The Educational Leadership and Support Center for the Cedar Rapids Community School District at 2500 Edgewood Rd. NW. (The Gazette)

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CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids school leaders are exploring moving City View Community High School and other innovative school options to the district office as they cut almost $12.9 million from the annual spending plan.

Eight staff positions are being cut from the Educational Leadership and Support Center as a part of $988,600 in cuts to the district office alone. School administrators are taking a one-year salary freeze, a $3.6 million one-time cost savings.

These cuts will enable $500,000 to be reallocated to support the largest elementary schools in the district — West Willow, Maple Grove, Viola Gibson and Trailside — and fine arts programming.

Thirty-three teachers will be reduced from schools through attrition based on declining enrollment, a cost savings of $2.8 million.

The Cedar Rapids school board on Monday unanimously approved a resolution authorizing administration to implement the approved cost saving measures for the 2026-27 school year.

“We appreciate the hard work that’s gone into this. Harder discussions are yet to come. Our goal is to make this a sustainable, stable and thriving district, so we don’t have to put everyone through this again,” school board President Jen Neumann said.

Cedar Rapids Community School District board of education President Jen Neumann listens to public comment during a meeting at the Educational Leadership and Support Center in Cedar Rapids on Jan. 12. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

The district still is exploring how to cut an additional $6 million from its annual budget by closing and consolidating schools.

The school board will vote on a proposed plan for community review and feedback at its board meeting Feb. 9. Throughout the spring, district officials will take that proposal to families and the community for additional feedback and deeper conversation, Superintendent Tawana Lannin — formerly Grover — said in a newsletter last week.

The school board is expected to make a final decision on consolidations in April, with changes not taking effect until Fall 2027.

Wright Elementary School Principal Jessica Auliff said building principals have worked closely with district officials on the spending reductions, adding that the decisions haven’t been “made lightly.”

“There was real thought behind what it means for your building,” Auliff said. Rightsizing the district’s budget takes “some sacrifice” “from all of us,” she said.

The district is reducing its spending after more than a decade of declining enrollment — exacerbated by a sudden and unexpected enrollment drop of 622 students this year — and few budget reductions made in that time.

Since 2020, the district has used federal pandemic relief dollars to supplement expenses and expected an uptick in enrollment based on demographic studies. But year after year, competition for students between public, non-public and charter schools has increased as birth rates across the state decline.

Why invest in fine arts?

Last summer, dozens of people turned up at Cedar Rapids school board meetings advocating for a reinvestment in fine arts curriculum. In response, the district created a fine arts working group to explore solutions.

“I could not have anticipated the kind of response we received and the support from both the board and district administration,” said Storm Ziegler, a music teacher at Kennedy High School. “It’s been, frankly, the best interactions that I’ve had with district leadership in my 30 years with the district.”

Ziegler said the work has been focused on three things: ensuring elementary and middle school students had the same access to arts instruction regardless of which school they attend; providing staffing for full-time specialists in each elementary and middle school building; and reestablishing a district fine arts facilitator.

A district fine arts facilitator would be an advocate for fine arts programming who can support teachers, manage resources and assist with logistics and community outreach, Ziegler said.

“We’re truly grateful this is even being considered and any step forward is really meaningful,” Ziegler said. “We understand that in this budget environment our full dreams cannot be realized and if full-time specialists are not achievable right now, a huge gain can still be made for staff and students by minimizing the number of elementary specialists who are asked to move to different building assignments each year.”

“The best thing about working here is that I don’t have to explain to anybody that an investment in fine arts is just that — it’s an investment. It is not an expense. There is direct correlation between participation in arts and athletic activities and student achievement,” Ziegler said.

What is being cut from the district’s spending?

Consolidating innovative and alternative learning programs under the umbrella of City View Community High School is a minimum reduction of $215,000. The programs include Iowa BIG — a project-based learning program — and the district’s virtual learning and homeschool assistance programs.

School officials believe the move could increase enrollment in the programs by tailoring programming to the demands of families who have sought alternative programming outside the district.

School officials also are exploring relocating the programs to the ELSC — the district offices at 2500 Edgewood Rd. NW, Cedar Rapids.

City View currently is located at the Linn County Regional Center in Hiawatha, and Iowa BIG is located at the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance. Leasing spaces for these programs costs about $52,000 annually.

The district is reducing its consulting contracts by $2.2 million. The largest reduction is Instructional Empowerment — a teaching and learning model that has been implemented in the district over the last three years. This alone is a $1.8 million cost savings.

The district will continue to implement the Instructional Empowerment learning model through internal coaching and mentoring.

“We invested money in Instructional Empowerment because we recognized our student achievement required drastic action,” school board member Cindy Garlock said. “It does produce results, and I have some hesitation about taking this down to $0. I’m going to put my confidence in our folks who are trained and can carry this process forward. We’re not giving up on Instructional Empowerment.”

Cedar Rapids Community School District board of education member Cindy Garlock speaks during a meeting in Cedar Rapids on Jan. 12. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Other consulting contracts that will be reduced are Table Group, District Management Group LLC, Ronald Lott, Steele Dynamics and Wixted & Company.

Contracts with Grant Wood Area Education Agency will be reduced by $487,000. This does not include special education supports through the AEA. The district will gradually scale back its reliance on Grant Wood AEA social, emotional and behavioral health support as Cedar Rapids staff receive coaching and training.

