Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) is headed for a fiscal cliff. If the district doesn’t receive any new sources of funding, Interim Superintendent Matt Smith said hundreds of people could be laid off.
That’s one of the reasons why DMPS has put a bond measure on the ballot this fall. Voters will decide whether the district can receive $265 million to fund building renovations. The bond would add around $200 a year to property tax bills for the average homeowner in the district for the next 20 years.
But community members are aware that some of the district’s funding woes are happening because of open enrollment. Thousands of students have transferred out of DMPS into neighboring suburban districts, taking state funding with them…