DES MOINES, Iowa — The conversations around Des Moines Public Schools for the last month has been around the arrest of former Superintendent Ian Roberts, and the hiring procedures in the district.
In the background over the last year, an 80 person committee developed the Reimagining Education bond proposal. At $265 million dollars, the bond referendum will cost the average district property taxpayer $198 a year. The development of the plan has been ongoing since late 2024. Interim Superintendent Matt Smith said that in a world where the bond is not passed, more buildings will close and staff will have to be laid off.
“It could be significant. I can tell you that,” said Smith. “And so folks might say, ‘well, what’s significant mean,’ a lot. I mean, it could be hundreds if we, if this bond doesn’t pass.”…