioned with what is the best thing for our district as a whole, what's the thing for every student within our district. So, what we are sharing tonight is grounded in that commitment and aligned with that framework there. So, next slide. There we go. So, essentially as you all know, this started after February 9th. And so, the board approved a resolution authorizing
059research and evaluation for the models and looking at how would we do a school redesign. So, looking at those we had key directives recommending a final model based off core objectives and criteria, and supporting the implementation and transitions with that as also with resources and recent research. So, independent research analysis and enrollment and boundary analysis through that. So, we did utilize and I'll talk about that a little bit in a minute about the um resolution. But really using that as our guidepost through everything that we did. When we looked at scenarios, we were always going back to that resolution to say, "How how does this fit?" And are we checking those boxes? Are we bringing in all of those things into everything that we're doing? So, yeah. And so, I think we talked a lot
060about it a little bit, but there were a lot of Sorry, I'm a talker. And so, there are a lot of multiple We'll probably talk about this a few times cuz it's kind of a joke now. But there are multiple scenarios that were discussed whether it was partial rollouts, different configurations, and evaluated all of those against the board resolution. And I believe you have access to all of those and those were also emailed out to families. Um But really um thinking about how we do this together as a unit, and what we bring forward today hopes and believes that this reflects the process with an honest assessment and what we believe will be best to serve the district today and moving forward. So, we're going to talk a little bit about comments made earlier in
061this meeting about the appreciation for our community insight. And so, we're going to go through a little bit about how the different ways that we worked together, community input, community insight, and community engagement. So, important part of this work was listening to our community and engaging stakeholders. This is a big decision. We did that throughout the process. Since December, there have been numerous opportunities to shape this work, including five community coalition meetings, 14 executive leadership team meetings. And since February, there have been five strategic plan executive committee meetings that we've been part of. The community coalition provided important early insight, that foundation building, both with strategic process and the initial budget and redesign conversations. And then that transitioned into the work of the strategic plan executive committee. So, on the next slide, we also gained
062input through various surveys, community surveys. We got a broad community input through three district-wide surveys and boundary open house. We tried to have each of us as um executive as the committee members be at each of those so that we could engage with the community as they were looking at the different boundary options and were able to also hear feedback from them and questions that they had and brought those back to our committee meetings. In the strategic plan survey, we received about 2200 responses, and from that feedback several clear priorities emerged. Expanding fine arts, athletics, and extracurricular opportunities, extracurricular opportunities, increasing mental health and wellness supports, which is so incredibly important, and providing more advanced learning opportunities. That same survey also asked about consolidation approaches and the intermediate model emerged as the most supported direction.
063We conducted reconfiguration survey and received about 2500 responses. In that survey, the intermediate model again rose to the top as the most supported option when compared to the other models, two high school and the 5-8 model. Finally, regarding the boundary survey survey and the boundary engagement process, including the open house and the survey, two scenarios were presented to the community. Scenario two, as the scenario we are recommending tonight, was the most supported. In this scenario, priorities of the true feeder patterns were also better balancing enrollment across the three areas in the district. Community input played a very important role in shaping this work. It helped us to understand the priorities, to surface concerns, and identify where support will be needed moving forward. At the same time, our responsibility was to weigh that input alongside the
064criteria and the board's resolution, which we held firm to. And with that in mind, we'll now walk through the framework that guided how we evaluated all options. Yeah, so obviously, I talked about the board resolution a little bit and you're very well aware of that. So, and I mentioned before, that board resolution really use we used as our compass and our guide. So, every question that was brought up, scenario that was discovered, we talked and said, "How does it check the boxes and which one doesn't doesn't it and and and can it?" Right? So, we looked at that same set of criteria, feeder pattern coherence, geographical location, fiscal stewardship, evidence-based design, program access and long-term planning to really make sure that we are following those. You can go to the next slide. Thanks. So, with
065that foundation in place, we are bringing forward a comprehensive recommendation which does include a district-wide intermediate model, true feeder patterns, boundary scenario two, and strategic consolidation of facilities. Each of those components work together to support the sustainable system while aligning the separate decisions the board will take as part of this process. Although there is no perfect solution to all of these decisions, there is no I wish we lived in a world of Sims and we could create certain things, but we believe that this is the best way we can move forward and we offer this in confidence that it'll help us towards our future. Um With that, I'm going to dive a little bit deeper on what that looks like. See, are you Lori's going to dive a little bit deeper? >> [laughter] >> And
066still, we are the team members from the district will provide you with even more granular detail, but just wanted to give a high level over each of these components in our support of them. So, the intermediate model, as part of the school redesign, we recommended a full district-wide rollout of the intermediate model. We wanted to make sure that that was kind of consistent and everyone had all of our students had the same experience across our district. And so, the full district-wide rollout of the intermediate model for fifth and sixth grade beginning in the 2027 and 2028 school year. So, what this this model allows us to design learning environments specifically for this stage of development while expanding access to programming and opportunities for students. We did consider a partial or a phased approach, however, ultimately
067we concluded that anything short of a full rollout would create inequity across the district. The unified model ensures that all students can benefit consistent with the board's vision of one district moving forward together and expanding programmatic access for all. For the second portion of the recommendation with true feeder patterns, also along with that design, we recommend the adoption of the the true feeder patterns across the district and we heard a little today about the excitement about that true feeder pattern. It creates a clear and consistent pathway for our students from kindergarten through graduation. It strengthens relationships, builds a sense of belonging, and reduces disruption during those key transition points. While we considered alternatives to more evenly distribute the enrollment, we believe this approach best supports long-term coherence and student experience. On the boundary scenario and
068the recommendation of scenario two, in addition to the school redesign components, we're also bringing forward a boundary recommendation to the board for the board's consideration. As Jamie referenced earlier, we looked at a lot of different scenarios and we're so grateful for the analysis and the expertise that we were able to kind of look through and dialogue with our colleagues on the the committee. I I have a greater appreciation for just even small tweaks in this and what the downstream impact can be if we kind of tweak at the high school level and what that means for the intermediate and elementary schools from a capacity, from an access, from all of those things. So, definitely had had my eyes open to kind of those those tweaks and the downstream impact that we need to be very
069very thoughtful about. So, we are recommending boundary scenario two. The scenario provides the most balanced and sustainable enrollment across the district's high schools. The analysis [snorts] showed that even small changes that can affect have a significant effect on the utilization and instability. So, scenario two reflects the most stable and data supported option and supports the long-term planning for the district. Yeah, so part of the fiscal stewardship, we also acknowledge that part of this recommendation does include probably the hardest part of all of it and it's the part where we have to look at reconfigurations and closings of buildings. Um We completely understand the deep connections that exist within these communities and I do not um would not want to be in your shoes to actually make those decisions and take those lightly and even discussing
070them on our end to to look at that and change these things. At the same time, you know, fiscal stewardship is a thing that you guys wanted us to look at as well as that is a charge for you and what we need to do for our community members' tax-paying dollars. And the district's enrollment trends and financially financial realities really did require you and us to look at resources and what we needed to do to help with that. So, consolidation does allow us to focus our resources across fewer buildings so that staffing, programming, and supports consistently be given to all students across the board and delivered effectively. This focus does create a stronger, more sustainable program programs for the students of the future and and and all the students in our district. As part of
071it, also mentioning that part of the recommendation is about Viola Gibson into an intermediate school. Again, not an easy decision, you know, that is a lot of change for those families and we definitely appreciate that. And understand based off of a lot of different scenarios that we tried to explore and a lot of different options and school options and buildings, we still kept coming back to the that as based off of wanting to make sure for location, capacity, and readiness and ability and considering the fiscal stewardship on what would need to be done to make it a viable option, we kept going back to Viola Gibson being the best intermediate school option for this area three. And then kind of to wrap it up a little bit before we have a few other people talking
072a little bit more detail. As a committee, obviously, we were tasked to take on the complex work for what is best for the district as a whole and we believe that this recommendation reflects that responsibility that was grounded in the care for all students with clarity in decision-making and strong communication. This recommendation supports both the school redesign and the boundary decisions that the board will be considering today. And we recognize the significance of this and we remain committed to supporting the work ahead. So, Jason made it very clear that we are not done and we are all going to be in this for the long run and we are all on board for that. This is not the end of the work, it's the beginning and at this time um we will transition for the
073staff to walk through the details of each component of our recommendation we just talked about. She makes me sound so mean. >> [laughter] >> We have enjoyed our time together, yes? Uh We're going to talk just a little bit about the feeder pattern and resident attendance boundaries in a little bit more depth, although I think we've gone through this a lot and I think the board members have a pretty good understanding of it. Um What we are looking at here is an opportunity to do something in our district that we have talked about for decades, but never had a way of doing and it what is I think most remarkable about the situation is we're doing it maybe under the duress of of finance, but it is ultimately going to result in a stronger district
074because what we will have is very clear feeder patterns that allows families to know exactly where their children will go to school each step of the way and those students will stay together each step of the way. In this scenario two, the biggest change from what we originally talked about was switching around a couple of the locations of some of our elementary schools. So, Harrison at Madison will shift to the Jefferson attendance area, Kenwood will shift to the Kennedy attendance area, and Wilson will become an elementary school and shift to the Washington attendance area. Again, when the consultants that we worked with did all of the number crunching, this particular scenario created the best balance amongst all of our feeder areas. It created the most balance amongst the high schools. It kept all of the
075high schools in about the same capacity in terms of percentage and allowed especially Washington High School to remain above 1,000 students in their residential area. So, this all of these things added up together to be the most beneficial scenario. But, as Jamie pointed out, we looked at dozens of different ways of doing this taking into consideration all of the feedback that we've received, and we had some very good conversations in our meetings that I don't think anyone really knew how they were going to end up. And in the end, we kept coming back to this was [music] the best way to align our schools for future success in the district and to set us up for that long-term planning process. One of the adjustments that we did recommend making due to reassessment of where a
076neighborhood was was the neighborhood of Valley High, which is in Hiawatha. And what we are going to recommend is that that neighborhood would move from Kenwood back to Hiawatha Elementary. That would actually create better enrollment balance between those elementary schools. It only changes by about 25 to 30 students, so it's not a major change. But, it also keeps more coherence in terms of those boundaries. So, the only adjustment that we did look at Now that we did agree upon was that one. All the other adjustments we again went back to and looked at all of the possible dominoes that fall when you do one or the other of those types of changes and determined that the best course was to remain with the scenario two boundary. So, when you look at that map, again reminding
077everyone that we are making a clockwise shift for the high school boundaries with parts of the blue Kenwood area now joining the area three Kennedy area. The Wilson area at the bottom, the purple, joining the Washington zone, and the upper part of the Harrison area there joining the Jefferson zone. And again, if you had asked us even a year ago if this was a possibility, something that could be done, I don't know that we would have really believed that it could be. But, as the numbers point out, it actually creates a great deal more balance for our district. It creates a long-term solution to a lot of our problems, and it reduces our costs substantially. When we look at the projections of students in the resident areas of our new elementary schools and those feeders,
