Save CR Heritage hosted tours of Harrison Elementary School on Friday and Saturday to increase awareness of the school’s history and generate support for preserving the almost century-old building. Harrison is slated for demolition in the Cedar Rapids Community School District’s current Facilities Master Plan. The building received a temporary reprieve earlier this year, when […]
Cedar Rapids Community School District
Posted inCommunity/News
Election roundup: History is made in DSM and CR, an incumbent defeats an incumbent in IC, school board voters send a message, bond votes go both ways
There were some history-making victories in the city and school board elections on Tuesday, as voters in Des Moines elected the city’s first woman mayor and, in Cedar Rapids, a member of the LGBTQ community won a seat on the city council for the first time. But for the most part, Tuesday’s elections followed the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
About 60% of CRCSD students returned to class Tuesday as social media threats remain under investigation
Classes resumed at public schools in Cedar Rapids Tuesday after being canceled on Monday due to threats made on social media over the weekend. Students were not allowed to bring bags into the schools, except for clear backpacks, and the number of entrances to buildings left unlocked were restricted. During a news conference on Tuesday […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Cedar Rapids Police, FBI investigating threats that caused closure of CRCSD schools on Monday
All Cedar Rapids public schools were closed on Monday as a response to threats posted on social media. The Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD) informed parents and staff of the closure in an email sent shortly before 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night. “This closure is for the safety of all students and staff,” CRCSD […]
Posted inEastern Iowa Community/News
Noreen Bush, ‘an incredible leader’ in the Cedar Rapids Community School District, dies at age 51
Noreen Bush, superintendent of the Cedar Rapids Community School District, died on Sunday. She was 51 years old. Bush was on medical leave and had submitted her resignation to the CRCSD Board of Directors last month, as her health declined due to the cancer she was first diagnosed with two and a half years ago. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Cedar Rapids schools will stop using seclusion rooms after district reached settlement with Justice Department over disciplinary practices
The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Monday it had reached a settlement agreement with the Cedar Rapids Community School District regarding what it determined to be the school district’s “discriminatory use of seclusion and restraint against students with disabilities.” The Civil Rights Division began its review of whether […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Save CR Heritage marks its 10th anniversary amid efforts to preserve old school buildings
In October 2011, Cedar Rapids’ oldest church, the People’s Church Unitarian Universalist, was demolished. It was built in 1875 and became the first building listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the city to be razed without sustaining damage from fire or natural disaster. Today, the location is an office building, housing Morgan […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City students stage a walk out to protest Gov. Reynolds banning transgender girls from playing girls’ sports at school
More than 150 Iowa City Community School District students walked out of classes on Friday and marched to the Pentacrest to protest the newly enacted ban on transgender girls playing girls’ sports at all public and private schools, as well as at colleges and universities in Iowa. Planning for protest began among five friends at […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Appeals court limits scope of preliminary injunction against Iowa’s school mask ban
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that a preliminary injunction stopping the Reynolds administration from enforcing a ban on face masks in Iowa schools is too broad, and should only apply to the 10 school districts named in the lawsuit. The Iowa Department of Education (IDOE) will now be able to enforce […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Cedar Rapids schools will allow volunteers and visitors in buildings during class hours again, starting in January
Volunteers will once again be allowed in the buildings of the Cedar Rapids Community School District during school hours starting on Monday, Jan. 3, the district announced on Friday. Volunteers and most visitors had been banned from the school buildings while classes were in session, as part of the district’s COVID-19 mitigation efforts. The prohibition […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Cedar Rapids schools will require face masks starting Wednesday
The Cedar Rapids School District will “reinstate a mask mandate for all staff, students, and visitors during compulsory education hours (school day) as well as our daycare environments,” Superintendent Noreen Bush said in an email to district families and staff on Tuesday. The mandate goes into effect on Wednesday. CRCSD, like other large school districts […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Linn County holding six COVID-19 vaccination clinics at CR schools, will offer gift cards to people who get shots
Linn County Public Health is trying to encourage more residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by adding six one-day vaccine clinics at Cedar Rapids schools starting on Wednesday, and offering a special incentive for those get a shot. “The clinics are open to anyone age 12 and older, with parental consent required for those under […]
