TOPICS:
Mt. Pleasant CSDIowa Wesleyan UniversityPurchase agreementPublic forumSuperintendent John HenriksenCommunity concernsSchool consolidationProperty taxes
MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa — Over 100 community members filled the library at Mount Pleasant High School to discuss the Mount Pleasant School District's recently approved purchase agreement on the former Iowa Wesleyan University’s Central Campus for $1.35 million.
The property would be purchased with the money the district is granted annually from the statewide penny sales tax.
They expect to receive $2.2 million for the 2024 fiscal year.
Superintendent John Henriksen gave a summary of the board’s decision-making process before opening up the public forum.
During the forum, one person questioned the board, “Was there any consideration of doing this public meeting, say, before you voted?”
In Superintendent Henriksen's presentation, he explained how the district is in need of practice space for sports, gym space, a fine arts space, and more permanent district offices.
The Howe Student Activities Center, football practice fields, and chapel would all meet those needs for the district at a significantly lower cost than constructing brand-new spaces.
Henriksen estimated a new gymnasium alone would cost around $15 million.
The idea of creating an elementary school campus on the former Iowa Wesleyan Central Campus was also floated.
The Superintendent asked the crowd to imagine, “All of our kids there, all of our teachers there, and the power that that would bring. The instructional power of having your teachers there in one spot and the operational efficiencies that would come with that.”
Much of the public pushback during the forum was due to this idea.
A parent with children who go to Salem Elementary said that consolidating all of the schools into one campus would rip the community apart.
“That school is a family, we feel safe with our kids there. A hometown community like that needs to stay the way it is. Thank you.”
Another community member had safety concerns over the possible elementary school campus being next to the public walking trail.
The second top concern was about property taxes going up due to maintenance costs for Iowa Wesleyan’s older buildings
The district is hoping to close on the practice fields in late September and the Central Campus in late November.
DES MOINES, Iowa — Three federal judges in a Minnesota Court of Appeals heard a case from the State of Iowa on Tuesday. The state is appealing a December decision to temporarily block part of Iowa's controversial parental rights law.
Right now, the parts of Iowa's law that bans sexually explicit books from public school libraries, and prohibits lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation in K-6 grades, are currently on hold.
In its appeal, the state asks a federal court to overturn the decision and let the law go into effect.
"This law was done by the Iowa legislature with the intent of helping support Iowa's youth and in helping to curate the way that Iowa students learn," Eric Wessan, the solicitor general for the Iowa Attorney General, said.
However, attorneys behind the two separate lawsuits against the state claimed the law is unconstitutional and written too broadly. They said it's led to different interpretations by school districts, including some that are pulling hundreds of books off library shelves to comply.
"It restricts expression in terms that are so vague and overbroad that no two schools seem to agree on what they mean," attorney for the ACLU of Iowa Thomas Story said. "But the fact is that over 3,000 books were removed, student GSA's were closed, and LGBTQ+ students across the state were forced into silence. That is unconstitutional."
One of the judges expressed concerns that the challenge may lie with how the law is being interpreted by school districts, rather than the law itself.
"If we had to start all over and start suing individual school districts, think about the court and schools and public resources that go into that," Christy Hickman, the associate director of legal services for the Iowa State Education Association, said.
After the arguments, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird called the law common sense.
“Inappropriate books do not belong in the hands of school children," Bird said. "As a mom, I know how important it is for parents to have a say in what books and materials their kids have access to. Today, we made the case in court to defend Iowa’s law that protects kids, families, and parental rights. It is common sense.”
Opponents said the state still hasn't given schools detailed guidance on how to implement the law. The state argues that if the temporary block is lifted, schools and students will understand what the law means.
"The state believes if this injunction is vacated these school districts, the schools and the students will understand what the law means and as time moves forward this will become an integral part of Iowa's educational landscape," Wessan said.
When the hearing wrapped up, one of the judges noted the importance of the case here in Iowa and nationally, with book ban battles playing out in communities all over the country.
Yet, right now, there's no timeline on when they'll come to a decision.
TOPICS:
Linn countyAir qualityPurple air sensorsPM2.5Particulate matterAir pollutantsEnvironmental healthMonitoringCEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Air quality affects every breath we take.
Recent high winds kicked up dust and wildfires that spread smoke across the country show how important it is to monitor air pollutants.
Linn County Public Health is dedicated to keeping a close eye on air quality with the help of heavy duty monitors and so-called "purple air sensors."
Purple air sensors are low-cost sensors, around $280, that measure PM2.5, a particle pollutant, through the light scattering of particles that are drawn into the monitor with a fan. These sensors give us an idea of the fine particles in the area and the air quality index.
They give us a good snapshot of what we call particulate matter, particularly the fine particles PM2.5, with regards to air quality in Linn County," said Wanda Reiter, the air quality manager for Linn County.
Data is collected at nine locations across Linn County, with two sensors at each location:
Poor air quality can have negative impacts on vulnerable populations, such as children, the elderly and people with chronic respiratory issues.
However, there are websites out there that can get real-time air quality information to protect everyone's health.
PurpleAir's website has an interactive map that shows the location of all PurpleAir sensors across the country. The AirNow Fire and Smoke Map provides local air quality information, as well as across the state, country and world.
This gives us a better idea of how the particles are dispersed throughout our area. And we can provide information through the fire and smoke map with regards to our air quality, and people can make decisions with regards to their health from this information," Kintz said.