Creating an internal mentoring and induction program for first-year teachers staffed by Cedar Rapids staff is expected to save the district $485,000. The program will have building-based mentors and in-district induction coaches to support and serve beginning educators on planning and using data to inform instruction to support student learning.

Other budget reductions include:

Reducing building budgets by $103,815 based on enrollment;
Reducing curriculum purchases for the 2026-27 school year, a cost savings of $1.08 million;
Reducing the backpack and supplemental program, which provides additional funding for staff like paras and behavior techs based on free and reduced price meal numbers, by $208,834 based on enrollment;
Reducing nonessential food purchases for staff by $75,000;
Reducing software expenses by $300,000 by removing software that is redundant or has low-engagement and low-utilization;
Reducing the travel budget by $250,000 and implementing a “consistent and transparent travel approval process that ensures travel is fiscally responsible, reasonable and necessary to an employee’s role”;
Reducing Personify Health — the district’s employee wellness program — by $116,000.

“All the reductions we’re considering have the potential to have a negative impact or a positive impact,” Garlock said. “Our job is to monitor these changes … and we have to be very mindful in making sure we are minimizing any harm. It’s up to all of us to make sure we are doing the least harm possible.”

Here’s what’s not changing

Other previously proposed spending reductions are not being made at this time.

The district is not reducing any funding to behavior support and mental health community partners. The district will continue to allocate $750,000 to sustain collaboration with schools and community partners to assess student needs, provide equitable access to support services and monitor the impact of these partnerships.

The district is not reducing any funding to its special education services. School officials are working on a final plan and recommendation to present this spring that aims to more efficiently meet the needs of students. This includes adding more specific special education programming to the district that would enable more access for students and providing staff with more specific training to be more specialized.

No changes are being made to district employees’ insurance stipend next year. The district will create a task force to understand the impact of eliminating the insurance stipend and create a solution that benefits all employees.

Reducing staffing at the ELSC

The eight staff positions being reduced at the ELSC are:

One of three chiefs of schools;
One supervisor;
One specialist;
One director;
Three teacher leader positions;
And one non-administrative staff.

Lannin said three of these positions, including the chief of schools job, already are vacant.

One of the positions being reduced is chief of human resources, a job held by Darius Ballard. These duties are being aligned with the district’s fiance department under a single chief, Lannin said.

Lannin said it is not a reflection on Ballard’s “leadership or impact” and that in his almost two years in the position, he has made progress in reducing staff turnover.

The district also is eliminating the role of chief of innovation and research and adding a chief operating officer who will oversee data, communications and operations.

School board members questioned if the workload of district employees will be manageable with these reductions.

“We’re doing what we need to do to balance the budget,” school board vice President Scott Drizcymki said. “Behind each of these titles is a person. The work is not going away. If anything, it’s going to be more difficult. It’s hardworking people who care a lot about our kids. In the end though, we do have to cut budget, and I do want to try to protect as many teacher roles as possible.”

Cedar Rapids Community School District board of education member Scott Drzycimski listens to public comment during a meeting at the Educational Leadership and Support Center in Cedar Rapids on Jan. 12. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Last year, the district reduced 27 full-time positions from the Educational Leadership and Support Center resulting in about $1.66 million in savings. More than half the reductions were achieved through attrition and unfilled vacancies.

There are 153 people employed at the district office, a reduction from 214 in fiscal year 2022.

Nicole Brown, the district’s executive director of curriculum and instruction, said cutting the teacher leader positions from the ELSC will be hard. Brown said they’re going to miss the people and the work they do.

“We’ll figure it out. It’s what we do. Classrooms do that. Schools do that. We’re trying to work together to do what’s best to get to this end goal,” Brown said.

Wright Elementary School second-grader Amara Stevenson (standing, left) smiles as she walks to her seat after speaking during public comment at the Cedar Rapids Community School District board meeting on Jan. 12. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

More spending cuts could be made by closing schools

More than 200 people turned out last week to the Cedar Rapids school board meeting and two dozen people spoke against the proposed plan to close up to six elementary schools and Truman Early Learning Center, and create an intermediate school model that would serve fifth- and sixth-graders.

After receiving feedback — and voicing questions and concerns themselves — school board members asked the district to explore more options for consolidating schools.

A community coalition began exploring other ideas last week. They include:

A two high school model where elementary schools would serve preschool through fourth grade, intermediate schools would serve fifth and sixth grade, middle schools would serve seventh through ninth grade and high schools would serve 10th through 12th grade;
A fifth through eighth grade model where elementary schools would serve preschool through fourth grade, middle schools fifth through eighth grade and high schools ninth through 12th grade;
A preschool through sixth grade model where middle schools would serve seventh and eighth grades and high schools ninth through 12th grade;
A preschool through eighth grade model where then high school would serve ninth through 12th grade;
And a cluster model, where buildings would serve preschool through second grade, third through sixth grade, seventh and eighth grade or seventh through ninth grade, and 10th through 12th grade or ninth through 12th grade.

An initial plan presented last week proposed closing Truman Early Learning Center; Wright, Cedar River Academy, Cleveland, Nixon, Pierce elementary schools; and possibly Johnson STEAM Academy.

Under the plan, 12 to 13 elementary schools would serve preschool through fourth grade; three middle schools would shift into intermediate schools that serve fifth- and sixth-graders; and three existing middle schools would serve seventh and eighth grade. The district’s three traditional high schools — Jefferson, Kennedy and Washington — would continue to serve ninth through 12th grades.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com

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