A yard sign in support of the March 4 special school election calling for an increase to Gladbrook-Reinbeck Community School District’s voted Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) as pictured in Reinbeck on Sunday, Feb. 23. The district’s 1921 brick secondary building is visible in the background. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

This is a tale of two towns – one with a school (Reinbeck) and one now without (Gladbrook) – facing down another special election called to essentially keep the lights on in a rural public school district. But if you speak to Gladbrook-Reinbeck (G-R) school board president Donovan Devore – a G-R High School Class of 2001 alumnus who hails from Reinbeck and grew up attending school in both communities – it soon becomes apparent the tale is also a microcosm of a much larger issue that has plagued small districts across Iowa: What do you do when your consolidated school district can no longer support multiple buildings in multiple towns due to declining enrollment, ever-limited public funds, and out-migration?

And perhaps more importantly, what do you do when the foundation that led to the current state of affairs was laid before you could barely drive – let alone act as a school district signatory – but has now eroded to such a degree that once-routine PPEL votes become wars between taxpayers – between communities – between family members?

Such is the state of things in the G-R community as the district races toward the Tuesday, March 4 school special election for an increase to the voted Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL).

Looking back, while trying to look forward

“I have a lot of great memories from attending middle school in Gladbrook,” Devore, 42, told the newspaper last week in a wide-ranging phone interview and follow-up email. And while his viewpoints are, of course, his alone, his experiences are not so different from many who grew up in the G-R area in the 1980s through the early aughts and now (quite suddenly for some) find themselves the adults in the room, sending their own young children to school.

Donovan Devore (back right), board president of the Gladbrook-Reinbeck Community School District since 2021, pictured recently with his family. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

After attending Reinbeck Elementary from 1988-1994, Devore spent three years at G-R Middle School in Gladbrook before heading back to Reinbeck for high school. Like so many who live in the area today, he harbors a lot of memories from when students would come together for the first time at one attendance center.

For reference, the Gladbrook-Reinbeck Community School District’s official reorganization took place on July 1, 1998.

For Devore, attending school between the two communities was by and large a great experience.

“The students and communities really did do a lot together. Going to Uptown Lounge after football games, seeing every G-R student at [Gladbrook] Corn Carnival and the [Fourth] of July. You did see parents from both communities getting together and socializing outside of school events because of their children [attending] school together.”

But Devore also admitted the year before the district’s official consolidation in 1998 led to “some very difficult times” before it “seemed to get better” in the ensuing years – to a degree.

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

It was when he moved back to Reinbeck with his wife in 2012 – after attending college and living in both Minneapolis and Cedar Rapids for a time – that he took notice of the public schism forming between the two communities. A schism made all the worse once the Gladbrook school complex was closed in 2015 and ultimately demolished in the summer of 2022.

When asked to ponder Gladbrook’s general opposition to the district’s recent failed bond referendums and what can be done to heal the divide going forward, Devore said, ultimately, it’s that pull from the past that’s preventing the district from moving forward.

“I believe the reason for the divide is past events dictating anything going forward. Do I think it can be healed? Yes, but we have to work together to heal it and be open about how we can. I see the potential which is there for future generations and the upside is worth it, together, Gladbrook and Reinbeck.”

When asked if he sometimes feels like he’s ‘moderating a war’ in his role as school board president – a role he took on in 2021 – he said yes, absolutely.

“It puts your back against the wall regardless of what you are trying to achieve. It is hard to walk into a conversation when you are automatically stereotyped with events that happened in the past and where you reside. It is generalizing an entire group of people, on both sides, which I am frustrated with.”

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

When he first ran for school board back in 2019 – a race he ran unopposed – Devore said the district had ruptured in the wake of the failed 2017 dissolution vote.

“We looked and felt broken. Really my heart was broken as well that we had two great communities which were on edge with each other.”

Since that dissolution vote and during his time on the board, the district has experienced repeated administrative upheaval including, per Devore, three superintendents, four school business officials, two elementary principals, and three high school principals– plus multiple bond referendums and a pandemic.

“This is nothing I would wish upon anyone in public service for education.”

But the thing that wears on him most in his role as school board president is not the pressure on himself, he said, but rather the pressure on those he serves with.

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“During the referendums, old wounds have come out [while] the people you are serving with have nothing but the best intentions for the G-R community. They/we have been called every name in the book [including] ‘liars, crooks, and puppets.’ Everything you do is being questioned and misrepresented. [In my] opinion, this is why public servitude is dying and becoming so divisive. It is just amplified in a world of social media … But there is hope.”

The 1961 elementary school

A misconception among some G-R voters about the 1961 elementary building in Reinbeck, Devore said, is that it did not need updating — updates which are currently being accomplished using some $8.5 million in SAVE (sales tax) revenue.

“The elementary building is from the early 1960s and has been maintained pretty well, but those items are coming to an end of life,” Devore explained. “The dynamics of education have changed considerably with elementary-aged students which facilitates the update as well.”

What really opened his eyes to the elementary’s issues, however, was his own children attending school in the building — currently a kindergartener, third-grader, and fifth-grader — while also serving as a LEGO League coach.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck's 1921 secondary building pictured mid-February. The consolidated district’s official reorganization took place on July 1, 1998. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“The wall heating and exchange units are extremely outdated and need replacing in every room. Some rooms’ thermostats are controlled by flipping a breaker. [When] I started coaching LEGO League and getting more involved with the items in the elementary, I noticed that things were being masked to the board. Not at an intentional level but [rather because] we have some pretty resilient staff who make things work.”

