Not another penny!

U better delay school

They tell us that IF a new middle school is constructed to replace Harding, they will tear down Harding and leave it as green space as they do not want to have to sell the property to a competitor. How insane is that? If it was truly about education, I would think that having another option for families would be a benefit. With this attitude, it must not really be about education. Although I would like to believe that there is no chance of this bond issue passing, the attitude that they are showing against allowing parents to choose what is best for thier kids is very unsettling. Just another reason to vote "Absolutely No"

Has the CRCSD officially closed on the property that was to be purchased on Ushers Ferry? If not, what is the closing date?

Also many more children living in poverty in this district I’d imagine if you looked at those numbers

This data is great! Thank you!

We don't want it

This data may not be flawed, but using it to support this bond issue is nothing short of ludicrous. If your next door neighbor buys a new sports car with a $1000 payment should you go get on also, just because? How about we concentrate in finding waste. Taxes suck, but it sucks worse to see taxpayer money spent frivolously. After the recent $7.5 purchase of 50 acres, it has proven that they have no business holding the purse strings. Remember, public money is only public money after it has been taken from citizens through taxes. I will be voting "Absolutely NO"

Is this because we are short bus drivers to get kids home issue? Saying it's surrounded by linn mar isn't a reason to turn it to green space. Do boundary lines need readjusted with growing communities? When was last time that was actually really looked into?

I just looked at that map and saying that Harding is "surrounded" by Lin-Mar is a load of crap. Take a look at the map for yourself. The land adjacent to Harding to the north and to the west is Lin-Mar district but there are ZERO residences in that shaded area! Even if there were houses there, they would be on 2 sides, not "surrounded" This is another case twisting the facts to fit thier agenda. With that, amongst other reasons, I will have to vote "Absolutely No"

Ok, how do you expect for students at the proposed school get to school? Walk across Blair’s Ferry at morning rush hour? I am betting that just as many would need to be bussed. Please detail on a map on what students would not need to be bussed to the new school. If this were an argument, the location would be well north of Blair’s Ferry Road instead of along the southern border. In my opinion, bad planning and a bad argument. I could live with other aspects of the bond issue, but this new middle school will absolutely force me to vote no.

Why don't they ever address the schools that already exist that are imndire need of funding? My sons elementary school needs major upgrades but they want to spend money to make a new school? This is exactly why we are moving to another district that has adequate schools for our kids

We don't want it! That's why we voted to fix harding

Where is video from the last board meeting?

Many of the comments from the public had to do with the "marginalized" population that has had challenges with school. With this being said, why would we be looking at a $110M middle school in the most affluent district in Cedar Rapids, rather than looking for investment into early childhood education/support focused in the most challenged areas. If we do not help set a pathway to a good education early, by the time middle school comes around, many of these students are already challenged to the point of giving up. The new middle school is misguided for many reasons and City View, from a cost per student perspective, is very, very expensive for taxpayers to support. I do believe that the citizens of Cedar Rapids would vote to invest more into early childhood education than the new school or City View. If it is truly about education and ROI, early childhood education seems to be the best path. Lets vote to support our kids, but the upcoming bond issue is not the right alternative. Vote NO and lets really assess our needs.

An equitable experience for students at Kennedy vs wash and Jeff? There are many inequities between these schools/students but Kennedy is not the one lacking..

I feel like I’m in the minority here, but I strongly advocate for a new building rather than trying to renovate outdated designs that no longer meet our students’ needs. As a teacher at Roosevelt, I’m deeply concerned about adding nearly 300 more students to our school when we already struggle to accommodate the 530+ we have. I’m not a core teacher, so I can’t speak for them, but as the Band & Orchestra Director, my class sizes are typically larger than most core classes—or at least they’re supposed to be. However, due to the way the entire building is designed, we’re forced to split classes excessively just to make room. Our Band and Orchestra students are crammed into a space that is far too small, as there is no adequately sized room to accommodate them Aside from Taft and Harding, our middle school buildings are squeezing students into rooms designed for 20–25 desks, bookshelves, and cabinets. That setup might work for core classes, but it’s completely inadequate for band and orchestra programs. Any Band/Orchestra room built in the past 50 years is significantly larger to account for: – Class sizes of 30 to 40+ students (depending on school size) – Storage for students’ instruments (e.g., a 12-year-old hauling a tuba to math on the 4th floor with only a 3-minute passing period) – Large instruments like drums, string basses, cellos, and pianos—each taking up 5–9 feet of space, with 5–10 students using them depending on the school’s size And this doesn’t even address the issue with our middle school auditoriums. At Roosevelt, our stage can barely fit all our 6th-grade band students alongside the necessary equipment. At Taft and Harding, they have to split their concerts into three separate events because there isn’t enough seating. For example, instead of a combined 6th/7th/8th grade Band concert, they must hold three separate “mini” concerts—sometimes even on different days—to avoid conflicts with students involved in multiple activities, which must be a scheduling nightmare for them. Without proper building design, our programs are suffering, and students are losing access to the full experience of music education compared to their peers in surrounding schools. We need real solutions to accommodate all students effectively.