078what we see is much greater balance. What we what we don't see is schools that will be highly over capacity, and we don't see students that will be completely underutilized. There is again no perfect solution. There is absolutely no way, as we've explored every possibility, of trying every school completely even in terms of numbers. It's just not possible with two factors. One, the geographic location of where our buildings are in relationship to where residents live. And two, the the balance of those locations amongst the areas. So, we we can't get to perfection, but we can get much much better, and we can be using our buildings in a much greater and much more efficient capacity. When we look at the middle schools and the high schools and the intermediate schools, again, these projections show that
079by 2030, we will see an average 83% usage in our intermediate buildings and an 83% usage in our middle school buildings. That is substantially better than what we are doing right now with our middle school buildings. And all of our high schools by 2030 will be at 66 to 67% capacity, which again allows for us to have greater balance amongst all of the schools and provides the room for growth that we're hoping to see down the road. When we looked at the board's requirements for what the work the spec team was doing, ultimately scenario two hit almost all of the marks. It it did ensure consistent student progression with the true feeders. It did create building locations in existence with the high school boundaries with some adjustments, and it did create much better enrollment balance
080than we have before. The only area where RSP told us the answer is no is the geographic proximity, but their explanation in reality is that is due to the Kennedy feeder area. We do not have the buildings in the area because they've never been built there to serve the number of students that exist in that area, especially in our far northern parts of the district. And so, down the road, as we look at that long-term planning, what this plan allows us to do is consider how we can look at future growth, future areas for potential construction to great create greater geographic proximity for all of the students in our district. But, for now, we can meet three of those four criteria with scenario two. No other scenario and no other plan allowed us to get
081even close to that. Now, the next question is going to be how are we going to get kids to their schools? And so, Scott and Chad are going to come up and talk to you a little bit about the impact of transportation. So, this is a kind of a big task to start to look at transportation and how the the boundaries and everything that's happening is impacting transportation. But, we are doing the work, and it's good work. The road map to making sure we can have balanced and the appropriate amount of transportation is threefold. First, we need to look at how many students are going to be bused. What are the routes? After we know the number of students that are going to be bused, we look at the what the routes are going to
082be. And then once we have the routes, we can take a look at the bell schedule. And can our current bell schedule accommodate those routes that we have created? So, I'm going to have Scott kind of go into a little bit more detail about how we determined the number of students that are impacted and the routes that are going to happen. Thanks, Chad. Scott Wing, transportation manager. So, now is the big task of getting all this new data and getting it into our software so we can start to analyze it and start to understand where our students are in relation to the new boundaries. So, the first point here is we use Routefinder, which is a Transfinder product, and it's a top three software in the I want to say the world. It does have
083AI capabilities to it, and we are building the boundaries and all of the attendance areas around the schools. And within that, we then break them down to what is required by law to transport students and what is not required by law, and then putting our rules like pay bussing in safe areas and things like that into the program and creating those boundary maps so that we can see then where the students lie and how many students there are in those boundaries, and then how then to go on to the next part, which is building the routes out so that we can understand how to support our students coming into those areas. The one thing we needed to figure out was who currently resides in those new boundaries. Then we also needed to figure out whether
084or not those students reside in those boundaries are going to be permitting out or going out through magnets, criteria, or other things. So, it's been kind of a puzzle to almost look at each student individually and say, right now this is where they attend because of permitting we anticipate they would stay at that building and a lot of that so that we can get a true feeling of how many students were actually going to impact on our new routes. Current riders and versus the projected riders. So, our current reality is that we transport almost 4,000 students in our district. That's 28% of our student population. So, we are this close to having our impacted students, but we ran out of internet today, so we weren't able to get that data. So, we were battling that
085a little bit. So, we we will have those numbers for you soon. But, the impact is how many students are in that boundary, and how many of those students are actually going to take the opportunity of bussing. So, we're going to figure that out here shortly. Once we have that, like we said, then we can start to build the routes. Typically, Scott, do you want to speak a little bit about the timeline that takes to build routes? Sure. So, usually we do this over a summer. We start in June, and we start building out routes for the fall. And we usually have about 2 and 1/2 months to do that. And with this advanced timeline, we're looking at probably 4 to 5 weeks or even sooner depending on how fast we can build this out.
086But, um you know, we we have to create each route, study the area that the route goes into, make sure that we're adhering to all the state law and code around student transportation, and it just it just takes a while to make sure we get it right. So, we we didn't feel like we wanted to rush to this and and and guess. We wanted to make sure that we're bringing you accurate information. So, we're going to pump the brakes and make sure we do it right. Pun not intended, to the brakes. Um, so we are currently looking at all that information and we're analyzing that. Once we have our routes built, then we can determine bell schedules and working with um those that are in the curriculum uh part of the district to really look
087at how we're going to run our buildings and and look at those bell schedules. So, that's kind of an update on transportation. It's an ongoing process, but we are looking forward to getting that work done. Good evening. I'm Sara Cruise, Executive Director of Special Services, and it's my great privilege to be able to speak with you a little bit tonight uh in terms of the impact on special education and how we look to reconfigure our programs. So, before I go into those details, I felt it appropriate to level set all of our working knowledge around our expectations around IEPs and and how we are required to follow them. So, first and foremost this evening, IEP decisions about special education services are not determined by a building, a program, or a district initiative. They are made
088by the Individualized Education Program, or IEP, that the team itself, and are based entirely on the unique needs of the student. That team is comprised of parents, general special education teachers, building admin or an LEA rep in our case, and when appropriate AEA or related service providers. And together, that team determines the services a student needs, the amount of specially designed instruction, and where those services can be delivered along the continuum from general education with supports to more specialized programming. All decisions must meet two key legal standards. They must provide a free and appropriate public education, or FAPE, and they must be provided in a least restrictive environment, meaning students are educated with their peers to the greatest extent appropriate. It's important to emphasize here that reconfiguration does not change this process at all. IEP
089teams will continue to make individualized student-centered decisions, and the district is responsible for ensuring those services are delivered as determined. Okay. In Iowa, special education services are delivered by teachers who hold specific endorsements known as Instructional Strategist 1 and Instructional Strategist 2. Instructional Strategist 1 teachers primarily serve students with mild to moderate disabilities. These are students who are typically able to access the general education environment with appropriate supports. It's common you'll see these services delivered through co-teaching, small group instruction, or targeted support within the classroom. In contrast, the strat Instructional Strategist 2 teachers serve students with more intensive or complex needs. This includes students who may require specialized instruction in addition to the strat ones, functional or life skills programming, or more intensive behavioral or academic supports. These endorsements are required in Iowa to ensure
090staff have the expertise to meet those varying levels of need. The important distinction to make here is not about location, it's about level of support required. So, a Strategist 1 focuses on access and support within the general education environment. Strategist 2 focuses on specialized and intensive programming. Both exist along a continuum, and the services and supports the student receives is always determined by the IEP team based on individual need, not by the structure of the building or district. You're picking up on a theme here, right? You will notice the designation of a Functional Communication Classroom, or an FCC, under the Strategist 2 column, right in the middle there. It is important to clarify here that this is not a new program, but rather a way to describe a service delivery model that already exists within
091our district. As we have reviewed student data, we are seeing an increased need in this area. So, in response, our focus is not on creating or labeling programs for groups of students, but rather on clearly identifying the instructional methodologies and supports required to meet the individual needs. In an ideal state, we do not place students in predefined programs. Instead, we begin with the student through the IEP process by identifying their unique strengths, needs, and goals, and from there we design and deliver services that align to those needs. At the same time, to provide effective and sustainable instruction, there is a need to intentionally group students with similar learning and supports needs together because this allows us to deliver specialized instruction more effectively, maximize our staff expertise, and create consistent and supportive learning environments. Importantly, these
092groupings are driven by shared instructional needs, not by labels or categories. The goal is to ensure that services are tailored to the student while also organizing our system in a way that allows us to deliver those services with quality, consistency, and efficiency. This approach keeps us aligned to providing a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. So, as we move through reconfiguration, the structure remains unchanged, but our ability to deliver these services consistently and effectively is strengthened. In our department, reviewing student needs and determining program needs across our district is actually a regular practice. This is a visual of our annual process for identifying student needs and aligning programming for the upcoming school year. This is a structured, multi-month process that ensures we are planning proactively, not reactively, and that decisions remain centered
093on individual student needs. So, you'll see here beginning in January and continuing to February, our teams begin reviewing current student data and projecting needs for the upcoming school year. This includes reviewing current IEPs and service minutes, monitoring student progress and emerging needs, identifying students transitioning between grade bands or buildings, and considering any anticipated changes in intensity of support. At this stage, the focus is on understanding who our students are and what they will need next year. As we move into February and March, we shift from projections to more defined planning. Teams work collaboratively to identify the types of programming required across the continuum of services, determining the levels of support included including the Strategist 1 and Strategist 2 services, review of staffing implications based on student need, and then beginning to align those supports within
094the MTSS uh framework. This ensures that programming decisions are driven by student need and not by existing structures or limitations. From March into April, we finalize where services will be delivered. This includes determining appropriate programming locations within each region or area, prioritizing student placement within their resident area as much as possible, ensuring access to the full continuum of services, aligning staffing and resources to to support those decisions, and coordinating with our friends in transportation to ensure those routes get our kids where we need them to be. And at this stage, we are ensuring the right services are in the right place with the right staff for the right students. So, overall, this annual process allows us to plan proactively for student needs, align programming and staffing effectively, and ensure that all services are ready in
095place at the start of the school year. But most importantly, it reinforces that all decisions remain individualized to the IEP process, they remain grounded in student need, and aligned to providing a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. This evening, I'd like to show you an example of of what some of those numbers might look like. There we go. So, if we are looking strictly at just this next year, and again, this is just exemplar, uh I'd like to walk you through our projected programming needs for the upcoming year. So, importantly, what I'm going to share reflects the same group of students and the same identified needs viewed through two different structures. This is uh our current model here, and then I'll show you a proposed reconfiguration model if we were to use
096the same number. This is the critical point I want to share with this group tonight, though. Student need does not change based on structure, only how we organize to meet that need. So, under our current structure, we take projected student needs and distribute services across a larger number of buildings, our full inventory. This often results in smaller pockets of programming across multiple sites, staff and resources spread across buildings, and increased variability in how services are delivered. While we are meeting student needs, the system can become at times fragmented, less consistent, and more difficult to sustain over time. If we take those same numbers and move them into a reconfiguration model, we can apply those same projected student needs um and see that uh what changes is not the number of students or their needs, but
