04/09/2026
Dear Iowa Falls and Alden Stakeholders,
As we move closer to the conclusion of our Unified Elementary System study, I want to express my sincere gratitude for the thoughtful feedback many of you have provided. After reviewing the initial survey data and rewatching our community presentations, it has become clear that I need to be much more explicit regarding the financial drivers behind this study.
While the concept of "efficiency" was implied in previous videos, I want to state the following realities clearly to ensure every stakeholder is operating with the same information before our committee moves forward.
1. A Final Reminder: Survey Closes Friday, April 17 If you have not yet shared your voice, please do so. The survey will officially close this Friday, April 17. Your input is essential in helping our Joint Board understand the community's priorities as we navigate these difficult decisions.
2. The Explicit Financial Goal: Section Consolidation To be very clear: the primary fiscal objective of a unified system is to address our current classroom configurations. Currently, we maintain 4 sections per grade level in Iowa Falls and 1 section in Alden (K-5). This results in 5 total sections for our combined student population. The goal of a unified system is to move to 4 sections total per grade level wherever possible.
Based on our current numbers, our class sizes would range from 21 students to 25 students, based on grade level. Our goal would be to have our largest classes remain in 5 sections, but that would ultimately be a board decision - driven by our financial outlook at the time.
This shift is necessary because we have reached a point where we can no longer "trim" our way to stability:
*MS and HS Cuts are Exhausted: Over the years, we have already made almost as many cuts as possible at the Middle School and High School levels. There is no further "slack" in those budgets.
*Protecting the "Heart" of Education: Consolidating sections at the elementary level is the only way to generate the financial savings required to avoid cutting interventionists, elective programs, and fine arts.
*Alden’s Critical Outlook: This is especially true for the Alden district, which has already made every possible cut and is still facing a projected -4.6% Unspent Authorized Budget (UAB) by FY31.
*Iowa Code Requirements: Our financial outlooks show that both districts will require significant cuts in the coming years—some sooner than others. There are simply no other positions we can cut while still meeting Iowa Code and providing a meaningful, high-quality educational experience for our students.
3. You May Now Update Your Survey Responses Because this financial explanation was more "implied" than clearly stated in my initial presentations, I want to ensure you have the chance to reflect this new information in your feedback. The survey now allows you to change or edit your previous answers. If knowing that this is the primary path to saving our electives and interventionists changes your perspective on building reassignments or transportation tradeoffs, please revisit the survey link to update your submission.
Our districts have a long history of collaboration, but we are at a crossroads. We are choosing to move in this direction now so that we can proactively plan to thrive rather than being forced into reactive, last-minute decisions that would damage the quality of our children's education.
Thank you, as always, for your support and patience as we make the best plans for all of our learners moving forward.
Definition - A Unified Elementary System means we would no longer have the same grade levels taught in different buildings. We would move to having all Iowa Falls and Alden students in the same grade level be taught by a team in the same building. As part of our ongoing study of a potential unified....
