On November 4, 2025, voters will decide on a $17.3 million bond referendum to address critical needs at the Junior/Senior High School. The plan includes a secure-entry classroom addition, accessibility improvements, essential system upgrades, and other important updates to support student learning.
At Gladbrook-Reinbeck, our focus is on providing safe, healthy, and updated learning environments for every student. Over the past two years, we have worked closely with our community—through town hall meetings, listening sessions, surveys, and 15 task force meetings held in 2024 and 2025—to better understand the priorities of our families and residents. With input from hundreds of voices, this plan reflects the most urgent and widely supported facility needs.
Through this process, one priority rose to the top: addressing the 1921 building. While it has been a proud part of our history, the building is now outdated, costly to maintain, and no longer meets the standards students deserve. Under this plan, a secure-entry classroom addition would be built to provide safe, flexible, and future-ready learning spaces.
This referendum is also part of the district’s Master Facility Plan and builds on recent work already underway, including the SAVE-funded elementary project and PPEL-supported improvements. Together, these coordinated efforts ensure that Gladbrook-Reinbeck schools remain safe, efficient, and supportive of student learning for generations to come.
Join us to learn more about the bond referendum plan, understand how this proposal is different from past efforts, ask questions, and share in the conversation.
🕡 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
📍 Gladbrook Theatre
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🕡 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
📍 Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School
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Take a tour of the building, explore addition renderings and floor plans, get a closer look at the referendum details, and have your questions answered.
🕡 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
📍 Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School
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🕡 5:30 PM – SAVE Elementary Project Groundbreaking
📍 Gladbrook-Reinbeck Elementary
Join us at the Elementary School to celebrate the next step in the district’s facility improvements, funded entirely through SAVE (Secure an Advanced Vision for Education). Click Here to Learn More
🕡 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM — Open House Event
📍 Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School
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Build a secure-entry classroom addition to improve safety and replace outdated learning spaces
Address ADA-compliance and accessibility issues
Complete HVAC system upgrades for safety, comfort, and efficiency
Improve electrical systems to support learning technology
Replace deteriorating infrastructure from the 1921 building
Create flexible, functional academic spaces to support student learning and future programming
ⓘ Please Note: The existing practice gym and auditorium will remain in use.
Explore conceptual renderings of the proposed addition. Play the video below.
Final design will vary based feedback and construction details
No ADA accessible restrooms
No elevator for accessibility
A problematic roof that has caused leaks and damage
Ongoing significant and costly maintenance issues
HVAC (air quality and ventilation) systems that are past their useful life and require replacement
Gladbrook-Reinbeck Community School District currently has the lowest school tax rate among neighboring districts.
If the bond referendum is approved, G-R’s rate would still remain one of the lowest in the area, all while providing critical facility updates and safer learning environments for students and staff.
The referendum proposes a bond of $17.3 million, which would be repaid over a period of 20 years.
For a home assessed at $150,000, the estimated tax impact would be $14.92 per month.
Calculate your tax impact by using the calculators:
View the Summary of Referendum Tax Impact:
* Actual 1/1/2023 Average Assessed Value of 1 Acre of Ag Land: Grundy County = $2,364; Tama County = $1,854; Black Hawk County = $1,846; Marshall County = $2,168
Election day is Tuesday, November 4, 2025.
7:00 AM. to 8:00 PM
You can vote early at your County Auditor’s Office beginning on Wednesday, October 15, 2025.
For most elections, in-person early voting ends at 4:30 PM on the day before Election Day. Check with your County Auditor’s Office for exact hours and additional details.
Not sure where to vote on election day? Click the button below:
Registered voters in Iowa may request to vote early by absentee ballot. To receive a ballot by mail, submit a written application to your County Auditor.
Applications must be received by 5:00 PM, 15 days before Election Day (October 20, 2025).
Click the button below to open and print the Absentee Ballot Request Form.
Return your completed ballot so it’s received by 8:00 PM CT on Election Day.
You may also hand-deliver your ballot to your County Auditor’s office during business hours or anytime up until 8:00 PM CT on Election Day.
