Cedar Rapids board presented revised $117 million bond package; final vote scheduled May 12

Cedar Rapids Community School District staff on Monday told the Board of Education they have revised a proposed bond package from $210.6 million to $117 million and will ask the board to consider final approval at its May 12 meeting, with a potential November 4 ballot if the board moves forward.

The scaled-back plan removes a previously proposed new middle school and focuses on renovations: a substantial renovation of McKinley Middle School (no classroom addition that would move Franklin), converting Wilson into an elementary school and renovating Roosevelt to accept those students, and targeted work at Kennedy High School including cafeteria and freshman-academy upgrades. District staff said the revisions aim to preserve historic buildings while addressing aging systems, enrollment shifts and building accessibility.

District staff said the bond would draw from three distinct facility funding “buckets”: the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) for maintenance, the SAVE (Secure an Advanced Vision for Education) sales-tax fund for…