The Des Moines (Iowa) school district expects to spend an estimated $683 million over the next decade on its "Reimagining Education, Reinvigorating Schools" plan that will close some schools and retool others as enrollment shrinks.
The Des Moines Register reports that the 10-year plan calls for new buildings, additions and renovations as well as moving sixth-grade students to elementary schools and establishing "signature schools" focused on a specialized academic areas such as performing arts or sciences and math.
District officials hope the plan will revamp the 30,000-student district, boosting enrollment and improving academic achievement.
Moving forward, much of Reimagining Education will be decided by voters because the district needs to pass a bond issue to cover the cost.
Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts has said he expects a bond proposal will exceed $500 million. In May, district officials expect to have a draft of a bond petition and must start circulating the petition by July 15.
To place the bond proposal on the November ballot. the petition must have signatures equal to at least 25% of the number of voters who cast ballots in the last school board election. The district has until Sept. 19 to submit a board-approved resolution to the county auditor.
The Reimagining Education plan would break the district into three regions: Northeast, northwest and south. Each region is expected to have seven to eight schools. This includes two or three signature schools and pre-K through sixth grade elementary schools.
The district has already moved some sixth grade students to elementary schools, and expanded its Montessori classrooms and universal all-day 4-year-old preschool classrooms.
