ICCSD School Board Forum September 3rd

The Iowa City Education Association and the Press-Citizen are co-sponsoring a forum with the candidates for the Iowa City School Board on September 3rd.

The event will be from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Iowa City Public Library in Meeting Room A. All six candidates for the Sept. 8 election -- incumbent Mike Cooper and challengers April Armstrong, Tuyet Dorau, Anne Johnson, Jean Jordison and Sarah Swisher -- have agreed to attend. The public is invited and encouraged to participate and to submit questions.


For more information, contact Jeff Charis-Carlson, Press-Citizen opinion editor, at jcharisc@press-citizen.com or Tom Yates, ICEA co-president, at Yates.Tom@iccsd.k12.ia.us.

Kaine Bows Out of Board Race

Josh Kaine has decided not to seek a seat on the ICCSD.


"After meeting with my campaign committee and looking closely at the shape of the school board election, I have decided to withdraw from the school board race. While I feel strongly about the issues that will face our next school board, I have personal and professional commitments that must take precedence over the time and energy needed to campaign. I wish the best of luck to the other candidates and for the next school board-- your work will not be easy."

Batter Up?

Both the school board and city council races are around the corner in Iowa City and the surrounding communities and so far there are a very limited number of brave souls stepping up to run for the offices.

On deck for the next Iowa City city council is the hiring of a "permanent" city manager, looking at revenue projections and solutions to shore up a sagging tax base, and the usual issues that face the city council every year (re: crime, college students in the bars, etc.). No to mention the continued need for affordable rental housing and the needs for the poorer cousins in the community. So far Mark McCallum, Susan Mimms, and Terry Dickens have announced they will run for office. More on this can be found on John Deeth's blog.

As for the school board, there is the boundary issue where the existing and future schools are concerned, as well as the transparency issue of how business is conducted at ICCSD. Finally, there is the staffing issues for the coming school years in light of decreasing revenue at the state level. With possibly all three of the incumbent board directors opting not to run for re-election, there is a real need for candidates to step up.

In these stressful times, it may be difficult to attract civic-minded individuals to fill these elected slots, just as it is hard to find volunteers for non-elected commissions. Let's face it, the grief that a person has to be willing to deal with is significant, as well as the commitment of time-- and yet, it is crucial that fair-minded people do the work. If we end up with ineffective persons to govern, it is largely the fault of the attentive public for not putting themselves in the game.

A Take on the ICCSD Issues from Rod Sullivan

From Johnson County Board of Supervisor (and citizen) Rod Sullivan's Salvos reprinted with his permission:

Since I seldom let any big issues pass by without comment, it is time to discuss the ICCSD building plans. Unfortunately, I could not attend either forum on the subject. This is a very complex set of issues, so I'll try to break it up into digestible pieces.

First, whether one agrees with her or not, I applaud Mayor Bailey for expressing her concerns over the closing of Roosevelt. I find it amazing that the Press Citizen suggests that she mind her own business. It IS her business! She is a citizen! What's more, the Press Citizen is always critical of local governmental units for failures to communicate. That is exactly what happened here ­ but it is not the fault of the city!

Additionally, Iowa City has a comprehensive plan for the whole city, and it is quite good. It includes the preservation of older neighborhoods ­preservation that will be ineffective without neighborhood schools. And thePC says the City Council "should not interfere"? The PC should have instead demanded that the ICCSD go over this in a joint public meeting with the City Council.

Secondly, we should recognize closing Roosevelt is a tough call. Students and staff deserve good facilities. The building has clearly deteriorated to a critical point. There is room to build on at Horn. My problem is the school at "The Crossings". There aren't any kids there yet ­there are kids at Roosevelt. Perhaps repairing Roosevelt would be more expensive but there are very real costs to suburban sprawl. These should be discussed at length in public forums. Similarly, let's ensure that other older buildings get the maintenance they need so we do not find ourselves in this position again.

Thirdly, we need to discuss similar issues at Longfellow and Mann. I served on the Yes For Kids Steering Committee, and we sold the bond issue in part on improving accessibility at these older schools. I understand that this can be expensive. I understand that it might be cheaper tear down the older schools and to rebuild on the parking lots and/or playgrounds. But wenever said anything about closing them. Fixing, yes. Closing? It was never mentioned. Whatever the case, these neighborhoods MUST have schools, and they MUST be accessible. Anyone who understands Iowa City and the electorate knows this is non-negotiable. We already voted to do it. I personally told people the ICCSD would be fixing this! I was an honest volunteer- please do not make me a liar! As Larry the Cable Guy would say, just Git 'er done!

