(Undated) — KMA News continues its “Flashback 2024” series of reports looking back at the top local and regional news stories of the past year. In today’s segment, Mike Peterson reports on the year in education–one filled with bond issues, big controversies–and a major tragedy.
It didn’t take long for the first major news story of 2024 to break. It happened on the morning of January 4th, when 17-year-old Dylan Butler entered Perry High School, and shot and killed the school’s principal, Dan Marburger and a 6th grader. Six others were wounded before the gunman shot and killed himself. Shenandoah School Superintendent Dr. Kerri Nelson was among the KMAland administrators reacting to the horrific events in Perry.
“It’s a tragic loss,” said Nelson, “and my heart breaks for them. I know our whole school community is deeply mournful for them, and regretful over what’s happened.”
Dr. Mike Wells is superintendent of the Essex and Hamburg School Districts. Like other districts, Wells says Perry conducts active shooter training and had plans to deal with violent incidents. But, he says there’s no way schools can fully prepare for a shooting incident.
“We do have plans in place,” said Wells. “We have rehearsed plans in the past–what would we do if there’s an active shooter in your building. Our staff’s been trained in ALICE. But, the bottom line is, it’s very difficult to prevent these kinds of things from happening. If someone wants to come into your school to do harm, we don’t have bulletproof glass. They can get into your building–even if you have the best plans in place.”
Another education-related story in 2024 involved a massive overhaul of the state’s Area Education Agencies approved by the Iowa Legislature and signed by Governor Kim Reynolds. While no changes were made to special education funding in the 2024-2025 school year, 90% of the funding allocated to AEAs would go to individual school districts in year two. However, the districts must spend that money with local AEA services. Districts would then control 10% of those funds, and gain full control of general education and media service funding currently allocated to AEAs. Dr. Jason Plourde is superintendent of the Green Hills Area Education Agency. Speaking on KMA’s “Morning Line” program, Plourde says AEAs are taking a financial hit from the measure’s funding redistribution component.
“A lot of people don’t realize that we’ve had years of cuts over and over again,” said Plourde. “Last year, we had $2 million worth of cuts, last year, $5 million. What this equates to, really, as we think ahead is just for the 10%–which doesn’t sound like a lot–that’s another $3.7 million in cuts toward the AEA. That coupled with the educational service, and immediate media cuts of 60% before July 1st of this year, it’s not insurmountable, but it certainly is formidable.”
The year 2024 was also a big year for special referendums Voters in the Clarinda School District twice defeated a proposed physical plant and equipment levy of $1.34 per thousand dollars valuation to cover needed infrastructure projects. The first referendum in March fell only four votes shy of the necessary 50% supermajority. But, a second referendum in September would prove even less successful, as 55% of the voters said no. Despite the PPEL referendums’ defeat, construction began in May on a long list of projects covered the district’s Secure an Advanced Vision for Education, or SAVE dollars.
Other building-related referendums met with mixed results in the November general elections. Among those falling short was Iowa Western Community College’s proposed $55 million bond issue, receiving only 59.4% of the vote in the college’s 13-county coverage area. Iowa Western President Dr. Daniel Kinney says the referendum missed the 60% supermajority by an estimated 100-to-200 votes. Passage of the bond issue would have provided funding for additions and renovations at Iowa Western’s Council Bluffs and Clarinda campuses plus the Shenandoah center to provide expanded career training opportunities for students. Kinney cited insufficient communications with the bond issue’s rejection.
“I think the majority of it was, we just didn’t get it out there,” he said. “People didn’t know. I had people call me, and say ‘it really wasn’t going to raise it (the levy)?’ I said no, and they said, ‘oh, my gosh, I did not understand that.'”
Other bond issues met with better results. Voters in the Council Bluffs Lewis Central School District said yes to a slimmed down, sleeker bond issue referendum. Unofficial results show Lewis Central’s $30 million bond issue receiving 60.88% of the vote–barely making the 60% supermajority needed for passage.
2024 was also a memorable year for Shenandoah. We’ll look back at some of the city’s highlights and issues in our next “Flashback 2024” segment.