Waterloo School board members will vote tonight to either withdraw a $165-million plan to merge the city’s high schools or put it on the November ballot for voter approval.
Waterloo Superintendent Jared Smith says significant updates are needed to address the old school buildings and to provide easier access to the district’s career center.
“Because we feel like they’re more engaged. We’ve talked to so many students anecdotally that their favorite part of the day is that career course. That’s what gets them up in the morning,” Smith says. “We’ve got a lot of data that speaks to the career center being successful.”
The merger plan was to be funded with an existing statewide sales tax that didn’t require voter approval when the school board passed it in July, but voters brought a petition to the board two weeks ago asking the plan to be put on the ballot.
Smith says the merger would improve graduation rates because more students would have easier access to the career center. He says another goal is to close achievement gaps.
“We are a minority majority district,” Smith says. “So, we’ve got 60-plus percent of our students who are of color and we do feel like this high school project would meet the needs of all students and we would see academic success in closing that achievement gap with all of our students.”
Two board members voted against the plan over concerns with the location and price tag. One member said the district hasn’t fully addressed the cultures of the high schools merging.
The plan would have all 10th through 12th graders go to one high school that’s currently serving as Central Middle School. Middle schoolers would be moved elsewhere.
(By Meghan McKinney, Iowa Public Radio)