We were led to believe a couple of years ago that these old buildings were pretty much unusable. It is amazing how a short time later we have figured out ways to modernize them that will be allot less expensive than building new, and it will keep neighborhood schools. I am glad to see that it has been figured out. This is a segment of the bond issue that I can support, along with the "trades wings" at the high schools, but the new $100M+ middle school in the most affluent part of town will be facet of it that will force me to vote NO. Lets pare back the bond issue to $50M, take care of some of the pent up modernizations of our buildings and then see where we are at in a few years. It will allow us to see how well these projects are managed while moving forward. If the new proposed middle school will be for "generations to come" we can wait a few more years as we figure out the declining enrollment, private schools, charter schools, etc. I wish that we could vote on 1/2 the projects!

What happened to the plan to close Roosevelt and build a new school at the taft location?

I stand corrected. The "trade wings" at the high schools would not be covered under this bond issue, the funding would come from elsewhere. With that, we can still have our "trade wings" while voting "Absolutely NO"

I don't understand how Harding is surrounded by Lin-Mar. I lived on Cavalier st right behind Harding and that is CRCSD boundaries. I am confused.

Governor Kim Reynolds five public schools more than 2% and I might say yes.

What is the plan for Grant Wood Elementary? I moved into the neighborhood so my kids could walk to school and I hear it is being closed down? Is that the plan?

Hmmm… Cedar Rapids Community School District, we need more details, please. You say “Here, we’ve focused on McKinley,” but you’ve said only two-and-a-half things about McKinley. The next picture says “Why a McKinley Renovation?” but doesn’t answer the question. So, now are we to understand that the NE side middle school will now NOT service Franklin students (many of whom are NE side students) but they will instead attend McK? Please don’t make the same mistakes with this roll out that you made with CaCP. This is beginning to smack of that debacle. There is a lot of vagueness here that doesn’t feel good and we want to be supportive. In order to do that, we need information. From the get-go.

I think this is crazy as u all have already messed with kids and messed up friends ships and now u expect us to move are kids again??? Help me understand how this is gonna make anything better? Wilson used to be a great middle school and elementary and u all took that away and now u wanna take the middle school away? What about the teachers that work there and the principal??? Make it make since come on I would like to talk to who ever is in charge of all of this it sounds messy and crazy!

I'm not convinced that new buildings will solve the problems facing CRSD. We need to invest in our teachers and staff, and work to rebuild trust with parents and the community. My vote is No to the Bond

I need to read this more closely, but does this mean more kids at Roosevelt?!? That is a deteriorating building, if I ever saw one. Let's go ahead and add more kids to an already struggling, overpacked school. That school needs more renovations and updates than Harding.

What would happen with the 4 unused schools/properties? The information in the survey states the old Harding building would be demolished and turned into green space?!? Considering the building was built in the 60's and has a capacity of 900 (per CRCSD data) that doesn't make sense. If the building isn't needed, selling it would be the financially responsible option. There is no information at all listed about the districts plans for the buildings/properties for CRA/Taylor(1973), Grant(1961) and Metro.

Have current or upcoming Wilson middle school families been asked for feedback on this? What's the plan if not approved for Kennedy since part of pathways is a 9th grade area? What's left on the facilities list that was already approved that hasn't been completed? Why are we not done with one project and going to next this is when community starts questioning where all our money is going. You have all these ideas but what our district NEEDS is a central location with a pantry, ELL translators, classes for parents to learn English, resources for families. We have behavior issues starting in Kindergarten. We have brand new buildings not full but class sizes at 27. Families and enrollment is declining/leaving due to the items your choosing to prioritize.

So uprooting kids again and sending them to other schools. All you’re worried about is nice shiny buildings not how it’s going to affect the students going to those schools. Make it make sense

Renovations will not help with the overcrowding at Roosevelt

Metro would be sold !

CRA /Taylor cedar rapids school district doesn't own the land . It's lease land It's main purpose was for education only. .

Wow

What's the word with school tomorrow given the impending weather?