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CEDAR RAPIDS — Neighbors Monday voiced their concerns about how new schools replacing Hoover and Van Buren will encroach on their properties and alter the natural environment surrounding the current school facilities.
The Cedar Rapids school board Monday tabled the bid issuance for Hoover and Van Buren elementary schools following a public hearing where six people spoke in opposition to the projects in their current form.
Sarah Hinzman, a neighbor to Hoover Elementary and alumna of the school, said the new buildings will be in “intense proximity to residential property.” There will be an “intrusive access road” around Hoover that will be a bus lane and a fire lane for emergency vehicles, she said.
“I want them to have a beautiful school all the resources necessary for every student to learn and be their best,” Hinzman said.
The schools will be constructed adjacent to the current structures — Hoover at 4141 Johnson Ave. NW and Van Buren at 2525 29th St. SW. The existing schools will remain open during construction. The buildings will be demolished after the new schools are completed. The cost of each school is estimated to be $40 million.
The new Hoover school will have a setback of 20 to 40 feet from neighboring residential properties.
“As neighbors, we have eyes on the school grounds … we know how families — both human and wildlife — make use of the grounds. We know how water flows and collects after a storm. We could tell you a lot about what being a neighbors means to us. But you didn’t ask us, and I really wish you would have,“ Hinzman said.
Other neighbors echoed her concerns of stormwater management and loss of mature trees with construction. Homeowners also are concerned the height of Hoover Elementary — 28 feet tall — will disrupt their view and privacy.
Neighbors also protested against potential “noise pollution” and lack of privacy having a school so close to their house.
Joe Brokaw, a neighbor to Hoover Elementary, said he feels “ambushed” by a new school planned to be constructed about 50 feet away from his property line. “We’re very much in favor of a school,” Brokaw said. The bus lane being so close to his home “is not ideal for us,” he said.
“We’ve made suggestions to shut the school down perhaps for two years,” Brokaw said.
‘We’re thinking about the homeowners’
Chad Schumacher, operations director for the Cedar Rapids district, said there were constraints in where the district could build new schools while keeping the current facilities open to students.
“We want to keep the buildings open. We don’t have a place to send the kids while we do construction and wanted the least amount of disruption to them as possible,” Schumacher said.
One constraint at Hoover is the geothermal well on the property. Building on it would be a challenge, and could add $2 million in costs to the project, Schumacher said.
Responding to neighbors’ concerns, Schumacher said the district is exploring options to provide more privacy between the new schools and the residential properties. This includes planting mature trees or putting a fence along the property line.
“We’re thinking about the homeowners,” Schumacher said.
Schumacher said the bus and fire lane at Hoover Elementary neighbors are concerned about will have minimal traffic. There will be about five vehicles twice a day that use the bus and fire lane at Hoover Elementary. That includes two buses and two vans to transport students, milk delivery and twice weekly trash and recycling pick up.
“It’s not a thoroughfare. It’s not a parent pickup lane. We even talked about putting a gate, so the lane can’t be used on the weekends and during the summer,” Schumacher said.
Schumacher said he has met with groups of neighbors several times in the last month and wants to “continue to have conversations.”
“We’re taking their comments and trying to be responsive to their concerns,” Schumacher said.
Projects delayed, but it’s ‘the right thing to do’
The decision by the Cedar Rapids school board Monday to issue bidding documents will delay the project “at least a month,” Schumacher said. “A month in construction is a lot, especially when we’re backing up to winter.”
“It’s the right thing to do, and it’s a good thing we can have these conversation. It lets us do this the right way and make sure we’re being good neighbors to each other.”
Schumacher said school officials “felt like we were doing our due diligence” in creating site plans for the schools, including meeting with families earlier this year.
“Change is hard, and the only thing that’s constant is change,” Schumacher said. “We always have to stop and think about all the people impacted. Anytime we’re going to do something, we should make sure we include everyone in that.”
The Cedar Rapids City Council is set to host public hearings at its July 22 meeting on the rezoning necessary for both the Hoover and Van Buren projects.
The council had offered preliminary approval of the rezoning at its June 24 meeting, although it was later discovered that there had been an erroneous public posting regarding the day of that meeting. As a result, another public hearing is required with proper posting.
Over the last five years, the district has opened three elementary schools that replaced older buildings — West Willow, Maple Grove and Trailside.
“Property values seem to be going up around the buildings that are new, and enrollment increases around the buildings that are new. This is vital to our existence. We have to make improvements to our facilities … We also have to include neighbors as part of our stakeholders,” Schumacher said.
Plan to construct new schools approved in 2024
The plan to construct two new elementary school buildings on the Hoover and Van Buren school sites was
approved by the school board in August 2024
.
Staff described overcrowding and poor conditions
at the schools, including mold, cockroaches, leaking bathroom plumbing and working alongside each other teaching up to 50 students in one room.
Staff emphasized the
need for larger classrooms, more equitable distribution of resources
across the district and renovations to address safety and capacity issues.
The schools have seen large increases in the size of their student bodies in recent years and have exceeded suggested enrollment capacity, even building temporary walls in classrooms and common areas to create more learning spaces.
Hoover used four portable classrooms during the 2024-25 academic year to meet student demand.
The areas of Cedar Rapids where the schools are located are projected to continue to see population growth.
The projects would be funded by SAVE — Secure an Advanced Vision for Education — an existing statewide sales tax allocated to districts based on certified enrollment.
Grace Nieland of The Gazette contributed to this report.
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