C.R.’s Polk and Monroe targeted for closure

CEDAR RAPIDS - There was a collective sigh from some members in the audience of last night's Cedar Rapids school board meeting as Superintendent Dave Benson presented his recommendations.

Harrison and Madison elementary schools are safe. Benson recommended closing Monroe and Polk elementary schools.

“I'm thrilled for right now, but it's bittersweet,” said Jen Kovach, co-president of Madison's PTA.

Four elementary schools have been on the list for possible closure. Parents have rallied behind their schools for nearly two months, sharing information and personal stories in an attempt to sway the recommendations. Benson said he listened to that input, particularly from Polk parents who balked at the idea of having their children attend whichever elementary school was assigned to them.

“Just this weekend, I thought about that a lot,” Benson said.

Benson went to the administrative cabinet Monday morning with a plan to offer Polk families more options, should the school close. In his recommendations, Benson stated that even though Polk's school boundary will be divided into three attendance boundaries - those for Arthur, Garfield, and Johnson elementaries - affected families may instead choose any elementary that is located east of both Interstate 380 and the Cedar River.

Those options include Erskine, Grant Wood, Johnson, Arthur, Kenwood, Garfield, Nixon and Wright elementary schools.

Andrea Lewerenz-Norris, a Polk parent, said her greatest fear was being forced to have her children attend a school they didn't want to. In her public comments to the school board, she thanked Benson for the additional options. Her husband, Calvin Norris, echoed the statement.

“Thank you for this opportunity to find a school that works for our family,” Norris said.

Such families may also choose to attend Taylor Elementary School, which, like Polk, is a year-round school. Benson's recommendations include keeping Taylor as a year-round school, at least for the 2012-13 school year, to gauge how many Polk families make the transfer.

“That way we can see what happens with the Polk students currently on a modified calendar and see if they come over,” he said.

Benson's recommendations are just that - recommendations. Ultimately, it is up to the school board to decide what does or doesn't happen.

“This was the first time that the board has heard these recommendations,” President John Laverty said after Monday's meeting. “At this point, it's the board's role - and I know the board will take this seriously - to study the recommendations, and gather information and input before we make our decision.”

The board is scheduled to vote on the recommendations at its March 12 meeting.

While Benson recommended that Harrison remain open in an effort to support the city's flood recovery effort, he stressed that the district will reassess its position if the school's neighborhood/residential enrollment does not grow to at least 70 percent of building capacity by the 2016-17 academic year.

Benson recommended that Polk's facility be repurposed to house the district Alternative Education Center and other district programs now operated in leased spaces throughout the city.

He also recommended making Wilson School, which now serves stdents in second through eighth grades, a middle school for grades 6 through 8 only. Grant Early Childhood center would then become a K-5 elementary school to serve Wilson's elementary students.

Other elementary school recommendations include the following:

The Monroe Early Childhood Center will close and students will be assigned to their resident elementary schools - Erskine, Grant Wood, and Johnson elementary schools.

Grant Early Childhood Center will become a K-5 elementary school.

Van Buren Elementary School boundary area east of the railroad tracks shifts to Grant Elementary School.

The Hiawatha Elementary School boundary east of I-380 shifts to Nixon Elementary School.

Hiawatha Elementary School attendance boundary shifts to include Five Seasons Manufactured Home Community, Agin Court Apartments from Viola Gibson Elementary School.

The Nixon Elementary School boundary south of Blairs Ferry Road shifts to Wright Elementary School.

Benson's middle school boundary recommendations are as follows:

Wilson School becomes a 6-8 facility.

Franklin Middle School feeders will be Arthur, Garfield, Kenwood, and Pierce.

Harding Middle School feeders will be Hiawatha, Nixon, Viola Gibson, and Wright.

McKinley Middle School feeders will be Erskine, Grant Wood, and Johnson.

Roosevelt Middle School feeders will be Cleveland, Hoover, Harrison, and Madison.

Taft Middle School feeders will be Coolidge, Jackson, and Truman.

Wilson Middle School feeders will be Grant, Taylor, and Van Buren.

Benson's

high school boundary recommendation calls for students residing in the Wright Elementary School attendance center boundary to attend Washington High School. All other existing high school attendance boundaries will remain the same.