097how we align our system to support them. So, within the PK-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-12 structure across three areas, we're able to consolidate programming within each area, align staffing more directly uh to service levels, and create stronger more consistent programming environments. So, same students, same needs, stronger alignment. The difference between the two models is in efficiency and consistency, not in the services. Under reconfiguration, we see reduced duplication of services, increased access to specialized expertise, more consistent delivery across buildings, stronger alignment to the continuum of services, and this allows us to better support both students and staff. From an MTSS framework uh standpoint, we can better align our tier one, two, and three supports, group specialists into collaborative teams, and ensure expertise is deployed where it has the greatest impact. This ultimately was one of the key
098recommendations that came out of our DM group outcomes. Even within this alignment, our priority remains serving students in their resident areas whenever possible, and it actually improves our ability to do this by building stronger programming within each area, reducing the need to travel across the district as much as possible and then allow our kids to transition with the same peers all the way across that graduation stage. So, when we look at projected programming needs across both models, the takeaway is this. We are serving the same students with the same identified needs, but reconfiguration allows us to do so in a way that is more consistent, more efficient, and more sustainable, and ultimately the strength strengthens our ability to deliver high-quality services across the district. We want to be very clear that that what you're seeing
099up here is not your um achieve level IEP expectation for a transition, but rather more specialized uh in anticipation of a of a change such as a reconfiguration. Um in this case, it would be an anticipatory plan for those students who may need it under the shift to reconfiguration. For many of our students, particularly those with autism, anxiety, or significant behavioral or medical needs, a building change can disrupt not only routines, but access to learning and regulation. Because of that, we are exploring structured individualized transition protocols across the district. First, every student with an IEP may have a transition plan embedded to their IEP or documented through team planning protocols. These plans are not generic. They are tailored to the students' disability-related needs and include specific supports for both academic and behavioral continuity. Second, we're
100prioritizing proactive exposure and familiarity. So, this may include multiple pre-visits to the new building, visual supports such as schedules, maps, and social narratives, and opportunities to meet key staff in advance. Third, we're working to ensure staff-to-staff transition alignment. Sending and receiving teams, including general education, special education, and EEA partners, will participate in structured handoff meetings. These are not informal conversations. They are designed to transfer critical knowledge about what works for each student. Fourth, we're maintaining programmatic continuity, not just placement. So, that means supports services follow the student. Intervention strategies, behavior plans, accommodations are implemented with fidelity on day one, ready to go. And we are not resetting student supports due to a building change. Fifth, we're considering gradual entry when needed. For some students, especially those with heightened anxiety or regulation needs, teams may implement
101phase transitions aligned to the IEP, ensuring stability before increasing demands. And finally, we will actively monitor the transition through short-cycle data review. Teams will meet early and often after the move to ensure students are adjusting and to make immediate adjustments if needed. The goal is not just to move students, it is to preserve stability, maintain progress, and ensure continued access to faith without disruption. I do want to be very direct about this next point there because it's important we all understand that students will not ever be placed in a less appropriate setting as a result of this plan. Programs will be implemented with full fidelity to IEP requirements, and the IEP team remains the sole decision-making body for student services as required under IDEA. This work is grounded in ensuring that we maintain compliance, protect
102student rights, and improve outcomes, not simply reorganize structures. And speaking of structures, this is our current departmental structure in special education serving all of our kids. And you'll see here that we have three area directors that are assigned to each of those feeder patterns. Uh you'll see that we have currently three ELSESCI coaches, and I say that because we are downsizing to two next year. Um we will continue to have our SDI coaches. We have three BCBAs, our registered behavior techs that work with them, and of course our Medicaid specialists. And I share this with you this evening to kind of show you first of all our entire structure, but also to reassure the community that this structure will not change in the restructuring of of how we shape our um buildings or however we
103decide to move forward under reconfiguration. Those pieces remain in place and secure. I'm going to take a break from my speaking because I have some friends with me this evening. Uh I'm very pleased to welcome Jenny Gable, elementary principal at Maple Grove, and Josiah Gilchrist, middle school principal at Taft, to share some of their thoughts and perspective around special education programming and reconfiguration. My name is Josiah Gilchrist. I'm principal at Taft Middle School. As a school leader, much of my time is spent working through the finer details of providing services for our special education students. Problem-solving has become second nature as it pertains to ensuring we provide the appropriate specially designed instruction in each student's least restrictive environment. In addition, my first 8 years as an educator was spent teaching a variety of special education
104classrooms. I understand firsthand how important it is to have resources available to support the needs uh of our special education students. Under the re-reconfiguration, I am excited that we will be able to pool our resources in order to best meet the needs of our students. I really do view this as an opportunity for our staff to come together, uh team in new ways, and provide higher levels of support for our students with special education services. Thank you. Hi, good evening. Jenny Gable, I'm the principal of Maple Grove. It's nice to see you again. Um unlike Josiah, I didn't start in uh a special education classroom. I was a general education teacher. And when I think about my trajectory as a principal and how I've learned a lot in that experience specific to special education, I
105think back to my time as a as a classroom teacher and how this work impacts the general education teachers as well. So, from that lens, I'm thinking about some of the great aspects of this consolidation for general education teachers and our staff. Uh the first really big aspect as a principal is thinking about hiring, finding the right the right candidates to match with students, and knowing that we have special programming um similar programming within the building so that we can look at staffing across the entire building. Whereas, if you have individual programs in the each have special nuances, it makes it a little bit complicated. I also think about the training aspects of that work. So, when you have in the example that Sarah gave in FCC classroom, functional communication classrooms, um there are specific
106training opportunities and nuances to that work as well that I think about how that would help when we're coaching and training our paraeducators and our teachers. And the professional learning we can provide not just to our special education staff, but also to our general education teachers where the students are integrating. So, we're talking about the same um techniques and specialized skills across the building, not just in one portion of the of the day. And then the other really big thing that Sarah touched on that I want to echo is the experience that the students are going to have as well, not just the students in the programming, but the students in general education. When we look at students transitioning from um classroom and class to classroom within a school, we have overlaps between students and
107their experiences. But when I think about going from the same um elementary into the same intermediate into the same middle school into the same high school, we're building relationships across the the totality of preschool through 12th grade, and that I think is really important, too. So, thank you for having us this evening. And I'm actually going to hand it off to my friends. I have Charlie and Steven coming to do their their part next. I believe that was it for our time. So, thank you all. Good evening, everyone. Charlie Getsinger, uh current principal at Wilson Middle School, uh also parent of two students in the district and soon-to-be third. Sorry, Jenny, get ready for that one. Um Also, my oldest will be one that will be in sixth grade if and when this um comes
108into play. Oh, we're good. We're good. All right. So, Steven and I actually get the opportunity to talk and kind of dream of like what could be with um the shift to the intermediate model. So, we're going to talk about programmatic access. That top part, just a repeat of what you saw before, our focus here is going to be on that intermediate and what that experience could look like and some of the offerings that we can have for our students. Looking at the proposed intermediate model, um it will establish clear PK through 12 feeder patterns for all comprehensive high schools, provides full-time specialist access for music, art, PE, nursing services across each of the grade level bands, supports developmental transitions with upper elementary, so 5-6 and junior high 7-8. It also will enable us to
109uh potentially have universal preschool access in every elementary building. So, why intermediate? The primary goal that we looked at and the thing that we kind of landed on is we want to look at how we create a safe ramp and not a cliff into middle school. Often times, students um and families are kind of hit by the um jump into independence for students and the lack of dependence on parents and sometimes teachers. So, looking at the dependent side, so shifted from single teacher and a contained classroom with exposure to specials to the independent side of multiple teachers in a larger system. So, we're looking at gradual transition for students. We're looking at guided independence and opportunities, relationships and the ability to develop relationships in those small learning communities, and extracurricular and fine arts exposure through
110things such as intramurals and consistent programming. Just to look again, repeat, we're looking at moving from elementary structures to the middle school independence and identity, establishing that bridge and not that cliff. So, what changes for students? Looking at the transition, um currently we've got elementary where we have students who have one main core teacher, again, exposure to specials. All the way then to the immediate transition to middle school where they have six to seven teachers. Uh that intermediate, what it's going to allow us to do is it's going to have a team of two teachers in the core areas, still exposure to specials, but looking at a gradual release to additional teachers and additional classrooms that they'd be going to. And also look at the students that they potentially transition to with each class. Again,
111in elementary school, you got a class let's say of 20, they're going to go to each of the specials with the same class, they're going to be in all of their classes all together with that 20. With the intermediate, we have some opportunities to expose them as they go to a fine arts or as they go to um uh band or show choir, they have an opportunity to be exposed to additional students that are in their grade level. Again, expanding their kind of network and building additional relationships, but not so many that in middle school, they've got six to seven um different classes with all different kids in each of their classes. The structure elementary, highly guided, one teacher kind of controlling um where the students go all the way to middle school where it's
112completely independent, the students essentially have free reign to make sure that they get to and from classes um and what classes they have. The intermediate, it'll be a little bit of guided independence, so we'll have a little bit more control over um the classes that those students will take. In terms of the schedule, in elementary, fixed schedule. Um in middle school, they go to a full schedule. Uh with the intermediate model, we have the opportunity to do a rotating schedule still. Uh they'll have exposure again to specials, uh potential flex time where they could get intramurals, they could be have exposure to clubs, intervention um have access to fine arts um and then the organization elementary school teacher managed organization, middle school, it's all student managed. The intermediate allows them to share um the organization
113and also looking at that uh transition for families. Again, elementary school, the teacher is the one telling uh the parents and letting the parents know uh what they're doing in class and what they should be doing at home. Middle school, it's all here kids, tell your parents what you're doing. The intermediate allows us to have that slow release of that shared responsibility between student and teacher. And then as far as identity, looking at elementary, it's really about the class community. Um yes, we build school-wide identity, but they really focus on that class community. The intermediate model will allow us to focus on those teams of teachers and of students, and then um middle school eventually would be then that real heavy focus on that personal identity, figuring out who they are and what's what their
114passions are, what's important to them as they transition to high school. All right. Stephen Robert, I'm the principal over at Hiawatha Elementary. So, uh when we were asked to go over there and look, we toured an intermediate school. We were asked to look at it through the lens of our own experience. So, as an elementary principal, I was looking at it and I noticed right away that they did a nice job of making a big school feel small. So, if you think about it, I think they had about 540 kids over there, so you have 270 each grade. Each grade then was divided into three houses. So, instead of being one of 540, you were one of maybe 90 in a house. And then even further within that house, it was divided into two teams.
