Schools First Update - Winter 2008
March 6, 2008
In 1999, thanks to the voters of Des Moines, a 10-year, one-cent local option sales tax began to turn aging Des Moines public schools into 21st century classrooms. Today, 30 schools are either complete or about to be renovated.
But, when the sales tax comes to an end in 2010, more than two dozen Des Moines schools – with thousands of students and hundreds of teachers – will have been untouched.
Lets take a look at what the sales tax has meant for Des Moines and what options will allow the remaining schools to be renovated.
Preserving and improving a building and creating new learning environments means working with each school to showcase its own personality. And part of that personality is the school’s relationship with the community around it.
In 2005, the halfway point of the Schools First plan, the district saw that unforeseen challenges would mean changes to the original plan.
Now, with only a couple short years remaining in the existing sales tax, the district took another look at what can be accomplished with the remaining funds.
When the sales tax expires, two dozen school buildings serving several thousand students will still be waiting for much-needed renovations.
In addition to helping Des Moines finish renovating our school buildings, a statewide sales tax would make it easier for schools across Iowa to plan for future upgrades.
The current penny has not only helped improve student learning that goes on during the day, but it has increased the use of the buildings in the evenings and on weekends.
And, good schools are not only important to students and teachers. They have an impact on the entire community.
Teachers and students of every age have been positively affected by what this money has accomplished in the past 8 years. Updating our buildings, some of which are over 100 years old, gives students and teachers a new perspective on their day to day life.
Since 1999, schools in neighborhoods in every corner of Des Moines have been improved thanks to the community’s support of the local option sales tax. Yet, some students and teachers throughout the city will be going to schools that have not yet been improved when the sales tax ends.
Education has always been a priority in Iowa. The legislature’s consideration of continuing support for our school buildings will mean progress for education, not only in Des Moines but across the state.
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