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Iowa City's school boundary committee faces a tight clock on closure recommendations
The district aims to cut $13.8 million next year of $32.5 million over four years
$13.8MCuts the district is aiming for next year
Source: The Gazette
View as table
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Cuts the district is aiming for next year | $13.8M |
| Four-year total | $32.5M |
If you have kids in the Iowa City Community School District, this one's for you. The Attendance Boundary Committee met for the second time Wednesday, and many members left with more questions than answers. "It's frightening to go into this blind," said Mayra Hoskyn, a Liberty High counselor and district parent on the committee. No one wants a school to close, she said, but "I think all of us here know it has to happen."
The group is shaping closures and boundaries as part of $32.5 million in budget reductions over four years, with $13.8 million aimed for next year alone. Interim Superintendent Amy Kortemeyer acknowledged "a mountain of work to do in a very short amount of time."
- Committee: 50 members, an ad hoc group
- State aid assumption: 1% a year for four fiscal years
- Also assumed: a sharp decline in projected enrollment
- Goal: a plan ready before spring break
The school board will consider the recommendations Feb. 23, after three public input nights Jan. 19 through 21. The committee meets again Nov. 19 at the Educational Services Center on North Dubuque Road, and the meeting is open to the public.
The committee's work runs through three dates ahead
- Nov. 19Boundary committee meets at the Educational Services Center on North Dubuque Road.
- Jan. 19Three public input nights begin, running through Jan. 21, on closure and boundary scenarios.
- Feb. 23School board will consider the committee's building and boundary recommendations.
Sources: KCJJ, The Gazette
