HILLS

An important conundrum arose at the Hills City Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 12: what is the future of the small town’s elementary school?

This future has been uncertain for quite some time.

In March of 2022, the Iowa City School District school board approved a design contract for a new, two-story school in Hills, costing $20.1 million. Then in April of the same year, the board approved to replace the elementary with a budget of $18 million. 

By August of 2022, the Iowa City school board approved a timeline: Hills would have a new elementary by the summer of 2026, delayed by one year.

This was a part of Iowa City’s “Facility Master Plan 2.0.”

Times change and the Iowa City school board now has new faces. This will lead to a new vote on the Facility Master Plan 2.0, including Hills’ new elementary, likely on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at the next Iowa City school board meeting.

The Hills Elementary principal, Reagan Boeset, joined the Hills City Council to discuss these challenges.

Boeset listed a few different scenarios which could play out for the school:

• The school keeps operating as is.
• They get their new building, finding a way to not interrupt learning in the process.
• The school could remain open for one more year, transitioning families to other schools.
• The school could close for good at the end of this school year.
• The school could remain open in a reduced fashion. This would look like small class sizes taught and operated by a part-time staff, maybe splitting time between Hills and another school if necessary.

Boeset and the council unanimously want to keep Hills Elementary. If they lose the school, Boeset has a plethora of ideas to keep education in the town. Some of her ideas included a public library, a larger food pantry, daycare, an English Language Learner (ELL) center, a STEM center, alternative kindergarten, a magnet school, an early childhood or preschool center – especially for three-year-olds – or a good mix of the ideas already presented.

Boeset also said she would be more than willing to sit down with the council and brainstorm further.

Boeset mentioned a myriad of other topics as well, the first being the district informed Hills’ staff that their budget must be cut by 25%, mid-year. This comes after the Iowa City School District works to clean up their budget, according to Boeset.

A 25% budget reduction is worrisome. However, the city of Hills donates $20k to the school before each school year and this is why Boeset isn’t too worried.

“I just can’t stress enough, I’ve never been in a district with this kind of support from the city,” Boeset said. “I really appreciate it.”

If Hills Elementary is operational next school year, they’ll lose their sixth-grade program. As the smallest school in the district with 145 enrolled, it made sense to drop the program, financially speaking. Hills spends twice as much as other Iowa City district schools per student due to a small student body tied with wages of the full-timers. Additionally, enrollment is down, furthering the issue.

S&G Materials

S&G Materials joined the council to request a letter of approval for an upcoming project they’d like to begin. In layman’s terms, S&G is seeking a conditional use permit to use land zoned for something else as a sand and gravel mine.

This mine would be on the outskirts of town, not bother residents and be a four to five year project.

The council will draft a letter of approval in the future, not taking issue with S&G’s proposal.

Council member Guy Sommers asked what happens to the land once work is done. The county or the city can purchase the land to do with as they please.

A prime example of this is Iowa City’s Terry Trueblood Recreation Area. S&G used this land and after they were done, Iowa City purchased it and turned it into what it is now.

After hearing the explanation, Sommers joked to fellow council member Emily Hudlachek, “your dog park,” which gave the council a laugh.

Next council meeting: Hills will next meet on Monday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Hills Community Center.