“Teachers have been asked to hold the ship together for such a long time and have done so without complaining and this is a personification of that. But it doesn’t have to be that way. … When I sit in the classroom for my children’s conferences, I am going through looking at the classroom’s conditions, and the items to fix add up really quickly. So when people ask me why there isn’t any money left over for the secondary, I look through the estimates of the project and look at the needs versus wants. It is used up.”

The 1921 secondary building

During his interview, Devore was also asked to describe the conditions at the district’s secondary school – also located in Reinbeck – and to be as blunt as possible in his responses.

Things are not good.

“I am not going to sugarcoat it. Again, this is something that to the untrained eye [can be] masked. We have 90% of our [public events] in the newer additions – but the rest of the building is what concerns me. … The boilers are in pretty good condition, but the piping that goes into the rest of the building is what scares me. … When we had the roof leak last summer, it really showed once you start to dig into the bones of a 1921 building, there are a lot of updates that are needed now. Piping, electrical, etc. We are starting to have asbestos tile [peel up]. Our staff did a really good job holding down the tile with wax over the years, but now it is becoming an issue. Really, it just comes down to we had so much uncertainty with the … direction of the district, I understand why past boards had hesitancy about investing in the secondary building.”

“But now the time has come where the public vote has paused long-term updates and improvements, so we are now in a mode of just fixing things.”

This past summer, Devore said, a pipe burst at one of the district’s buildings. When he received word about the burst, he instantly assumed the worst had finally happened.

“We had a water main break outside the elementary school. When I got the text message from Superintendent (Caleb) Bonjour that we had a pipe burst, I thought, this was the ‘big one’ … similar to [a recent pipe burst at] a neighboring district which put them out of school for a long period of time.”

In addition to the many, many piping, electrical, and tiling updates needed – plus the deteriorating roof – Devore said the secondary has “other yearly maintenance” that needs to be completed including roof replacement at the Industrial Tech building, lighting updates, painting updates, ADA accessibility, and more.

“These immediate needs would not be covered by the available [funds] in PPEL, which is why we are asking for a PPEL increase [on March 4]. The decision to address these items with the prior [general obligation] bond [referendum] was based on replacing the problems as opposed to now fixing the problems.”

Gladbrook’s empty school lot

Devore also went on record with the newspaper regarding the now-vacant green space in Gladbrook where the school complex once stood. Since the demolition in 2022, the district has kept the area mowed but not utilized it.

“We have had discussions whether we should sell it or see if the City of Gladbrook would be interested in it. The Gladbrook City Council has expressed that they do not have the desire currently to manage the property. When those discussions come up with our board, we have elected to hold onto [the property] in case of [future] need.”

One of the possible future needs, Devore said, might be to expand the district’s current public preschool offerings at Crayon Corner Learning Center located directly adjacent to the former school campus site.

“I have proposed many ‘what if?’ scenarios such as, ‘What if our preschool in Gladbrook continues to grow?’ Do we organically try to get other grades added in there? … The problem is we would then be starting from scratch as the preschool is currently housed at Crayon Corner. Do you add a [transitional kindergarten] and kindergarten to continue to help the growth? We want to make that investment, but we wouldn’t know if it would be attended or if Crayon Corner would allow [the addition].”

Another consideration, he said, is that Crayon Corner is not a district property, it belongs to the City of Gladbrook.

“This perpetuates a cycle,” Devore continued, “we want to grow but will it be attended?”

He said that as of today, the majority of the children enrolled in Crayon Corner’s four-year-old preschool class are slated to attend Gladbrook-Reinbeck next school year as kindergarteners – and not be open enrolled out to another district.

‘We are trying to mend the bonds’

Despite everything that’s happened from sharing and consolidation to the brutal school closure and failed dissolution vote and now repeated bond referendum failures, Devore said he, his fellow school board members, and district administrators are actively “trying to mend the bonds” and bind the district back together.

But they’ve also been asking themselves, “How long are we going to continue to only look at our history and not address the future?”

And it’s not just in Gladbrook where those bonds need mending, Devore said, it’s throughout the district.

“Absolutely there are family rifts in the district,” Devore explained. “There are 38 years of kids going to school together and there have been many classmates that have stayed in the area and [are now] starting their own families. With that comes grandparents who were of a generation before consolidation and vote (today) based on their original district, regardless if they have grandkids who are currently [G-R] Rebels.”

Devore said the divide in the district affects him and his wife on a personal level as well.

“It does affect us. We have siblings [whose] kids go to different school districts and you look at the state of those facilities and you ask, ‘Why can’t we have that?’ I have nieces and nephews who go to other districts and they have some great offerings.”

But then he checks himself and remembers all the things he loves about a small, rural school district like G-R — one that called him home over 10 years ago to raise his own children.

“We stay because of the communities. We know our kids’ friends, their parents, and typically their grandparents. We know if something happened to one of us or our children, the entire community would be there supporting us.”

Does the divide ever cause him to question moving back?

“Yes, it does, for a short period,” Devore admitted before adding, “But then you have to reflect and the good still outweighs the divide.”

As he continues to work toward a united district, Devore said he is staying the course, telling anyone who will listen that Gladbrook and Reinbeck – two towns in different counties roughly 17 miles apart but bound by public school lines and a shared history – are Rebel blue and grey, through and through.

“It’s hard, but it’s still worth it.”

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER