DES MOINES, Iowa — The conversations around Des Moines Public Schools for the last month has been around the arrest of former Superintendent Ian Roberts, and the hiring procedures in the district.

In the background over the last year, an 80 person committee developed the Reimagining Education bond proposal. At $265 million dollars, the bond referendum will cost the average district property taxpayer $198 a year. The development of the plan has been ongoing since late 2024. Interim Superintendent Matt Smith said that in a world where the bond is not passed, more buildings will close and staff will have to be laid off.

“It could be significant. I can tell you that,” said Smith. “And so folks might say, ‘well, what’s significant mean,’ a lot. I mean, it could be hundreds if we, if this bond doesn’t pass.”

Smith mentioned that there are four facilities in the district that are slated to come offline, three schools and the district central office. If the bond does not reach the 60% of the vote threshold required, Smith said that district will have to go back to the drawing board and look at closing even more buildings to keep as much staff in the system as possible. Smith added that it is a reality that the community does need to be aware of.

The bond will look to make full-day preschool available nearly district wide, expanding daycare, redesigning the middle school experience, expanding internet-based signature schools, fully rolling out Diploma+, renovating and updating dozens of school buildings, and more. You can view all of what the bond seeks to do on the district’s website, including a detailed plan broken down by school building for what the bond means for each specific location.

Smith and the district highlighted all of the benefits the bond would provide to students to set them up for success in life and make the district competitive with other public schools in central Iowa. He also added that these improved facilities and learning spaces are critical when it comes to retaining high quality staff.

Smith was asked by WHO 13 News what he would tell a taxpayer in the district that had kids already go through the district, or have no involvement with the district whatsoever, about what benefits the community would see.

“It’s on the streets that we walk in, the sidewalks,” said Smith. “It’s those that we live next to on a daily basis, right? So it’s a win-win-win in terms of it’s a win for students today and tomorrow. It’s a win for homeowners because it will actually increase their property values over time, and it’s a win for the economy because it will boost the economy. There’s wins on this for everybody. And we’re always going to actually put students at the forefront of that because that’s what we do. We serve children every single day and we believe our community actually is going to step.”