Shall the Board of Directors of the Gladbrook-Reinbeck Community School District in the Counties of Tama, Marshall, Black Hawk, and Grundy, State of Iowa, be authorized to contract indebtedness and issue General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $17,300,000 to provide funds to build, furnish, and equip a classroom addition to the Junior High / High School building, with related remodeling and improvements, and site improvements?
The majority of the available SAVE funding is being used to update the elementary school. Updates on the GR Elementary project can be found here.
In March 2025, Gladbrook-Reinbeck voters approved a nine-year increase in the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL), raising it from $0.67 to the maximum $1.34 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The measure passed with 61.1% approval. This support provides important resources for critical facility and infrastructure needs. However, the PPEL is limited in what it can fund. It cannot support the scale of construction needed for academic replacements at the Junior High / High School, which is why a bond referendum is now required to move forward with this plan.
Building a new school in between Gladbrook and Reinbeck would be politically advantageous. The facility task force, however, did not recommend this option to the school board. The total cost of a new school would be approximately $60-75 million, resulting in tax increases that would burden local taxpayers and make referendum passage difficult. Additionally, adding utilities such as water, sewage, and electricity would be problematic and expensive
While the 1921 building holds historical value and has served generations of students, the task force and school board determined that repairing was not cost effective and would not fully address infrastructure, maintenance, or ADA needs. To support the district’s future with healthy updated learning environments, a new solution is needed.
Once the referendum passes, bids are solicited from qualified companies by the school board and contractor/supplier decisions are made by the board.
Election / Referendum vote — Did Not Pass.
Comprehensive Facilities Assessment conducted by SitelogIQ, the districts project partner, to assess physical, educational, and functional needs.
Initial solutions and preliminary planning with School Board.
Superintendent Bonjour presents four Town Hall meetings, open to the public, two meetings each in Gladbrook and Reinbeck.
SitelogIQ offers two Community Listening Sessions, one in each town, that gives the community a chance to express their opinions on past efforts and a potential path forward.
333 Gladbrook Reinbeck residents, about 13% of the overall district population, participate in a community survey. Results are shared with the school board and posted on the district website.
Residents are invited to participate in a Facility Task Force. 25 community members participate in 6 meetings, totaling over 15 hours. A consensus is reached with the School Board and the Task Force on a three-phase facility improvement approach.
The district hosts two Open Houses at the Elementary School which includes a presentation by Superintendent Bonjour, Q+A, and a tour.
The district hosts a public hearing to discuss Phase One using SAVE funds to improve the elementary school’s infrastructure and add additional classrooms.
The School Board passes a resolution committing to move forward with a November 5, 2024 Bond Referendum to address Phase Two of the strategic plan.
Election / Referendum vote — Did Not Pass.
160 residents complete a post-referendum survey.
Residents are invited to participate in a second Facility Task Force. 20 community members participate in 5 meetings, totaling over 12 hours. A consensus recommendation to proceed with the same overall scope as last year. They also recommended that the Board make specific scope decisions, looking to save costs as much as possible while maintaining quality. This recommendation was presented to the School Board in June 2025.
The School Board passes a resolution committing to move forward with a November 4, 2025 Bond Referendum.
The School District receives money each year from the Federal and State governments, as well as local taxpayers. The Federal and State money mainly pays for everyday things like teachers' salaries, programs, and school supplies. But when it comes to fixing or upgrading our buildings, that's mostly up to our local communities. If there are big costs for building projects, the district needs to ask voters to approve a referendum so they can borrow money to pay for them.
The School District is legally obligated to only use referendum funds as stated in the ballot language. Separate line-item accounting records must be kept for all bond related expenses to ensure the funds are being used legally and appropriately. The School District’s finances are audited annually including use of referendum funds. The independent auditor then turns over the audit information to the state of Iowa. The referendum project expenses would be a part of the annual audit until all funds are spent.
When costs are estimated at this stage of the process, they are based off industry-wide database information (Mortenson and RS Means) that construction companies use, similar recently completed work by SitelogIQ, and at times, conversations with specific suppliers/contractors for specialized work. An industry-wide escalator is also used to account for inflation and construction increases for work that would be scheduled out a year or more. Once the referendum passes, bids are solicited from qualified companies by the school board and contractor/supplier decisions are made by the board.
Yes. The current floor plans and renderings are concepts. Should the referendum pass, teachers, staff, and the community will be included in the design process.
