Des Moines Public Schools superintendent says ‘Reimagining Education’ work will ‘change lives and disrupt the status quo’

During Tuesday’s school board meeting, the Des Moines district unveiled its new comprehensive Reimagining Education plan that could usher sweeping changes in the state’s largest district of more than 30,000 students. 

The plan includes offering more full-day preschools, creating interest-based signature schools at the high school level, redesigning middle schools to include grades 7-8 and returning sixth-graders to elementary school, revamping the district into three geographical regions with feeder patterns and building, retiring and repurposing buildings, among other possibilities. School officials said more discussion will occur during upcoming community meetings.

Superintendent Ian Roberts said the district recently released its 5-year strategic plan, Cultivating Success. He said the district is “failing” some students, but “All isn’t lost.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, Des Moines community hopes and dreams and desires for its most precious resources — its children — will be realized with an unprecedented initiative in our Reimagining Education plan,” Roberts said during the meeting. “Our students and families deserve it. Every student who not only knocks on our doors, but those who serve them, they too, deserve it.”

Board Vice Chair Skylar Mayberry-Mayes said he is excited about the initiative.

“This effort rethinks how we educate Des Moines students, positioning the district as a destination for families seeking exceptional experiences and opportunities for their children,” he told Black Iowa News. “Our community deserves a cutting-edge, 21st-century model of education . . . and the time is now.”

Matt Smith, associate superintendent, presented an overview to the board during Tuesday’s meeting. He said a large and vocal committee has worked on the plan for more than 14 months. Implementation of the plan, after community engagement and, ultimately board approval, would happen over eight to 10 years, he said.

The district has 72 facilities, an average of 80 years old, and the committee centered its work on cultivating the conditions for high-quality, equitable teaching and learning in those spaces, he said.

“We have to modernize our spaces,” he said.

The plan isn’t finalized, he said.

School board member Patrick Dix, one of two board members who observed the committee’s work, said the plan is a different way of thinking about education in Des Moines, and he asked the community to listen and open their minds. He said he’s looking forward to community feedback.

“This is a transparent process that we’re going through. This has been an inclusive process so far, and it will continue to be,” he said.

School officials told the board that the district is already moving forward with some improvements, including increasing access to preschool, piloting a K-6 in elementary schools, expanding access to Montessori programs and developing a Diploma Plus program.

More specific details about the plan will be released on Feb. 11, during the district’s state of the school’s event, Roberts said.

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