Crescent Elementary

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Council Bluffs school faces closure again: one family hopes it stays open to 'see a little community thrive'



"I love my school," said Harper Peterson, a second grade student at Crescent Elementary. "I heard that the kindergartners have been working on their ABC's." She is eagerly awaiting for her little brother to join her at Crescent next year. "My little brother is going to go to school next year, he's five, because you can go to school when you are five," Harper said. But that reality faces challenges now. The Council Bluffs Community School District, school board, plans to meet on March 28, to discuss the possible closure of the school. The closure wouldn't happen until after the school year is over.

"What I am hearing is that the shortage of the students that are in this school has been a concern, kind of a down trend," said Dustin Peterson, Harper's dad. This is nothing new for the community, in 2017, the school faced closure, but the board voted to keep it. "A lot of those kids, they don't go to school here anymore, that was their fight back then, and now we are kind of re-living the same idea that is going on now," Dustin said. The district said enrollment has been declining, 64 students currently go there.
Some classes are as small as 7.

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Crescent Elementary parents fight district’s proposal for closure
The district says low enrollment numbers are to blame.



CRESCENT, Iowa (WOWT) - The Council Bluffs Community School District is considering boundary changes that would lead to the closure of one of its oldest elementary schools. This isn’t the first time the district has tried to close Crescent Elementary, and community members aren’t happy about having to fight again.

Board of Education Meeting - February 28th 2023

https://www.youtube.com/live/hqMSKFyrBKI?feature=share

Just like back in 2017, the district wants to close Crescent Elementary School. “It’d just be tragic for everybody in the community, the teachers, the students,” Dustin Peterson said. “Losing all their friends and stuff, going to different schools.”The email they received from Superintendent Vickie Murillo provided details and said the board would hear public comments at the March 28 board meeting, and then vote on redistricting -- including CES’s potential closure. “We’ve done a lot of back-and-forth talk with people in the town that dealt with the same issues when their kids were going here at the same time, and some other parents that are also going here too,” Dustin said. “But this has just been released in the last two days or so.” Amanda Fasano spoke at Tuesday’s meeting and said the results of an online questionnaire will be presented to the district at that time.

“You may look at it and say there are only 64 kids, but those are kids who you’re going to upend their entire lives, and that’s who is already there, not looking at the kids you have incoming,” Fasano said. The first Crescent school opened in 1902. A new building followed in 1958, and fire took that down in 2006. Enrollment numbers are low, but performance is high, as the school’s principal proudly pointed out in his winter letter to parents. “Thank goodness for social media, because with that, we might have a fight,” said Jessica Peterson. “We might be able to keep this open, with everyone standing together...people that their kids graduated from here, their grandkids are going now...it’s not just a school, it has a meaning.” 6 News reached out to the district for interviews, which were declined. Their correspondence encourages the public to reach out via email or attend the March 28 board meeting.

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Crescent wants to be heard before school board votes on closure



Crescent’s kids, their families and friends came to the community center meeting to learn why. To the mayor, a former Pottawatamie County supervisor, its hard for his community not to take personally plans to close Crescent Elementary next fall - again.

“Yeah, this is real personal,” Mayor Charles Hildreth said. “This is the third time this small community has had to (deal with) this since 2006, and every time we go through this people get angry and are in disarray over what we do with our kids.” After notice of redistricting and the planned closure reached parents last week, the shock quickly turned to action and the community gathering Wednesday night, where they learned the Council Bluffs Community School District has at least agreed to hear input on the issue next week, before voting at the board of education meeting March 28 in Council Bluffs. Many worry it’s too late. “That’s our one opportunity to do it, that public hearing,” Shawn Shea said. “It’s gonna be decided by the time of the 28th, and maybe already is.”

There are only 67 students currently at Crescent Elementary, but with new development, the mayor argues that number will grow. He also points out that the uncertainty over the middle school doesn’t make his town as lucrative to young families.

The Urban family recently moved from Omaha. A main reason? Their two kids, now four and six, would attend Crescent Elementary. “The community out here is a little more spread out, the houses aren’t close together,” Jessica Urban said. “There isn’t all the cul-de-sacs where kids are out playing, so Crescent Elementary was that opportunity for our children to find their sense of community, and if it closes, that’s taken away.” “58 percent of our taxes goes to Council Bluffs School District, 58 percent,” Hildreth told the community.

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Council Bluffs Community School Board votes to close down Crescent Elementary



COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — The fight to keep Crescent Elementary open is over. The Council Bluffs School Board voted unanimously to close Crescent at the end of the 2022-23 school year. Council Bluffs Community Schools said just 64 children go there currently. Tuesday night, many parents told the school board they felt like the process was rushed, and there wasn't enough communication. After the vote, one couple said they plan to move their kids out of Council Bluffs Community Schools, altogether.

"They can tell us that they're sad about their decision ... it doesn't seem like they're sad. It really seems like kids are just dollars to them," Chad Casson said. The district said there has been a steady decline in enrollment at the school, and that many parents who live in Crescent already choose to send their kids to other schools. Council Bluffs Community Schools said excluding special education costs, the cost per student in the district is $9,386. For Crescent, it's $13,811.