Des Moines Public Faculties
After Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers arrested its superintendent, Des Moines Public Faculties took a lot of steps to revive confidence in its $265 million normal obligation bond measure, which have to be accredited by 60% of voters within the Nov. 4 election to move.
These embrace appointing a bond oversight committee — which
The district had already scaled again a $500 million bond plan to $265 million throughout Roberts’ tenure. Within the new Reimagining Schooling bond plan, the full-scale renovations at almost each district facility had been dialed again to partial upgrades — sometimes 50% of sq. footage — and excluded renovation prices at many websites, based on a
The bond measure would contain a property tax enhance, based on the
The district doesn’t presently have any GO debt excellent, CFO Shashank Aurora stated.
The district has six collection of
The district’s final bond referendum was in 1989, Aurora stated by e mail.
If the referendum fails, Aurora stated, “we might nonetheless proceed with the initiatives as outlined within the referendum, however it might take so much longer for us to perform it. We might use SAVE revenues to pay for it.”
If accredited, the GO bonds can be issued primarily based on money movement forecasts of development wants throughout the five-year plan, Phil Roeder, the district’s director of communications, stated by e mail.
“The creation of the (bond oversight) committee sends a robust message to taxpayers that DMPS is dedicated to openness and belief,” he stated. “They are going to confirm that bond proceeds are used precisely as described within the voter-approved plan and can report their findings to the general public.”
Oversight committee chair Marc Ward didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Bond proceeds will fund additions and renovations to a number of faculty buildings, in accordance
The district plans to spend round $65.2 million on additions and renovations to six faculties within the northwest third of its jurisdiction. It plans to spend $89.48 million on additions and renovations to the seven faculties within the northeast third, and $53.2 million on additions to the 5 faculties within the south third. It additionally plans to spend $42 million on the brand new construct of a PK-8 performing and visible arts magnet faculty, based on a presentation shared with The Bond Purchaser.
Roeder didn’t reply to a query about
The present bond plan acquired greater than 9,000 signatures from Des Moines residents, Roeder stated.
“Des Moines Public Faculties is a couple of individual, and the Reimagining Schooling initiative shouldn’t be tied to any single particular person,” he stated. “The plan represents years of labor by educators, dad and mom, college students, enterprise leaders, and group members. Matt Smith, our present interim superintendent, coordinated a lot of the work main as much as this effort whereas he was affiliate superintendent.”
Roberts is a citizen of Guyana who allegedly has not had standing to work within the U.S. since 2020 and was ordered eliminated in 2024.
After Roberts’ arrest, the
“Since his arrest, there have been a number of studies casting doubt on the truthfulness of Roberts’ said biographical {and professional} background,” the district
A federal grand jury in October returned indictments of Roberts for making a false assertion for employment — by testifying he was a U.S. citizen — and on a firearms cost, the
Sonya Heitshusen, a spokesperson for the state auditor — a Democrat who’s operating for governor — stated by e mail that Sand’s workplace can’t estimate the approximate completion date of the audit
The Reimagining Schooling bond measure dovetails with
Amongst different issues, that plan aimed to show round years of enrollment declines. Within the
The district reported enrollment of 30,836 in 2024-25.
The plan units as a objective for 2030 that open enrollment out of the district won’t surpass open enrollment into the district. It additionally requires a rise within the variety of faculties providing progressive programming, and a discount in operational prices to align with projected enrollment.
Roeder stated the bond measure “reinvests in our neighborhood faculties, expands hands-on and technical studying, and ensures each scholar can entry Signature Faculties Diploma+ alternatives no matter their ZIP code.”
The Diploma+ program acknowledges college students who’ve pursued their post-graduation pursuits with distinction, based on
The bond measure grew out of research and analysis by an area committee, Roeder stated.
“Over the previous two years, a committee of almost 80 group members, dad and mom, lecturers, college students, and enterprise companions met to check enrollment patterns, constructing situations, and program entry throughout our 60+ faculties,” he stated.
“Not solely did they rent specialists to look at the buildings, however additionally they toured faculties to see the infrastructure wants for themselves,” he added. “Members additionally visited equally sized districts within the area to look at what situations and programming was working effectively for different college students.”
A draft Reimagining Schooling plan was shared with the general public in additional than a dozen suggestions classes earlier than the ultimate plan was accredited by the college board.