It has been mentioned that many kids already do not enjoy "neighborhood schools". Kids are bussed to several elementaries throughout the District. While this is true, it ignores the fact that most kids in theICCSD DO have neighborhood schools. When you factor out rural kids, who are going to be driven/bussed in any scenario, most kids live within walking distance of their elementaries. This is the way the public wants it, and experts in all sorts of disciplines agree it is generally best for the community psychologically, sociologically, and environmentally.

My final point is that we tend to assume too much. We assume that the public always wants the cheapest option, but local voters have proven that is not always the case. Voters approved the SILO tax, Conservation Bond, Library bonds in three communities, pool bonds in two communities, and much more. Voters have spoken out in favor of jail alternatives, even though they cost more. Voters have spoken out in favor of arts and culture expenditures, even though they cost more. So instead of assuming people want the cheapest option possible, we could just let people vote on it.

This is evidenced by discussions around school size. The ICCSD tells us we need elementary schools to be built for 450-550 kids in order to be as cost efficient as possible. Yet we are never told what size elementaries should be in order to maximize student performance. Almost every study of student performance shows the optimal elementary size to be 250-400. Why not ask the public if they prefer the cheapest, the best, or some hybrid?

The same discussion needs to take place at the high school level. Explain to the public that a North Liberty-north Coralville high school would only have 600-1000 students. That means fewer opportunities (not NO opportunities, but fewer opportunities) for advanced classes and extracurricular activities. It would not be the most cost effective response to overcrowding at West. But again, almost every study of student performance shows the optimal high school size to be 600-1000. Why not ask the public if they prefer the cheapest, the best, or some hybrid?

I do not envy School Board members. I know most of the ICCSD Board pretty
well. I know most of the ICCSD Administration pretty well. These are good people
we are talking about, who really care about our kids. These folks work very
hard, some as volunteers, and rarely receive the thanks they deserve. School
financing is tricky, and most of us do not fully understand it. There is no
issue more dear to the electorate than the schools. And theICCSD is faced with a
number of difficult decisions.

Lots of people have a dog in this fight. We all want to claim the moral high ground of doing what is "best for the kids." But what is best for one is not necessarily best for the next. And what is best for a single school is not necessarily best for the entire District. This is why we elect a Board­ their job is to make these decisions. I just hope the decisions are made following lots of public input.

People in the ICCSD need more details on school funding. There are staffing issues; fine. Lay out the problems so the public can opineintelligently. The more information we share, the better our decisions.

I simply hope that the ICCSD Board and Administration seeks input and then gives that input serious consideration. Do not assume that the voters in the ICCSD want the cheapest. They just might want the best.

This is What Democracy Looks Like-- Messy

Like about 10% of the voters who usually turnout at our local school board elections, I persevered the heat and length of this week's ICCSD board meeting to make my points about the school board's "proposed strategic facilities improvement plan" from Superintendent Lane Plugge for FAIR!, the group for which I am the Chairperson.

In so doing, I heard the concerns of parents of Rossevelt school which were largely desiring that the school receive needed repairs and improvements sooner than later. I also heard larger concerns being raised from parents at other older Iowa city schools that their schools not be under the threat of a wrecking ball.

Most importantly I heard that residents are very keen on weighing in on any district-wide plan to decide what to do about current and future school facilities and more importantly what to do to improve educational opportunity. The We Love Our Neighborhood Schools folks and others want great schools.

I also heard that the school board is working with reduced resources and that has to be factored in whatever decisions are made where growth in the district is concerned. The Catch 22 is that labor costs are the single greatest cost to schools and that the more schools there are, more labor costs follow.

Their frustration comes from the fact that the SILO money is good for buildings, but it does nothing to change the funding formula that will leave the district in a shortfall situation about the same time any new or improved school would be build. Said differently, a new school could be built without the staff to manage and teach in it.

Clearly there are some difficult days ahead as decision makers and the public try to sort through the issues that will solve school overcrowding in one part of town, upset a neighborhood's equilibrium elsewhere, and deal with changing demographics throughout the district.