Gladbrook-Reinbeck Superintendent Caleb Bonjour, right, leads the second of four facility planning town halls inside the Gladbrook Theater on Thursday, Dec. 14. The first town hall took place the week prior in Reinbeck, while the third and fourth took place this past Wednesday and Thursday in Gladbrook and Reinbeck, respectively. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

GLADBROOK – Caleb Bonjour has been on somewhat of an apology tour lately.

The Gladbrook-Reinbeck superintendent – who has only helmed the district since July of this year – recently spent a considerable amount of time examining the fractured relationship that exists between the two main communities his consolidated district covers.

During the second of four facility planning town halls held last Thursday in Gladbrook – the one half of the G-R community that no longer has any school buildings following the 2015 closure and subsequent 2022 demolition of its entire campus – Bonjour acknowledged the elephant in the room to an extent that has not been done since the district held a dissolution vote six years ago. A vote which ultimately failed.

“I do get to a degree what’s happened here and how hard that is,” Bonjour said early in his roughly one hour presentation which took place inside the Gladbrook Theater. He was addressing an audience of roughly 18 members of the public – an audience that included two current school board members and at least one former mayor of Gladbrook as well as the current mayor, Trudi Scott.

“I want to talk about how we got to where we’re at.”

G-R Superintendent Caleb Bonjour looks at notes on his phone during a facility planning town hall held in Gladbrook last week Thursday. The black and white photograph on the theater screen behind him depicts the original Gladbrook school. Bonjour spent at least a third of his hourlong presentation discussing the history of the consolidated district he has helmed since July of this year. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Bonjour then embarked on a robust but brief history of G-R’s educational buildings starting in the 1800s when the two communities each had their own separate district.

He led with a comparison to his own upbringing which included spending some of his K-12 years at the school in Dumont – one half of the Hampton-Dumont Community School District which consolidated in 1995.

The Dumont attendance center Bonjour reminisced about was closed following the 2008-09 school year after a new middle school was bonded for and built in Hampton. At the time of the closure only fourth graders were housed in the building.

“[T]hat was my elementary building … that’s not there anymore. I do know to a degree how some of you feel. Now, I’m not still living there but every time I pass by … I always try to drive by that school. And it’s getting harder and harder. The whole central part of that building’s not there … It’s more depressing to drive by it than to just remember it,” Bonjour said.

The young superintendent then spent close to 20 minutes exploring G-R’s history by way of its buildings – starting with Gladbrook’s first building which opened in 1881.

He also touched on Morrison and Lincoln before ending with Reinbeck’s buildings.

“So, that’s history. Tried to cover it all. It’s a lot. … now we’ll kind of get into what we’re facing, currently.”

Bonjour told his audience he has read up extensively on the circumstances that led to both the failed dissolution vote, as well as the recent failed bond referendum in 2022.

“I get it, that’s tough,” Bonjour said at one point while discussing the teardown of the Gladbrook buildings in the summer of 2022. “And to know that you walked by that, saw that during Corn Carnival … and then to have asked to vote for [a bond referendum] in September of that year when the building was finally demolished by August – probably meant that wasn’t going to pass. So I get that and I understand that.”

“Similarly though, I also can’t go back and fix the past, but I also need to share what we’re facing in the present because we do still have students from Gladbrook coming to Reinbeck. … We want to make sure that we try to do everything we can to invest back in Gladbrook.”

Part of that investment, Bonjour said, includes the public preschool program that was restarted at Crayon Corner Learning Center in Gladbrook this past fall.

Facilities in trouble

Bonjour then spent another good chunk of his hour-long presentation sharing the strengths and deficiencies of the two G-R buildings that remain in Reinbeck.

Much of what was shared was not new information – the district’s facility study completed ahead of the 2022 bond referendum found much of the same deficiencies.

The difference this time around seemed to be the manner in which Bonjour was sharing that information – publicly and frankly, telling the audience at various points in regard to the elementary building: “Our HVAC systems are pretty much shot … we don’t have a lot of fresh air coming into the building … electrical system is about 26 years past useful life … we have about 16 years of boiler life left … the elementary tiles are asbestos …”

In regard to the secondary building he said at various points: “[We have] zero ability to control heat in the rooms … the steampowered system has almost doubled its life expectancy – that would be one of the biggest concern areas … ventilation is another huge issue … the electrical is outdated … janitors put down about five layers of wax per year to keep the asbestos tiles from popping up … about half of the building is in an alarm state …”

And finally – “There are virtually no excellent pieces of the building.”

ADA compliance was another topic Bonjour focused on, telling the audience the district would need “an open checkbook” at this point to make the secondary building fully ADA-compliant.

The district also does not have secure entrances.

“If you get buzzed in,” Bonjour said, “you immediately have access to the building.”

But perhaps most alarmingly, he said that after being on the job for five months, fires “worry” him to a great extent.

“We don’t have fire escapes … God forbid if anything were to happen.”

Next steps

Bonjour ended the formal part of his presentation with a plea for feedback.

“I want as much feedback coming from people as possible.”

He shared a QR code on the theater’s screen for an online district survey while also passing out a shorter paper survey.

All survey data, Bonjour said, will eventually be presented to the school board and posted on the district’s website.

The survey can be accessed here: http://tinyurl.com/PurposeMissionVisionFeedback

Ahead of a possible — but as yet, hypothetical — bond referendum, Bonjour said “community engagement” will need to begin in February of 2024.

“Ultimately we have to have some plans. … That planning process is going to involve all those different (financial) scenarios.”

Bonjour assured the audience that if there is a bond referendum in the district’s future, school leadership plans to look at what is needed and “not just things that look good.”

He then opened the floor to questions.

Q&A

Many of the audience’s questions pertained to enrollment numbers — particularly open enrollment numbers.

Bonjour said the district currently has around 171 students enrolled out of the district. He was then asked what those enrollments-out cost G-R.

“That’s a tough one to determine entirely,” Bonjour said. “If you look at just 171 students … over a million (dollars) easily.”

He also said that the “primary” destination for students with Gladbrook addresses who enroll out of district is GMG but students also enroll at BCLUW, Marshalltown, North Tama, and Grundy Center.

An audience member asked about enrollment projections which Bonjour said look to remain “pretty steady” and are “holding around plus or minus five [students] per year.”

He then listed off several districts in the immediate area with remodeling plans in the works including North Tama which passed a bond referendum this past November to build a new high school after first failing to pass the public measures last March.

“If we don’t do anything and we continue to deteriorate … parents are going to choose those places [that have upgraded].”

The topic of the open land where the Gladbrook buildings once stood was also raised – the district still owns the land.

“I don’t have any great, grandiose ideas for that space,” Bonjour said before adding, “We do have to come up with a solution there – something we can be proud of.”

At one point he alluded to possibly building something on the site but never mentioned any specifics.

Some of his final comments addressed what could happen if nothing happens – Bonjour stated he does not want to arrive at a crossroads where the G-R district must either pass a bond or close.

“I don’t want it to come to that.”

Town hall presentations

The third and fourth town halls were slated for Wednesday, Dec. 20 in Gladbrook, and Thursday, Dec. 21 in Reinbeck.

For those who were unable to attend any of the town halls, Bonjour’s presentation slides will be available on the district’s Facility Planning website soon: https://sites.google.com/gr-rebels.net/facility/home