Iowa City Community School District Presents Phasing Plan for Master Facilities Plan

Facilities Master Plan to be Implemented Over 10 Years

IOWA CITY, IA- Today the Iowa City Community School District presented “Transforming the Learning Environment: Ten years of Facility Improvements in the Iowa City Community School District”.  The District is in the midst of transforming into a 21st Century learning community.  The District’s Ten Year Facility Plan, approved by the board in July, provides a blueprint for improving the learning environment for every student.  Through the proposed phasing plan the District is focusing on four key areas to ensure that the Facilities Master Plan is implemented in a manner that maximizes the resources available:

·      Balance and Timing Across the District

·      Student Enrollment and Building Capacity

·      Minimizing Student Transitions

·      Efficient Use of Fiscal Capital

“The ten year plan is designed to bring equitable learning environments to all district buildings, address the rapid student growth taking place in the school district community, and improve the structure and amenities of the district’s older buildings”, says Superintendent Steve Murley.

Accomplishing the projects outlined in the nearly $258,500,000 board approved facility master plan, requires a systematic approach executed with a high degree of fidelity. Complete transformation will take ten years at an average monthly cost of $2,150,000 for the District.

Based on the DeJong Ritcher Enrollment Projections for the District, rapid student growth will continue for the foreseeable future. It is projected that the District’s enrollment will have increased by approximately 2,500 students by the 2023-2024 school year; an average increase of 250 students a year.

Three primary revenue streams will fund the District’s FMP work:

·      Iowa Secure and Advance Vision for Education (SAVE) funds

·      Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) dollars

·      General Obligation bonds (G.O. Bond)

SAVE funding is generated through a one cent sales tax. This funding will be accessible to the District until the year 2029. The plan calls for $85,300,000 to be borrowed in Fiscal Year 2017 and $7,000,000 to be borrowed in Fiscal Year 2018. With the addition of the SAVE cash balance on hand as of June 30, 2013, SAVE dollars will fund nearly $127,000,000 of the FMP. In addition to this SAVE funding, $12,400,000 of PPEL funding will be put toward completing the work during the phasing process.

Chief Financial Officer Craig Hansel states, “Fully funding the implementation of the FMP through the phasing model will depend on the passage of a G.O. Bond by the community. The District will ask community members to approve a G.O. Bond initiative in the fall of 2017. The specific size of this bond issue will be determined by the projects slated to be completed in the second half of the phasing plan.” Taking into account the other revenue sources streaming into the project, the bond issue, in present value dollars, is estimated to be approximately $120,000,000 when taken to the voters. The timing of the vote coincides with the final year of the current G.O. debt, refinanced in 2012.

The Facility Master Plan and Phasing Model have been under construction for more than a year with significant community involvement. A great deal of work remains and it will not be completed over night. While the plan encompasses significant changes to the physical environments of the District, the purpose of the plan remains focused on supporting high caliber teaching and learning throughout all schools.