Anybody who lives in Davenport knows that not much new gets built in the west end.
So, it is no small thing that the Davenport School Board is moving forward with plans for a new middle school to replace the 105-year-old Frank L. Smart Intermediate School, which is located at 1934 West 5th Street.
The board, in a unanimous decision Monday, updated its long-range facilities plan to replace rather than renovate and expand Smart. This comes after a decision earlier to replace Sudlow Intermediate, on the city’s east side, with a new school.
The board also set a public hearing for Dec. 11 for the sale of $160 million in revenue bonds to pay for the middle school construction projects as well as upgrades to North High School and new sports fields at the district’s high schools.
A separate public hearing on the sports fields, which is required by law, also has been set for Dec. 11.
The money to pay off the bonds over 20 years will come from the district’s SAVE fund, the 1-cent sales tax that is distributed by the state of Iowa. Unlike some other bond sales, this won’t mean a property tax increase. These are funds that are already being collected. And they’re monies that, by law, are set aside for infrastructure expenses. The money can’t be spent on operational costs, such as teachers.
These are big changes for the Davenport School District, and they come after some tough decisions over the last year or so.
A week ago, I lamented the impending demolition of Monroe Elementary School on the west side of the city. The school board voted last December to close Monroe and two other elementaries, Buchanan and Washington, which are in older parts of Davenport. Washington already has fallen to the wrecking ball, and Monroe’s demolition is supposed to happen soon.
Monroe, which is just south of Smart, holds a special place in the hearts of thousands of west enders. I interviewed ex-students and staffers for the article I wrote, and it was clear they’re saddened by the building’s impending demise. I join them. My kids went to Monroe, and when it is gone, I’ll forever miss it.
I would guess that Smart and Sudlow, and Washington, too, have special memories for people in this city, just like Monroe does.
That said, the thought of new middle schools in these areas is exciting to me.
The neighborhoods around Smart are some of the poorest in Davenport, and putting money into this part of the city is an investment in the future. The estimated cost to build a new middle school, if the 21-year-old gymnasium at Smart is retained, is $53 million to $55 million. The cost for replacing Sudlow was listed in a presentation last month at about $62 million.
What’s more, the new buildings are aimed at making Davenport schools more effective and the district more competitive, officials have said.
At a meeting last month, a consultant for the district said these facility changes are being driven in significant part by Davenport’s embrace of an educational approach called a “house” model, whereby smaller learning communities are created within these schools. The idea is to provide for improved social development and better educational outcomes.
TJ Schneckloth, Davenport’s superintendent, said that during the district’s planning process, the community said that they wanted improvements at the district’s middle schools and for them to be more responsive to student needs. The new investments will also make the district more attractive to families deciding where to send their children to school, officials believe. “Obviously, when you build brand new facilities, that makes you more competitive,” Schneckloth said the other day. “We will have the nicest middle schools in our area.”
Davenport needs to be competitive. It’s no secret the school district has been losing students, and as a Quad-City Times article this summer made clear, the changes in state law over the last few years to make it easier for families to open enroll out of the district have hurt.
We also don’t know what the impact to public schools will be from the decision by Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Legislature to use taxpayer money to pay private school expenses for families who decide to go that route.
Looking to the future
A presentation last month indicated the bonds for the new middle schools will be sold early next year. The new Sudlow school would be built in 2024 and 2025, according to a timeline presented to the board, while the new Smart building is planned for 2025 and 2026. Both projects entail 18-month construction periods.
As someone who’s lived in this part of Davenport for 30 years and who doesn’t have any plans to leave, I look forward to seeing what the new middle school — and the space where Monroe now sits — will look like.
More importantly, my hope is that these new buildings and the educational strategies they are intended to facilitate will contribute to a better education for the kids who are attending classes here — as well as those who will do so long into the future.
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Ed, I agree with your support for the district decision to invest in the west end and in some of our poorer neighborhoods. New buildings and refurbished buildings are uplifting and a source of pride to the entire community. Unfortunately, parents that have moved their children out of the Davenport schools did not do it because our buildings are inadequate. Our academic scores are indicators that our students are not learning at a comparable rate to our communities that surround Davenport. I would strongly suggest that if you have a high achieving child in the Davenport School District, they can compete with anyone in our neighboring communities and would extend that to the US. My kids are proof of being able to compete and went to very prestigious schools out East. In order to turn the outmigration around we need a community effort and commitment to improve low-income housing opportunities and the schools need to make sure that every student can read at the fourth-grade level in spite of their socioeconomic status. All of education centers on being able to read.