115So, it gave you an opportunity have a small tight-knit community. It also gave an opportunity for staff to be able to be really connected with the kids and design interventions that were necessary to give kids what they need as well as being consistent around communication as a team. All right. Here we go. So I had mentioned before that each house is divided into two teams. And then each team had two teachers to teach the core courses here and you can see them up here. You can see that we have literacy, ELA, social studies taught by one teacher, and then the uh the other STEM, science and and math. I think what's important here is this gave the opportunity for kids to have the responsibility to manage materials and get to know uh how to adapt
116to different teachers without having to do it with six of them. It was only two. And I guess one other thing that I would mention that I forgot to mention on the last slide was is that uh they did a really nice job of having each house almost cocooned. So, that way the kids really got that was physically set up so that the the staff that met the needs of that house, they were in kind of in their own separate area. And yes, they got to see other houses at lunch or or recess as we'll talk about here in a little bit. But, I think it really gives an opportunity for that relationship building that we want. Okay. Now we do have opportunities for kids to, you know, leave those houses and and get to
117experience a number of different things. Uh and Charlie, jump in here if I if I forget something, but one of the blocks in the day is kind of an elementary looking block where there's art, music, and PE. And then the other one uh would have an opportunity that would have things that maybe you would see at a middle school. And give them an opportunity experience those whether it was orchestra, band, uh in a little bit we're going to see uh some things about some clubs that they were able to to be a part of as well. And this gives them an opportunity to, you know, dip their toe into different things that they might be interested in uh and maybe identify some passions that they otherwise would not have uh been able to uh it
118be able to experience. So, one thing we'd say here is that this is an opportunity for there to be a bridge. You know, we're using metaphors like bridges and ramps and things like that. This this is a situation in which these kids will get to experience uh leadership and clubs in a in a new way, intramurals uh while still uh having close relationships with a small number uh of teachers. And just in closing, this is reiteration of something uh from earlier this this uh in our presentation. Uh some of the benefits of the intermediate model is is that you take kids that are used to being with a uh one teacher all day long with the exception of, you know, art, music, PE. And you're allowing them to uh get used to all the transitions
119that they're going to do in middle school, but just in a progressive sense uh that they're going to get to do it in in kind of a half step between the two. While still maintaining those maintaining those relationships that we know are so important still giving them opportunities to experience uh programming that uh we know our our families want them to experience. All right. I'm Mark Timmerman, Chief of Schools for Area 3. And uh one of the responsibilities of the area chiefs is to review and approve permits in the permitting process. And so, in collaboration with our executive cabinet, executive directors, and SPED team, we wanted to offer an early choice option um that's flexible and not rigid and um help whatever is best for families at this time through transition. And so, offer choice
120if that's possible. And so, we have an early choice window and option for permits that will be opening soon um based on the decision tonight. Um the early choice window would be open from April 28th through May 15th, and that would allow families that are impacted by boundary changes school closures, or just um wanting to make sure they are in their neighborhood residence if as schools change from areas um to apply for a permit, it would allow them to go to those schools. Um we also have created a district standard operating procedure to guide that so we are consistent now and in the future if we were to use this in the future. Um the enrollment timeline for this um proposal would begin uh the 2026-2027 school year, which is next school year. So, they
121would have the opportunity to um move to a school that they may end up in eventually, so it reduces transitions potentially. As you can see on the uh numbered section of this slide on the right, that's the long-term um choosing Sierra CSD plan, and that early choice permit is in the top part of this uh timeline. And then moving on, um we did run this um idea through our change management process. Um in the change management system, um anybody can rank any type of change on a scale of one to four, and this uh scored a 3.06. And you can see like most of the responses um were favorable. Um the benefits were just reduced reduced transitions for students, uh which we know is best, and then having families given the opportunity to have some
122control over where their family will attend school and not have to just follow um decisions about boundaries. And so, if they think their their children would go to a school in a different place, we want to honor that to the degree we can. Um of course, we have to consider staffing and capacity at each school and grade level when we are considering that. And so, as you see, um there were benefits, and that was the key point of feedback from our our stakeholders. And number two and three talked uh the concerns were about capacity and overcrowding, but we have a staffing model that attends to that. So, we would not break those rules to make um these decisions. And so, also, that tells us how much staff we um need to allocate to any school.
123And as chiefs and our executive cabinet, we review both um enrollment and um future enrollment for the next year all the way from starting in May all the way through the summer to make sure that we are appropriately staffed and not overcrowding schools. So, um again, the feedback was positive, and I think the changes we're making to our permit process attend any concerns that were voiced. So, that's that. So, now we'll talk about the impact and fiscal stewardship. Okay. Chad's back there. So, we'll talk about annual cost savings and the first thing we'll talk about is operational cost and these are cost uh for buildings and facility expenses that include things like electricity, work orders, custodial supplies. So, over to your um right-hand side in the box, you'll see our uh savings uh by the
124school that were uh up up that it's up for closure. And um these calculations are of the true operational savings based on our current expenditures. As you'll notice um the top five are significantly higher than the bottom one and it's because Truman is truly not a full elementary school. So, the operational um savings are less. But, in operational savings, we have about 1.3 million dollars. And then um the model that we're proposing for staffing uh includes increased support for our staff and our students. So, uh the model that we're working with has uh increased support staff. It has um increased specials and exploratory staff for our intermediate model. It includes secretarial staff adjustments, but it maintains the current student to teacher ratios that we currently have. So, if you look over below the left-hand or
125the right-hand box on the staffing adjustment, it's a little over 3.7 million dollars uh in staffing and um the total of the 1.3 and the 3.7 is a little over 5 million dollars. This is net savings after uh certain adjustments for increased support are included. So, as we move forward, the district will continue to look at the options and opportunities uh based on program changes to uh strengthen uh the model for um savings and uh increased uh impact. And as Carla has spoke about annual savings, we know that there are going to be some one-time upfront cost to making sure buildings are ready to go um for some of these changes. Um and in order for us to understand what those changes to buildings are, we went through a a series of different things to
126evaluate our buildings. First, we looked at programming and what are appropriate spaces for a 5-6 building, what are appropriate spaces um that we can we have now and what do we need to do to modify those spaces to make them ready for students. We also needed to take a look at what are the needs versus the wants and making sure that we invest um the right amount of money, but um we don't go overboard with that investment. We took a look at our buildings by doing many walk-throughs with different groups and uh really visited our buildings and made sure we took a look at those buildings. We reviewed those buildings for future work as well. We also understand that um some of these one-time investments that we will make to these buildings, there's are other
127things that we need to do to our buildings that would remain in our inventory as well. We also brought in professional consultants, architect of record Solomon and Lang, uh construction professionals and and leaned on them and as well as vendors like uh playground vendors and others to get a gauge of what the cost would be for us to make some of these modifications. And we took a school visit to a neighboring 5-6 building to compare what they have and what would would be appropriate spaces for those buildings. Some of the things that we came up with uh well, first off, the funding source. Um we know that this money would come from Pebble. We receive about approximately 12 million dollars a year in Pebble um revenue. Uh we typically are designated about 9 million of
128that to projects that we uh do across the district. Projects that keep our buildings warm, safe, and dry. Um and this year, this fiscal year, we paired that back to 4 and 1/2 million dollars worth of Pebble projects to make sure that we had some reserves in in the need for these projects that were coming up. So, right now in Pebble, we have approximately 16 million dollars worth of re- uh savings there waiting for us to be able to do um these renovations. And right now this year, we're looking at uh possibly 3 and 1/2 million dollars worth of renovations to buildings to get them ready for the 5-6 model. Possible modifications to Viola Gibson, we obviously know that we need to do some restroom modifications. Um the building is outfitted on the first floor
129with uh smaller toilets for the littles and so we need to make sure that we modify those to appropriate size toilets. We'd also uh recommend bringing those restrooms out into the hallway um so that they're not in the classroom so that there's more privacy for students that need to go to the restroom um and so that they'd be accessed by the entire hallway. Uh we'd also take out the little restrooms in other classrooms and remove those as well. Um we'd create an orchestra band room by taking two classrooms, removing a wall in the middle, and making that into a bigger space for an orchestra band room. And we'd take a look at replacing the ceiling tiles and possibly some lights uh for upgrades to LED lighting. The approximate cost for that is about 250,000 to
130400,000 dollars of upgrades. In Franklin, Roosevelt, and Wilson, we know that we want to make sure we focus on the classroom because most of our kids' time is in the classroom. So, we have dedicated about a million dollars to each building uh focusing on consistent and uh flooring across all classrooms, making sure that the teaching wall, the technology wall is consistent with other buildings across the district, and also upgrading ceiling tiles and possibly lights in those classrooms as well. We know that we would need to add playground equipment to the 5-6 buildings as well as looking at upgrading playgrounds at Wilson Elementary. Um if if there was money that was remaining, we would then look at hallway lights and ceiling tiles to upgrade the lighting in in the hallways. So, that's uh approximately 3 and
1311/2 million dollars of renovations to those buildings to get them ready for a 5-6 model. And now I think Jamie and Lori are going to take us home. Thank you. Uh we just like to take a moment to thank uh the staff, uh not only those that uh have been here today, uh but those that have been supporting us through the SPAC committee, all of the information and inputs and um kind of thought-provoking questions, um along with uh staff across the district uh who have provided input, uh who have uh really helped um and expertise and helped uh lead through change. We understand that this has uh uh been a challenging time. Uh it's also an exciting time and I hope that um at least one thing, there are many things to take away from
132this, but at least one thing um that I know I've had a greater appreciation for. I I have a great appreciation for our teachers and our our staff, our team across the district. It's not an easy job, but um I hope everyone um sees the amount of care and thoughtfulness and expertise that uh the Cedar Rapids district staff across the district brings uh for the care of our students uh in our communities. Yeah, we know um this is a lot of information which uh for the community as well and it is a very big decision and sometimes does feel fast um and we even as a group actually considered, do we ask for a little more time? You know, um but ultimately, we discussed it a lot and looked at what options what else would
133we be looking at and what would what would be the reasoning to slow it down and ultimately decided we felt confident in the all the options that we considered and more we would just be making families and teachers more concerned about what the next step is. Um so, we came back and felt really secure with our our recommendation. So, that recommendation is which includes the district-wide intermediate model, true feeder patterns, and strategic consolidation and reconfiguration of buildings um as part of the redesign um as well as boundary scenario two to support a better balanced enrollment across the district. Thank you very much. All right. Um I'm just trying to note I have Director Byers dialed in here and I'm going to try to pay attention to when she has questions, too, but um do we
