Iowa City Community School District

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Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) is the school district that serves Iowa City, Iowa. Approximately 11,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade attend several pre-school sites, eighteen elementary schools, three junior high schools, two senior high schools, and one alternative school for ninth through twelfth graders. The average regular education class size is 24 students. The district covers 130 square miles and serves the communities of Iowa City, Coralville, Hills, North Liberty, University Heights, and the surrounding rural areas. The school district employs over 1,600 people and operates on a budget of seventy million dollars. It is the fifth largest school district in the state of Iowa and the second largest employer in the Iowa City community area.

The Superintendent of the Iowa City Community School District is Lane Plugge. He has been Superintendent of the ICCSD since 1999. Bricks, mortar, and administrative growth have been a major focus during Plugge's tenure. In February 2003, voters approved a bond referendum totaling $38.7 million to address district growth needs and infrastructure concerns. In need of yet more funding to address district needs - to include some left unaddressed from the 2003 bond referendum - Superintendent Plugge campaigned for the implementation of a School Infrastructure Local Option sales tax (SILO). Projected to generate approximately $104 million over a ten year period, district voters approved the measure in February 2007.

School District Performance Concerns
One of the district's high schools, all but one junior high, as well as several elementary schools are on No Child Left Behind "Need Assistance" and/or watch lists due to low reading and/or math scores.

[edit] Historic schools

Henry Sabin Elementary School in Iowa City, Iowa operated in what is today the Central Administration Office for the Iowa City Community School District, at 509 South Dubuque Street. The building has also housed an alternative high school. The building was originally known as the First Ward School. The school was named for the Iowa educator Henry Sabin. The school closed as an elementary school circa 1979. It was known throughout the 1970s for its alternative teaching methods, including open classrooms and discussions about drug abuse and sexuality. Above the kindergarten level, classes were paired—first and second grade, third and fourth grade, and fifth and sixth grade. Ana Mendieta, an art teacher at the school for a few years in the mid-1970s, would achieve some renown as an artist.