School board approves land purchase for proposed new middle school; some residents say task force didn’t prioritize site

The Cedar Rapids Community School District board voted to buy a parcel from the Tawke family for a proposed new middle school, using carryover capital funds the district described as leftover "pebble" money from past projects. The board approved the purchase by roll-call vote, with all members voting aye.

The board heard a presentation from Chad Schumacher, a district staff member working on facilities, who said the purchase responds to voter feedback after the November 2023 bond referendum failed. Schumacher said a district survey of more than 60,000 voters showed uncertainty about where a replacement or new middle school would be located, and locating a site was cited as a barrier to a successful bond vote.

The district presented the parcel as suitably sized and positioned to form the northernmost middle school in a rebalanced feeder pattern, near Collins Road and Blairs Ferry Road and close to major traffic ways. The district’s demographer, Rob Schwartz of RSP, told the board the site would help balance middle-school distribution as residential growth continues on the north side of the district; Transportation Director Scott Wing told the board the site would help reduce long bus runs from Palo and benefit overall routing.

Resident Dorothy D’Souza Gaddis, a member of the Future Ready Facilities Task Force, urged the board to pause and reconsider. “It’s almost like you’re following a playbook called how to fail another bond referendum,” she said, arguing the task force never prioritized a new middle school outside the city limits and that earlier task force priorities focused on equity and removing barriers. She asked why the district would spend an estimated $7.5 million to buy 50 acres when the task force did not rank new outlying middle schools as a top priority.

Board members asked staff several questions about price and funding. Schumacher said the district negotiated comparables and is proposing a purchase price he described as competitive for the northeast side of Cedar Rapids; he said comparable listings elsewhere showed prices ranging from $6 to $14 per square foot while the district’s proposed price was lower than some comparables. Director Borcherding asked for explicit square-foot and per-acre comparisons; Schumacher provided the comparables shown to the board.

On funding, Schumacher and other staff said the purchase would use carryover pebble funds from the previous 10-year cycle, not new or ongoing pebble tax increases. "This would have no tax implications on any of our taxpayers at this time," Schumacher said, adding that bond approval would still be required to build a school on the site. Board members clarified that the board was approving only purchase of land; construction would require a future bond measure.

Several board members said the site aligns with expected future residential growth on the north side and the district’s interest in creating a true feeder pattern, moving students from elementary to middle to high school in consistent feeder streams. Schumacher described the plan as intended to reduce split pathways that currently send neighborhood cohorts to different high schools.

After discussion the board moved and seconded a motion to approve the purchase agreement; the roll-call vote recorded ayes from all named directors and the president. The district said if the board later decides not to build on the parcel, it will retain the land in inventory while other options are considered.

Why it matters: The land purchase answers a frequently cited concern from voters and the task force—where a new middle school would be sited—but it does not authorize construction. It commits district funds now to secure a location that supporters say will ease future bond messaging and planning; opponents at the meeting said the site choice and the sequence of decisions risk repeating the district’s earlier referendum defeat.

What’s next: The task force and district staff will continue work on a revised bond package and feeder-plan options; any construction would require a voter-approved bond.