134have questions from from the board? I just had a couple quick things. I I spent my last couple of days with emails trying to write down things just to make sure that we are addressing those. And again, a lot of cases, we've heard this, but uh and a lot of times it was covered tonight. So, thank you for that very uh in-depth uh presentation. But, I I just um just to make sure that that we have all of that. I uh Chad, I wanted to just ask a quick question if and uh so you know, so a number of us on the board had a chance to go visit Viola Gibson and take a look at that. You said bring the bathrooms out into a hallway. Are you are is that mean we're opening the
135doors to the hallway and kind of sealing off the ones that go into the room there on the first floor? Can you talk a little bit more More that just so I understand? Yep, absolutely. So, right now inside the classroom there is individual bathrooms within the classroom on the main floor. On the second floor there are more traditional bathrooms where there's a door in the hallway and then kiddos can go in there and there's several stalls and for those students in there. We would emulate what's on the second floor onto the first floor and basically build the wall inside the classroom and then open those up on in the corridor. And then the lockers have come up a lot, too. And then we didn't talk about that tonight. Can you talk about the lockers and
136what you've heard about that? >> Yeah, so on our tour of another 5-6 building in the area we were looking at the locker sizes in those buildings and the blue lockers on the main floor at Viola Gibson were the same size as the lockers that are in the a newly built 5-6 building in this area. So, we feel confident that those lockers would be appropriate for our fifth graders who would potentially be on that first floor. Thank you. And then I I know one of the other things that's come up is this the performance spaces and what's available and and again, you know, I would guess when you visited the other intermediates did they have like a auditorium or that sort of thing or how does that work in other schools? I know some of
137ours would because of their historical nature as a high school. Sure. So, on our tours and with our discussions with other districts, their 5-6 buildings were built recently without an auditorium in those buildings and without a stage in those buildings as well. Any performances that take place in a 5-6 building in those districts would take place in the gymnasium as well as they take advantage of the auditorium space at the high schools. In fact, they talked a lot about the benefits of having fifth graders and sixth graders partnering with high school performances so they could they can see what their future performances would be like at the high school level. So, taking advantage of the auditorium space but also taking advantage of that vertical articulation from little fifth and sixth grade starting out in with
138their instruments and seeing what it would be like as a as a high school with that same instrument. And then also with the 7-8 buildings, they also do not have auditoriums in the 7-8 buildings in those buildings. One of them has a stage in the gymnasium that isn't utilized according to what they've told us but they do not have auditoriums in in the 7-8 buildings as well. Thank you. And then Carla, I just wanted to make sure I understood the numbers that you shared that with the staffing adjustment because we talked about the operational costs and staffing costs and then you talked about the increased support and you know, all this. So, this is a staff adjustment number, the the $3.7 million is that before we would add in those supports or is that after
139we've added those supports? >> It's after. It's after. And we are still like transportation, we're still working on the staffing model. So, we will have final numbers um once we get better enrollment and where that enrollment is going to across the district and to what buildings. Also looking at what do we need for exploratory staff in our middle schools in our 7th and 8th. What do we need for media support? So, wrapping that all into a comprehensive plan for staffing across the district. Thank you. Mhm. Go ahead. I have a question just going back to the scenario two projection slide that has all of the percentage at capacity. Yeah, I think Jason that was you. It looks like Wilson hovers right around 50% and to the point that Carla was just talking about, I'm curious
140the operational cost of Wilson versus maintaining Grant for example. And then also did you consider that on spec when looking at these numbers? We looked at and I'll Chad might be able to speak to it in more depth. We looked at all of these schools in terms of both the capacities but also the operational costs and there are some schools that operationally might have been maybe a larger capacity but cost-wise was more significant and so that's why ultimately, if you remember back when we first started this process, when we started identifying those schools, that was the first criteria that we were using was which ones are going to save us the money and then also where are they located because again, the locations of our buildings are part of the problem that kind of got
141us to where we are today. And so that that speaks to specifically Wilson, I don't know that I can say, I don't know if Chad knows off the top of his head like the cost of Grant versus Wilson but closing Wilson was not something that we had really discussed in depth as we've gone through this process. I'm just curious about the savings compared to keeping Grant open which is I know none of our schools are well, we have some new schools but a lot of our schools are not new but Grant is newer than Wilson. >> Sure. So, a couple things to think about there, too, is that by utilizing Wilson, we are able to bring two elementaries together and so we're actually saving over two buildings and and not just the comparison between Grant
142and Wilson because Grant and CRA would become into Wilson. The boundaries are kind of drawn differently but that's essentially what's happening is we're able to kind of uh achieve savings over two elementaries. So, I don't have that number off top of my head. I can definitely dig into that on my phone here while we're other questions are being asked and see if I can get that to that exact number but we're we're definitely seeing a bigger savings by utilizing Wilson for sure. Even though it's at 50% capacity? The projected capacity, I would say yes because of the again, the kind of that two for one savings. But I'll dig into that number for you for sure. One little comment on that and that's not it doesn't have to do anything with capacity specifically but and
143although that wasn't brought as a complete discussion, I think Wilson was one of those schools that was really fought for for the community to stay open as a school that they did not want to see closed due to the history of it. So, I think part of the original plan was how much the community talked about keeping our original seven Don't quote me. Historical buildings. >> Yes, thank you. Okay. So, I do know that that was a piece as well as the historical buildings. Go ahead, Director Garlic. Yeah, I have just a quick question about permits. It looks like if the board approves this recommendation tonight that the window opens tomorrow. If I'm a parent in the community sitting at home watching this right now, what should they do tomorrow? I think the first thing
144we would do is we work with our communication department to get a comprehensive communication out to families so they know that it's now opened up and they would have that opportunity. So, that would be the first thing and then once that is communicated to them, then we'd start monitoring that for the three weeks and our other permit process is on pause while we look and see like how families want to make choices about what school their kids attend. So, this window will remain open and no decisions will be made until the window closes. Right, because we have to find out how many families actually want to move and where are they moving and then do we have staff in place, do we have capacity, those kind of things. So, I just want the community to
145know they don't need to get up first thing in the morning and get their permit in there. Right, yeah. Because the window will remain open. >> It is not first come, first serve. We're taking names and then we're going to analyze the criteria. I can add one level of detail to that that our communications team and our data team, our registration team are working on sending out a pre-populated form that we can send through campus that lets people know here's your student's name, here's your current school. If you want to stay there, no action is needed. If you and then it kind of goes through that so that everyone will will receive that. Directors and I have some information for you. So, um with gas, electricity, water, alarm monitoring, all the things for operational cost,
146right now Grant's total amounts per year is about $215,000 and then CRA at Taylor is about $147,000. Wilson Middle School right now is $180,000. Yep. Thank you. Director Burns. Yeah, thanks. I just I think this presentation was well done tonight. I also just think that this is an opportunity for maybe me to just also elaborate a little bit on some of the experiences that I've had this week. So, I had the opportunity to visit a couple of schools including Viola Gibson and Franklin with Chad Schumacher and Chris Gates and we had a couple of other board members with us as well and though I'm not an architect of any type and I spent a lot of time this weekend labeling everything which I'm realizing I should have done while we were walking but it was
147really quite nice to walk around these the buildings and get kind of a sense of the vision. Just how these houses or these teams might function in reality. One of the things, I think the biggest takeaway for me was just that understanding it has been the situation that's going on on Viola Gibson, we've been hearing lots from families and um I was just very um intrigued to visit and just to make sure that we were actually making the uh the right decision with the information that we needed. Um and I was really surprised and pleased, I guess, to learn um that in reality of the two schools that we visited, Viola Gibson is almost better equipped for this transition to the intermediate model than, say, Franklin, um which I also visited. Um I just thought
148that was some really interesting insight when we look and we compare cafeteria sizes and gym sizes. There are places where um it's smaller at one school, larger in another, um but the difference isn't as maybe big as we think it is in many of those aspects. I was also um encouraged to learn just with the band and orchestra space. That's something I've been hearing a lot about, too. Um that there is potential there to have that conversation about that sound barrier. And I did have the opportunity to ask um Jay Richardson, the principal of Franklin, um about their own band room. And he was talking to us about um how it's located kind of centrally, but there that noise does still radiate. Um and so those are just all things I'm excited also about the
149renovations um at, you know, these newer schools at these older schools like Franklin. And I think that um there's some real opportunity in there to throw this 3 and 1/2 million in and make some good change for the community. Do you have any other questions or comments from the board? Yes, go ahead. I have a question about transportation. And I know you said there were no um there you are, Scott. Um that there were no uh you guys you couldn't figure that out for tonight, which is okay. I just wonder if you had any idea, are there trouble spots? Are there pain points that we can predict around our community? Get the crystal ball out here. Um so some of the challenges that we're going to be faced with is that bigger attendance area for
150the 5-6 and the 7-8. And I >> [laughter] >> as as I think about how we'll tackle that and figure that out, it I I go back to when we were in COVID and we had 114 bus drivers. We had 93 routes back then. And when we came back to school that fall after the derecho, I had 61 drivers left. And we figured it out. And a lot of it was that Kennedy attendance area, that area three, we took that and said, "How can we approach this completely different? This is our area of opportunity." So we came in with 15 routes servicing both schools and we're basically traveling over the same distances in the same area that we overlaid some of the routes. We're able to accomplish that by combining routes and having Harding Kennedy
151routes. Well, it with the bigger feeder areas, with the 5-6s and the 7-8s, uh essentially you're probably looking at instead of a 6-12 route system like we do at Kennedy now and Harding now, it would be a 5-12 and approaching it that way. So there's definitely some our areas of opportunity to figure out and we've got a lot of work to do on that, but I've got some pretty good ideas on how we're going to accomplish that. Um Director Byers has three questions and we're just going to Oh, do you have something else to add? I just wanted to add, too, that there is potential for us to gain some routes back, too, depending on how special education is set up. Uh with having true feeder systems, if we're able to recapture some of our
152program in each of our areas, then we're not um necessarily going throughout the whole district to uh um collect our kiddos to go to one school for a program. So depending on how that all falls out, we might have some uh benefit there as well. Thank you. All right, we're going to try this and see if we can hear Director Byers. Go ahead. Go ahead. Okay, uh can you hear me, okay? Say it again. Can you hear me now? Yep. Okay. Can you hear me now? All right. Um so thank thanks to everyone for a very thorough presentation and uh Scott and Chad, I appreciate that deeper dive into transportation logistics and the um projections and planning. I know there's been a lot of uh concern around cost, capacity, timelines, and such for Viola Gibson.
