Gladbrook-Reinbeck tries again on bond issue
Referendum for addition needs to overcome decade of distrust
REINBECK — The Gladbrook-Reinbeck school district held an open house at the junior/senior high school Tuesday before a bond referendum next week.
The main building in Reinbeck opened to students in 1922, a year after the cornerstone was laid. The district has been showing voters that many components of that building are operating far beyond their intended lifespan or don’t meet current standards, including the Americans With Disabilities Act. This construction would replace classrooms in that building but the bond does not include demolition.
Superintendent Caleb Bonjour led a informational session in an auditorium chilly enough to make its own point about the building’s problems with temperature regulation. Approximately 20 people attended.
“We have good kids here, excellent kids,” football coach and physical education teacher John Olson said at the end of the session. Olson served as a tour guide, as did four high school students. Junior Anthony Knaack eloquently made the case for not letting the past dictate the district’s future. Senior Hudson Clark said the temperature swings in the classrooms — hot in late summer, cold in winter — created distractions.
The $17.3 million bond referendum for the high school site goes before voters Nov. 4. The bond, in the words of the district, would go toward:
Adding a secure entry and classroom addition to improve safety and replace outdated learning spaces
Upgrading HVAC, electrical, and controls for safety, health, and efficiency
Improving ADA accessibility throughout the building for all
Creating flexible, functional learning spaces for current and future programming.
The plan includes new secure entries, 15 classrooms, media center, family and consumer sciences room, kitchen storage, and a mechanical room. Detailed breakdowns of the HVAC, electrical, and ADA issues were covered in a slide show at town hall meetings Sept. 23 and 24.
Receiving public support for school improvements has been an uphill battle for a district that has been grievously divided since the closure and subsequent demolition of the school building in Gladbrook. Earlier this month, Bonjour issued a “District Response to Misleading Information and Social Media Posts” to address online comments by area residents.
Last year, a $16.5 million bond issue failed, two years after a $23.6 million bond issue failed. A task force had eight meetings before the 2024 bond vote. A second task force had seven this year. The entire process in 2024, according to a presentation, involved “4 town hall meetings, 2 listening sessions, community survey, 2 elementary school open houses, 3 referendum info sessions and building tours; videos, websites, social media, mailer, postcards, newspaper coverage.”
Yet, in a survey, 66% of respondents who opposed the referendum said they did so because of “lack of trust in the district.”
This time around, there have been two town halls and two building tours along with all the communications strategies noted above. Bonjour said it has taken until now, his third year leading the district and 11th school year since Gladbrook’s closure, just to get to the point where dialogue could really happen. “The biggest win has been to get conversations started,” he said.
Last school year, more than one-quarter of G-R’s certified enrollment wasn’t in G-R schools. Nearly half of the open-enrolled-out went to Green Mountain-Garwin, south of Gladbrook.
In March, by a 61.1% to 38.9% margin, voters approved doubling the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy to the maximum $1.34 per $1,000 of taxable value. Like all the other recent votes, Grundy County (Reinbeck) overwhelmingly said yes and Tama County (Gladbrook) overwhelmingly said no.
Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s current tax rate is lower than that of neighboring districts, and that would remain true with a bond. Three of those districts — GMG, Hudson, and North Tama — have approved bond issues in the past three years.
A six-classroom addition to the elementary school in Reinbeck, along with restroom improvements, will be paid for with Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) money. A groundbreaking ceremony was delayed due to weather. Completion is expected next August.
The Nov. 4 ballot question has a residential tax impact of $14.92 per month for a $150,000 home and agricultural tax impact of 31 to 39 cents per acre per month, according to the bond website. That would be in line with what 64% of residents in the Reinbeck ZIP code said they would accept for an increase.
In the same survey, 65% of residents in the Gladbrook ZIP code set a much lower ceiling for their level of support: zero.
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