At Gladbrook-Reinbeck Community School District, we understand that our facilities are vital community assets—and maintaining them is essential to the health, safety, and success of our students, staff, and community.
Recognizing that a school district is a direct reflection of the community it serves, the Gladbrook-Reinbeck Community School District School Board and leadership team are committed to a facility planning strategy that reflects the values of our taxpayers and meets the evolving needs of our students, staff, and communities.
To ensure future facility decisions are student-centered, fiscally responsible, and community-supported, we’ve expanded communication efforts to include:
A Facility Master Planning Website
Town Hall Meetings
A Community-Wide Survey
Listening Sessions
A Report to the School Board (Survey Results)
2024 Community Task Force
2025 Community Task Force
These efforts are helping to identify and better understand our district’s most critical infrastructure needs and opportunities for improvement. Input shared during these meetings will directly support the District’s ongoing facility planning process.
We’re committed to keeping you informed every step of the way. Updates and information will continue to be shared through this website, district emails, and social media channels.
Transparency and collaboration remain our guiding principles. Please check back regularly for continued updates.
A group of community members, staff, and stakeholders providing input to help shape long-term facility planning for Gladbrook-Reinbeck Community School District. Their feedback ensures community voices help guide the future of our schools.
The Facility Task Force is charged with exploring and evaluating potential long-term, flexible, and fiscally responsible solutions to help shape a comprehensive District facility master plan. This process includes a careful review of the District’s physical spaces, functional needs, and educational priorities.
All community members were invited to join the Task Force, with outreach conducted via postcard, the Sun Courier, social media, and district email communications. We’re grateful to everyone who stepped forward to participate.
While the School Board will ultimately consider a variety of factors, the perspectives and input of a broad and diverse group of community members are essential to this work.
This introductory Task Force meeting was designed for individuals who did not participate in last year’s process.
The group received an overview of the work completed in 2024, including the recommendation developed by the previous Task Force and School Board. Members also walked through the key details, discussions, and decisions that shaped that recommendation—laying the groundwork for continued collaboration in 2025.
The first Facility Task Force meeting of 2025 brought together 25 participants—a mix of returning and new members.
During the meeting, the group:
Reviewed the purpose and goals of the upcoming process
Heard a presentation from Superintendent Bonjour on current district financials
Discussed the potential benefits and challenges of consolidation, whole grade sharing, and dissolution
This foundational conversation set the stage for informed, collaborative work moving forward.
The second meeting started with discussing options for the HS/MS with the task force followed up by building assessment information from SitelogIQ Architect and Engineer. The meeting concluded with an update from Superintendent Bonjour regarding the PPEL impacts, how much, and where will it be spent.
Matt Gillaspie from Piper Sandler reviewed current financials and updated the task force on tax changes being considered by the state legislature. The remainder of the meeting was spent on discussions of trust, specifically in Gladbrook.
The Task Force met in Gladbrook and reviewed potential legislative changes, continued the discussion on how to continue to build trust throughout the district, and agreed to a joint meeting with the school board.
The Task Force and Gladbrook-Reinbeck School Board worked together in small groups to find common ground on timing, scope, and price of a potential upcoming referendum. An additional task force meeting is being planned.
The GR Task Force arrived at a consensus recommendation on facility improvements. They will make the recommendation to the board on Tuesday, June 3 at 7:00pm.
Participants had group discussions about the previous referendum, participated in small groups highlighting good things about the district and what they worry about, and reviewed data from the previous listening sessions and community survey.
The Task Force focused on potential elementary school upgrades. They had a tour of the elementary school with Facility Director Shane Hawkins and Superintendent Caleb Bonjour, reviewed engineer reports, reviewed a preliminary plan, and offered feedback to the school board on potential SAVE projects.
Facility Task Force meeting #3 welcomed North Tama Superintendent David Hill, who outlined the process of the referendum that passed in North Tama in November 2023. Subjects included how scope items were chosen, lessons learned from their earlier failed referendum, and the importance of the community being involved in the planning process. The meeting concluded with an examination of demographics in the Gladbrook-Reinbeck district such as open enrollment, teacher retention, and area tax rates.
The task force focused on the secondary school for this meeting. They reviewed engineering reports, got a tour from building and ground director Shane Hawkins, and discussed the pros/cons of repairing or replacing the 1921 school.
The Task Force talked about trust in the district and how the community engagement approach from the previous referendum has changed, agreed to continue to explore three potential facility options (repairing the 1921 building, building a new high school in phases ala North Tama, and building a K-12 campus on the current elementary school site), and decided to eliminate one option because of costs (building a new high school at a neutral site).
The district's financial advisor, Matthew Gillespie, spoke about the district's finances and how school financing works. The group discussed using SAVE money to make updates at the elementary school. The Task Force went over the format for the next two meetings with the school board to help in developing a long term facility plan.
The task force and the school board began workshopping together on a long term facility plan for the district. The meeting reminded the board up on what the task force had learned so far, reviewed community survey data, and examined how district priorities would be addressed in the two remaining long term plans – the PK-12 one campus option, or the two campus option (renovating the elementary school and building a new middle school and high school on the current high school site). Also discussed was the approximate costs of each plan and how long each would take to complete.
The Gladbrook-Reinbeck school board and the Facility Task Force agreed on a long term plan for improving district facilities. There was unanimous approval from the 25 people present to use $8.5 million in SAVE money to improve and expand the elementary school, and 24 people voted to approve a long term plan that rebuilds the intermediate and high schools on the current high school site.