153So um you know, among families and whatnot, that thanks for diving deeper. Um that said, we So we don't have, for want of a full scope renovation cost for Gibson, only sort of estimates. And uh maybe you covered this and it was lost in translation, but I see Gibson's projection, you know, almost significantly lower, less than half of what uh Franklin, Roosevelt, and Wilson are costing. So um can you Can you clarify that difference? And then um just making sure we So we can we can understand the total financial commitment. When should we anticipate seeing the full scope renovation costs for Gibson? So um the the scope that we kind of lay out tonight is is pretty much the full scope of what we would want to do as far as uh needs to happen.
154Uh there may be some wants that we want to do, but we can always talk about that at a later time. The the major difference between uh the three older buildings and Viola Gibson is the majority of the classrooms at Viola Gibson are move-in ready. Uh when we start to talk about Franklin, Wilson, and um Roosevelt, thank you. Uh we're looking at trying to make sure that all the 24 classrooms within that building are at the same level of um readiness for those kiddos. So we're talking flooring in every classroom, we're talking ceiling in every classroom, we're talking teaching wall in every classroom. We don't have to do that within Viola Gibson. Most of the rooms at Viola Gibson are move-in ready. So that's kind of why you see that difference um in cost. Okay.
155Um and then since uh similar, but in it was brought up last time, ELSC was identified as a potential student space um at our last meeting. So I know there's been a lot of back and forth there in conversation investigating. Can you walk us through, you know, how that option was evaluated? And then um in comparison to Viola Gibson in terms of cost and um feasibility. Sure. So um we figure about um $250 to $350 per square foot for renovation cost. So when you do the the rough math here, um that kind of fell out to be about uh 30 to 40 million dollars of renovation cost to this building, the ELSC. Um and so the the the first um hurdle in that is that the we don't have that kind of funding right now
156in our um savings. So we would have to probably go out to a bond to be able to do that. And also if we're going to invest uh that significant significant amount of money into uh renovation, would we just turn around and talk about maybe doing a new build instead of that? So that's a basic um high-level answer. There's a lot more um detail to that, but I can go into that if you would like, but that's the basic um answer. Yeah, I I know we have some detail charted out. Maybe that's something we can add to our FAQ page. Um but I just wanted to give that, you know, clarity to the community. And um actually sort of in that You can stay up there, Chad, because The thing that Uh Principal Klein mentioned
157that scenario two didn't hit the geographic proximity goal. Um and that's due to just location of current facilities in area three. So um can you speak to, you know, the land that we own on this side of on that side of town? Can you offer context on um maybe like a longer-term plan for that property, how that connects to the decisions we're making tonight? Um just as a board member, helpful to see the fuller picture about how the how all the pieces fit together long-term. Yep. So obviously we haven't um convened a um long-term facilities uh committee or anything of that nature, but we do know that we have some land on this side of town that would be a potential spot for either uh an elementary building or possibly a intermediate or middle school
158building uh to um offset the lack of buildings on this side of town. Um and so that uh allows us to plan for the future for this side of town, as well as looking at our other needs. Um we know that all of our buildings across the dis Not all of our buildings, but many of our buildings across the district need some upgrades. Um we have buildings with window air conditioners. And we have buildings that just aren't big enough for some of the uh kiddos that would maybe potentially in the future as we grow again. Um so we do need to have a long a bigger conversation about long-term um facilities planning, but we definitely are poised to be able to um have something on this side of town in the future because of that
159uh uh possibility. Does that answer your question? Yep. Yep. Thank you, I appreciate that. Was that your three? Or I lost track. Was that two or three? Well, I came up with another on the spot, but you don't have to ask another board member if there's others. Okay. No, everybody says keep going. Okay. All right. Um so uh two-part question. So we've um you know, we've talked a lot about these major shifts, right? Closures, boundaries, preschool, new model, all the things. Um I'm I guess I'm just thinking about the execution of the plan. So um kind of two parts. Can we speak to like contingency planning that's been done if challenges arise, you know, as we implement? And I'm just thinking from a board perspective, uh what flexibility does the board have after the vote
160tonight if we needed to pause, adjust, or um you know, do something differently? So uh you know, I guess is it locking it in tonight? Does this vote totally lock it in uh or does to the full plan as proposed? Is there any level of flexibility if we are having strain on implementation? Caitlin, can I build upon that question? Yep. With another question a little bit. Um I I guess and I'm going to echo Caitlin or excuse me, Director Byers' sentiments, um and just question, are we maybe biting off more than we can chew for 27-28 implementation? I just think a lot of this, you know, starting preschool at new schools, closing schools, merging schools, starting an intermediate model, a lot of that's going to fall on our teachers. And I that which which worries
161me. We want to take care of them and make sure that they feel ready for all of these, and that, you know, that our families feel like, "Okay, we're going to do this well." So, I'm just curious. I know we started this conversation with financial the financial burden. And my curiosity, and sorry, Director Byers, if I stole some some of your thoughts, but um is if we could get the financial benefits, close the buildings that we decide tonight as a board, we've heard from the community what needs to be closed, what would position us to be to be better off. If we could do that for a 27-28 rollout, and potentially pause other implementation until gosh, what? 28-29 school year. So, we can do this well. That's my concern. I also see Viola Gibson, and
162I know it's it's our only school on the geographic northwest corner. If you look at our map, it's the only there, and that's an area that's growing, and that's an area that KCUR just reported there's an elementary charter going in down the road. I just want to be wise to our, you know, our strategic long-term vision. And I would just want to be aware, and I wonder if if we did pause that, could we potentially get a bond, get our Area 3 community behind it, and then we would be ready. We would have a purpose-built intermediate school, and we'd still have an elementary that we need. That's what I've been wrestling with. Very very legitimate questions. Um I try to capture everything. There's a lot there. The first thing I'd say is when it we
163talk about our staff ready, we we remind ourselves that when we put this to the staff, 73% of our staff favored this particular model and this change happening. And I don't know if you've seen surveys from other staff at things, 73% is pretty good. Um to get that kind of response from staff, and then also the community and families was probably the most telling part of this. Is that we're looking for this kind of change. I'll say in terms of the timeline, the principals, when we talked about doing this back in November and December, we were ready to go for next school year if we could get this done. We we had really planned out how we could do this if we had to in the course of 4 months to get ready. It would
164have been very difficult, but I think having that full school year to to do this is is more than doable in terms of thinking about how we make it happen and getting the plans put in place. But one of the things the spec team talked about was as we talked about delaying or we talked about a phased rollout like you like you speak to in terms of Area 3, um we kept coming back to the problem of it leaves either one area or several areas completely untouched and thus not getting the benefits of the changes that we're talking about. But more importantly, it creates greater amounts of uncertainty for our families and for our staff because if we keep saying, "Well, we're going to we'll get to this, we'll get to this, we'll get to
165this." That's where we are now because we've been doing that for two or three decades trying to figure out how to realign this district. So, um we want we felt as as a spec group, but I think the conversation eventually got to this point where we said, "We can't keep delaying the the inevitable here. We've got to get to an answer, either a yes or a no, because we've got to find a way to give answers to our family so they know where they're going." And you talk about the charters that are opening, the the last thing that I think we would want to have, this is my personal opinion, is um uncertainty about what we're doing while those schools are opening. I would much rather have certainty about what we're doing so families know
166what's going to be happening so that they can make good decisions and choose us ultimately because ultimately our parents are telling us that they want these things. They want the fine arts, they want the extra curricula. They want to have that intermediate system. So, I think we have the opportunity to give them that before we run into that that choice issue. And I definitely see the benefits and I appreciate all the presenters tonight. You sold the intermediate model very well, and I'm excited. My son will be at Franklin someday. So, but I'm I'm I'm not saying that we throw out that work. I say I'm just suggesting that we maybe pause and just make sure that our implementation is done really well and very thoughtfully. But I also, again, I just go back to, you
167know, Viola Gibson is an elementary school there, and we could still provide an elementary school there. And so, my question is did spec ever consider any options with Viola Gibson still as an elementary school? Yes, at our last meeting we focused on several of those options that were discussed, including that phased rollout where Viola Gibson might even stay as an elementary, and we, again, like you mentioned, go for a bond. But thinking about that long-term, well, one, you'd be talking about keeping that system in place for at least 4 years because the earliest we would probably be able to go for a bond would be next election cycle. And then you're talking about 2 and 1/2 years of buildout to get a school built. Um if the bond were to pass, and so there was
168just the spec team ultimately came back to there was just too much uncertainty about what could happen, whereas we can make the changes now that we need to make to give everybody the access across the district. That's ultimately how we landed, but I'll say that the last meeting we had was one where we probably had the most conversation about all these different possibilities, these rollouts, and and and different options. Yeah, I figured I could I can just talk a few things, too. So, this was a big topic, actually. Most of our conversation was, "What else? What else? What else? Is there anything else?" And ultimately, one of the topics was the only other option that seemed even feasible was the Roosevelt option that was discussed in the first option, which seemed to parents did not,
169and it did not fit where it was in Area We also had a very um because we thought about, "Okay, do you again roll it out slower where you do maybe Area 3 separately?" Or because we don't have the building space. So, that was strongly considered. "What about this building? What about this building? What about this building? Chad, what about this building?" You know, and like going over all the configurations. Um and we did have um at least one spec member that's basically was like, "I came in here basically saying there's no way we're going to do this to Viola Gibson, and I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen." And then at the end was like, "No, this is the best thing for us now." And it feels short-sighted in certain ways, or that's
170how what we were concerned about is, "Well, then what happens in 3 years or 5 years?" But ultimately, when you look at can we wait a few years, realistically, by the time you get those buildings built, it will be 5 to 10 years, and then that is such a gap. And and so, can we make that decision now and then start that future planning to go, "Here's our situation, and then this is how we continue to build upon that area better." So, that was where we ended up coming to that resolution cuz we felt like every turn we took, we would go, "How about that building? How about this building?" And without significant dollars, like, you know, 20 million here or X amount at a different building, or maybe it just literally didn't have the
171size unless we were going to double the size of that building location, we couldn't seem to find another option, and that felt uh the strongest. Yeah. I think another point to that, we did talk about um >> hold on just a moment? >> Yep. Hold on 1 second. Go ahead, Lori. We also, kind of to that point also, we talked about kind of getting through this phase, um and then kind of from there, kind of given what we know about where the gaps are in the areas that that gives a greater emphasis, a greater momentum towards bonds in the future. Charlie, can you wait 1 moment? I think Director Byers had something to add. One. Yeah, thank you. I And I thank you for jumping in, Laura. I think we're kind of in the same
172thinking here. We've been doing everything we've been doing this year is new. We don't have a play playbook for this decision-making, and we've never had this many changes at once. So, I really just want to make sure I fully understand the level of flexibility like the board has when it comes to factoring any sort of risk. So, like another major storm or major enrollment loss that we hadn't anticipated. So, since Laura brought up preschool implementation as an example, let's say keeping Truman Early Learning Center open for additional year, if that wasn't, you know, at that time critical to achieving our goals for 27-28, could could that type of step, if we were having implementation strain, could that type of step be delayed to address the strain? Or again, does this vote tonight effectively commit every
173us to the full plan as proposed today? Charlie, did you have something to Not on that point. >> [laughter] >> Sorry, regarding the flexibility. Right. Okay. Just as a board, some of the mechanisms we have or the levers that we have to pull, let's let's say like the Director Byers said, another God forbid derecho or something like that or a flood. Um we always have that type of flexibility. We're the governing body here. So, um I do believe we have that type of flexibility should the need arise, should we hit a major stumbling block. Um we're we're committing to a plan here, but we all know that sometimes plans change. And as I always say, we make plans and God laughs sometimes. I think uh so one thing that I get nervous about and um
174we talked about it at the spec committee is looking at kind of a phase approach, especially with that area three. Um there's going to be a significant number of students and families that um we're not sure what that impact's going to be. I'm going to take my own family for example. My kids are Maple Grove, Taft, Kennedy right now. Um If under the new proposal it'd be Maple Grove, Viola, Gibson, um Harding, Kennedy. If area three doesn't move forward with the intermediate and every other area does, what area do my kids fall in? And they're going to be one of many students that are on that boundary. Every school that you look at that splits like this in our current model is going to have a significant number of students that are going to be
175uh Well, how are we going to figure out where and how we decide where these kids are going to go where this is pretty clear path. I think the other thing that we discuss as a spec committee is looking at um changes to make or to Viola Gibson as we look at the the um cost of making those changes and what if we were to pursue a bond for an intermediate that I believe Jason alluded to. The changes that are being made at Viola Gibson would be changes that we're making similar to um new construction at the elementary levels right now that while not ideal to switch and switch back, um it would be feasible that we're not making changes to make it just an intermediate school. It's to make it a school that could
176serve at any level. And so, there would be opportunities to still go for a bond and potentially make changes um based on whatever we see fit for for new school on the new land down the road. Thank you. I To the last point you made, I I feel like we might lose trust from that community though. And that's huge. We need some trust capital. And um but I to your point, we with this, we would need that scenario three of the of a boundary, right? If Viola Gibson was added in here, it would change. So, if we did phase, we would have to have that boundary determined for the 27-28 school year to let a family like yours know, okay, this is where the boundaries would be. Which I think you could do, close schools,
177get boundaries all in one year. And then would you change it again? I guess with my with my question to the No. directors. No. I think kids would just go to their new resident school. As that Yeah. I do want to add in here um Dr. Lennon pointed out and maybe this um might be helpful. Just a a little bit of flexibility even built into the resolution itself um where it says Truman Early Learning Center has also been identified for closure. The board will schedule the closure following the closure of the above elementary schools and full implementation of the preschool through grade four elementary grade band. So, just just wanted to point that out, too. There's There's already a little bit of flexibility specifically around Truman. Um Director Byers. Thank you. >> I Uh Yes.
178Yes, you can. Um so, I I kind of touched on this as I was giving the example of, you know, just potential risks. And we know enrollment loss Our enrollment loss last year really caught us off guard and had significant impact on the district and our current situation. So, in addition to these, you know, potential implementation challenges, just making sure that we are covered. Has there been any analysis or planning um to account for, you know, another round of potential major enrollment loss moving forward? Um just wondering how we're factoring those into this plan. Hang tight, Director Byers. Carla's coming up. Awesome. Thank you. Yeah, so enrollment shifts are always going to be an issue for the district. So, whether we have a the new consolidation model or we don't, we have to continually assess
179our enrollment. So, we'll start doing Well, we've already started doing that um with uh early verification. We're looking at staffing across our elementary schools starting next week. And we'll do that every 2 weeks to look if there is any staffing adjustments. The district will continue to need to do that not only with staffing for 26-27, but looking ahead to 27-28. What does our staffing look like? And so, that's why we're building the new staffing model. Um and we will continue to once we get firm num- numbers of students that will be attending after the permit process closes to adjust those numbers to make sure that we can hit all of our targets um for uh staffing and uh programming across the district. Does that make sense? It does. I just It sounds like So, the
180only adjustment that we can factor into address those losses would be would fall on our staff. Like reducing staff or or do we have other contingency plans? Um or savings. We We possibly will have to look at other sav- savings. If the district loses the same amount of enrollment in the fall of 2026 that it lost in the fall of 25, we will have to look at reductions. And what does that look like? So, um having a contingency plan, yes. As we see significant changes in our enrollment, we will have to make adjustments. I I guess I'd like to remind all of us that we have previously stated this plan doesn't solve everything into eternity. We do need every few years to take another look and see if we need to make any adjustments. That
181was something that the board was pretty clear about at one of our last meetings. So, this is not the plan forever and ever. This is the plan that helps us get through where we are right now. Thanks, Cindy. I was just going to add that this year uh we went through a very collaborative and public process of working through our budget um Director Byers. And I think we have to do that every year. Um when we brought forth um our budget projections and we were able to prioritize our fundings. Um and so, we are committed to that as a leadership team. And I think the other part is that we can't lose sight of the right-sizing. And I want to say thank you to the strategic plan executive committee because I think they continue to
182go back to the fiscal management of the school district as a top priority. And as was presented tonight, you we need to make the one-time investments right now to make the change. But then we're also looking at the annual savings of $5 million, which will also give us that cushion what we just simply don't have right now because it's going into our buildings. And so, we're just keeping in mind as a board, and thank you so much for being willing to do that week after week of coming forth um to really look at our budget um as well as right-sizing and making sure that we're prioritizing the spending. And we're being transparent uh with our community and allowing them to be part of the process. Um since I have the microphone now, I will also
183add um as Jamie alluded to um earlier speaker uh from our strategic plan executive committee, we really started down this path thinking about a long-term strategic plan. It just so happened that we needed to do this first. Um and I think that's going to be um very critical for us as a school district. And that team um I see Chris back there in the back. I think he was also one of the ones in in the group that said, we're not done yet. We want to continue to help the school district figure out not just about the financial plans and facilities, but about programming for our students and enrollment, engaging with our families. What do families um want to continue to see in our school district? Um and whatever decision that the board makes tonight,
184um I will implement that uh full execution. Our team has already been working on the guidebook. So, they've already been working through every step that it's going to take for us to transition. We'll be meeting with our ELT team this week to continue that work. Um and so, we want to continue to bring that information back to the board so that you can have confidence um that we will be ready to go for the 27-28 school year. Um I think there's a lot that has already occurred in the school district over the last since December. Look what we have accomplished, right? I have full faith and confidence of all of us working together that we'll continue to ask the hard questions. Um and we know we have a high bar to cross. And we want
185to do that for our families. I think that's the greatest motivating factor is that things are going to be better for our students. And we're committed to doing so. Thank you, Director Timinsky. Yeah. Um I just several people have made a comment about how difficult the decision is for us. And that is obviously true. But I would just want to acknowledge the amount of time that's been put in by so many people to get us to this point. Um just even going through today's presentation and the ones uh prior, just the The of thought that's gone into this. I think we all acknowledge that this is not a perfect plan, but it's really probably the best plan that we can have right now. It was refreshing honestly to hear people say throughout the night that
186they started in a different place and after thinking about it, I mean even into your last meeting, you know, people that have come around to just understanding how difficult everything is. So, I just again want to acknowledge that this the list of 23 people, it's not a list of people with a bunch of free time. So, there's other things that you could be doing, but the amount of value that you have in this community is is definitely seen. And I would just say that I can make a decision with the confidence that this community is, you know, is embracing it, wants to work together, knows that we've got some hard times ahead, but you know, also I think that there's just that comment about I think change is obviously hard, but the uncertainty for so
187many of our families is is even more difficult, right? It's just not knowing and even the thought that it's like, well, let's let's step this, let's do this, what if, what if, you know, at some point we need to make a decision. And I do feel like you've put us in a position where I can have confidence moving forward knowing that like, yes, every day we're going to learn something and we can we can adjust going forward, but families need to know where their kids are going to school as soon as possible. And I'm excited about the feeder plan. My I'm I'm sad that we didn't do this, you know, years ago when my kids were still in school. I think Jason you were the one that made the comment that it's like been trying
188to do this stuff for 20 years and you know, so now my kids are you know, graduated out of the K-12 system. It would have been wonderful if they had been able to experience this, but I'm excited for that next generation of families to be able to to go through this. And then I'll just comment on Viola Gibson cuz that was so so much of our discussion. So, I appreciate the staff making the time to make sure that the board members are able to get out there. The a lot of talk about the bathrooms and the locker sizes and the classroom sizes. I don't even know if we mentioned tonight, but the classroom sizes are quite a bit larger than I think a lot of people might might think. So, again, it's not perfect, but
189I think that the changes that we're making that I'm hearing about us making not irreversible. So, again, we don't want to go back necessarily and say, hey, let's turn Viola Gibson back into an elementary school. That's not a decision that would anybody would make soon, but to know that yes, we're going to have enrollment changes, right? I mean, we don't know what some of these charter schools are going to do. I mean, that is not a thing that we can truly predict. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could? And then maybe the last comment that I'll make cuz I thought the presentation that was quite thorough, right? Learning about special education, learning from Sarah on that, getting more detail from Scott on transportation. So much is talked about with transportation. I wonder how many people
190thought that that number would be as low as it is. 28% use our bussing system today. I mean, that that sounded low to me. But to also know that there are ways like as bussing impacts families, there are ways for people to petition in to say, hey, if you're just beyond the cutout, you know, there's a way for you to to look at that. So, again, for us it's just a matter of making sure that all this stuff is communicated to families so they know that we're here to support them the best that we possibly can. So, again, thank you to everybody that spent the time to get us to this point. Director Burns. Thanks. I just I just wanted to do a quick pulse check, I guess. So, you know, tonight in the room
191just across, we've seen people come, we've seen a couple people go and I can really pick up and I'm sensing this the fear for some, the anxiety for others, anger, distrust that we're very much trying to to work with and and make better. Um I there were some questions that had come about and I just as Director Timinsky said, I this process has been so thoroughly vetted by so many people and so many groups in this community that I just again, I want to reiterate that I feel like this has come forth to us and put us in a situation that best enables to make the next best decision. I I too have wrestled with so much of this and there is discomfort in in in people being upset with you and even with individuals
192in this room, I have had some really good conversations and the fact of the matter is that we didn't have to be in this situation as everyone has said, we wouldn't be. To the point just about Viola Gibson, I the spec team did a fantastic job presenting tonight, but I also think you sold yourself short in some ways by not talking about every single scenario that you did actually vet. I mean, some of them like the ELSC $30 renovations, the consolidation 5 through 8 at Harding, I appreciate the acknowledgement of area three. I just wrote some notes here that phased approach just acknowledging the the serious inequity within that. I think that's something as a board we have tried very very hard to ensure that we have access and equitable access for all students. And
193then we've also talked about what happens when Roosevelt becomes an intermediate, right? Or becomes the alternative for area three and what happened, you know, if we close Pierce. You know, we have had all of these conversations and I don't think it's come up yet tonight, but I do want to say something that I've I've written down here too. But to the families of the schools that are closing, there's a there's a loss there truly and I think that that is something that needs to be acknowledged, but I see folks sitting here right now from Cleveland. We have Grant, CRA, Nixon and then I'm missing what's the last and Right. Yeah, and Grant. I'm so sorry. Um but those families are losing that sense of community um by losing their direct school, their direct neighborhood school.
194And I think the thing that I that I take comfort in at least with Viola Gibson is knowing that that community remains. All of these schools even if they are closing are going to maintain that spirit in the next place that they go and I really firmly believe that. Um But I'm just really I guess what I'm saying is I'm just proud of the work that's gone into this and for the the position that you've put us in to make this difficult decision. Thank you. Director Gallop. I shall be brief. Um I everything that has just been said, I concur with. The the one thing that I really want to try to drive home tonight is that this is not about one building. This is not about one side of town or one high school
195or one area. This is about one school district. And how do we move forward together as one school district that does the very best for all of our kids. Every single one of them. And that's not to pit one school against another school. It is our job up here to make sure that we are giving every student the best possible opportunity regardless of which building they sit in. So, thank you to the spec committee. Thank you to our administrative team. You guys have all been working many many hours, I know and just know that you're appreciated. Thank you. Do we have any other questions from the board? Director Byers, are you good? All right. Um Dr. Thank you. Dr. Lanen, did you have a few words to close that out or Well, I just feel
196very grateful to have had the opportunity to work alongside our community bringing the strategic plan executive committee together. It really represents people. Some people already serve on our community cabinet. Other people they were on the journey with us throughout the bond and they knew that this was a a high level, you know, of calling that we were going to be working with throughout this process. When we started the community coalition, we opened it up to anyone in the community could join it. And we had members that were also here tonight that came alongside. And we looked for people with expertise in finance and strategic planning and budgeting and all of those things. But the number of hours that they spent working through this, I just want to be able to acknowledge it that they they
197know how to do their business, but then they were also learning how to do school business because they care so much about this community and I just think that that needs to be stated up front. And then I just think about is graduation season and that's the best time of year for me. I get a chance to shake hands with every kid that crossed that stage and I think that's what this decision is about tonight. It's about the kids 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now with the decisions that we make today. And so so from the and I realize for our families, I do want to say this too. You know, people are losing some things that are very personal to them as you stated earlier too. So we want to acknowledge that, but
198I think we also have an opportunity to give them something. And I know there's a lot of concern about, you know, people saying that they're going to leave our district, but I would just ask you you have a choice too. You're part of the Cedar Rapids Community School District now. You've been a part of it. You benefited from it, right? You're a part of what makes it great. You can stay with us and be a part of ensuring that it remains great throughout the future. And I'm not afraid to ask and to say that because I think we should let our families know that they're valuable to us and we can get through this together. So from the words of the strategic plan executive committee, what they said to me in their email is onward
199together. And so I just thank the board for giving this strong consideration tonight. Thank you very much. Okay. The next item is the resolution to approve the school redesign. And I think I'm going to have to read it into the record because, right? Get comfy. It's long. All right. Whereas to address the district's financial landscape, enrollment trends, and facility needs, the Board of Education previously adopted a resolution authorizing research and evaluation of school redesign models. And whereas pursuant to and in keeping with said resolution, the Board of Education and the administration have obtained from the district staff as well as community members and outside professionals extensive feedback and detailed reviews of various redesign models and scenarios which were based on current and projected enrollment data, current and projected facility needs, numerous student and family demographic
200factors and other variables including financial information as well as narrative input from all identifiable stakeholder groups. And whereas the Board of Education and the administration have widely disseminated information obtained in the course of the research and the evaluation conducted. And further have sought broad public input through various means including but not limited to multiple presentations at public meetings of the board as well as at various schools, comment at regular board meetings and at meetings held specifically for the purpose of gathering public input on school redesign, open houses for the public conducted across the district, solicitation of input through surveys, email, phone and correspondence, publication on the district's website of information, questions and answers, and committees and working groups made up of a cross-section of the community. And whereas the work conducted pursuant to that resolution
201has resulted in findings and recommendations intended to improve student outcomes, optimize resources, and ensure long-term sustainability of the district. Now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Education hereby adopts a school redesign plan as a direct result of the research and evaluation authorized in the prior resolution. Accordingly, in order to address the district's financial landscape, enrollment trends, and facility needs, the Board adopts the following elements as the district's redesign plan and it directs administration to implement said plan. One, grade level reconfiguration. The district shall transition from three grade level bands to four grade level bands as follows. Elementary School serving students in preschool through grades four, Intermediate School serving students in grades five and six, Middle School serving students in grade seven and eight, High School serving students in grade nine through 12. Number
202two, school closures. The following schools are scheduled for closure at the conclusion of the 2026-2027 school year. Nixon Elementary, Cleveland Elementary, Grant Elementary, Wright Elementary, Cedar River Academy at Taylor Elementary. Truman Early Learning Center has also been identified for closure. The Board will schedule the closure following the closure of the above elementary schools and full implementation of the preschool through grade four elementary grade band. Three, school reconfiguration. The following schools will undergo reconfiguration at the conclusion of the 2026-2027 school year. Viola Gibson Elementary will transition to an intermediate school serving grades five and six. Wilson Middle School will transition to an elementary school serving preschool through grade four. Number four, feeder patterns. The district administration shall implement feeder patterns aligned to the new grade configurations to maintain cohort continuity where possible, better balance enrollment and
203facility capacity, and support access to academic and extracurricular opportunities. The feeder patterns are as follows. Area one schools, Johnson STEAM Academy Elementary, Trailside Elementary, Erskine Elementary, Grant Wood Elementary, Wilson Elementary, Franklin Intermediate, McKinley STEAM Academy Middle, and Washington High School. Area two schools, Harrison at Madison Elementary, Van Buren Elementary, West Willow Elementary, Hoover Elementary, Roosevelt Creative Corridor Business Academy Intermediate, Taft Middle, Jefferson High School. Area three schools, Pierce Elementary, Maple Grove Elementary, Hiawatha Elementary, Kenwood Leadership Academy Elementary, Viola Gibson Intermediate, Harding Middle, Kennedy High School. Be it further resolved that the superintendent is hereby authorized to take all necessary steps to implement the plan adopted herein including but not limited to matters of staffing, facility adjustments, student assignment, and community engagement consistent with this resolution. All right. Is there a motion to approve the resolution
204school redesign? So moved. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor say I. I. I. All those opposed say I. I'm sorry. Director Byers, I didn't hear you. I. Thank you. All those opposed say nay. Nay. Okay. All right, motion passes. The next item is the resolution to approve the resident attendance boundaries. All right, which I am also going to read into the record. It's a little shorter. Whereas to address the district's financial landscape, enrollment trends, and facility needs, the Board of Education on this date has adopted a resolution approving a plan for redesign of the district. And whereas consistent with said resolution and pursuant to the authority provided in regulation 0602.04 R1 school attendance areas, the superintendent and Board of Education have determined the need to adjust the boundaries for each school attendance
205center within the district so as to implement the district's school redesign plan adopted by the board on this date. And whereas in order to determine adjustments to school attendance center boundaries, the Board of Education and administration have obtained from district staff as well as community members and outside professionals extensive feedback and detailed reviews of various scenarios for the boundaries which are based on current and projected enrollment data, current and projected facility needs, numerous student and family demographic factors and other variables including financial information as well as narrative input from all identifiable stakeholder groups. And whereas the Board of Education and the administration have widely disseminated information about boundaries as a part of the broader work concerning a district redesign plan. And further have sought broad public input on boundary changes by means including but not
206limited to multiple presentations at public meetings of the board as well as at various schools, comment at regular board meetings and at meetings held specifically for the purpose of gathering input on boundaries, open houses for the public conducted across the district, solicitation of input through surveys, email, phone and correspondence, publication on the district's website of information, questions and answers, and committees and working groups made up of a cross-section of the community. And whereas the work conducted regarding boundary changes has resulted in findings and recommendations intended to improve student outcomes, optimize resources in an equitable manner across the district, and ensure long-term sustainability of the district. Now therefore be it resolved that in order to adjust the boundaries for each school attendance center within the district so as to implement the district's redesign plan adopted by
207the board on this date, the Board of Education hereby adopts the boundary changes reflected in exhibit one supporting documents attached hereto and incorporated by reference which was presented to the board at its meeting on this date in connection with the broader presentation on the district redesign plan. Be it further resolved that the superintendent is authorized to take all necessary steps consistent with this resolution to implement the boundary changes reflected in exhibit one supporting documents hereto. Okay. Is there a motion? Make sure I'm on the right one. Is there a motion to approve the resolution resident attendance boundaries? May I ask just a clarifying question first? Um exhibit one, can you just clarify exactly what that means? Exhibit one is the boundary maps. >> Is it Is it this, the policy? Or the regulation? >> not
208the policy. >> Okay. We have the policy attached. We also have the boundaries that are attached to the addresses. Okay. >> Okay. So, the boundary is within this packet, right? Okay. Sorry, none of my papers are any more attached to each other. So. Yeah, I just wanted that clarification for myself, for us, obviously voting on this, and for the community exactly what ex- exhibit one references. Okay. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Second. All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say nay. Motion passes. Thank you. Um, I also want to acknowledge that I completely skipped over Dr. Lennon's report earlier. So, um, are we okay proceeding without? All right, maybe she'll send it out. I'll just go longer next time. She'll go longer next time. I know you put a
209lot of work into those. Thank you very much. Um, and thank you very much to everybody who is here tonight, everybody who's watching online, and everybody in the community who has provided input. I really, everybody here appreciates that. With that, I want to provide a notice that the next regular board meeting is on Monday, May 11th, 2026. Do we have a motion to adjourn the meeting? So moved. Do we have a second? Second. All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say nay. Thank you. With no further bus- business, we stand adjourned at 8:30 p.m.