The city's largest school district gets ready to open its doors to a new school year, and the way it offers options to students may be the biggest change of all.

What will the changes mean for students and their futures in the city's?

We'll.

Davenport schools are starting the new school year with a new concept.

It's offering the traditional 45 minute semester long courses, but it's also offering an almost ala carte menu of new options that could see some classes run 90 minutes and some last as little as nine weeks.

We're joined by Davenport School superintendent TJ Schneck as they start the new school year.

So you get very excited on that first day of school.

I've never talked to a superintendent who doesn't.

When you were a little kid, you got excited.

But now you're a little bit older than a little kid.

Why is the first day so important?

Oh my gosh.

The first day of school, everyone has that memory.

Doesn't matter whether or not you're in kindergarten or your senior year.

Just that notion that I'm coming back to school.

The teachers have everything prepared.

The administrators have been working all summer long.

So the notion that when those kiddos come out of that door, they're out of the door to their car.

They're super excited to to be in that space, be with their friends, learn something new, be in a fresh environment because everything's been cleaned.

Her custodial staff works really hard all summer long to make sure that our environments are ready for our kids.

It's really, a wonderful way to kick off the start of the school year, to kick off a special feeling for kids, and it it goes back to our human beings and our district and how they prepare for things.

And it just just the culmination of that's what makes it so special.

It has been tough for Davenport schools in order to, get enough funding from the state to make sure that the the school district is operating at the level that you want.

How is that changed when you're only getting about a 2% increase from the state each year?

Your per pupil spending is not to the same extent that you would like to see.

So one of the things that we we really work hard at is forecasting our budget.

So right now the Davenport school budget's healthier than it's ever been.

We meet monthly.

We review that, we review it with the school board, and then we make the hard decisions and necessary adjustments.

You know, if you look at the decisions that we've made over the last couple of years have set us up for the next 20 to 30 years, whether it be closing schools, right sizing.

You know, for example, we had a cabinet member that left this year and we decided not to backfill that position because we're constantly looking for ways to divert those funds to the to the front line, to our classroom, where it matters the most.

And that's exactly what we do, to to ensure that our finances are right on where they're supposed to be.

And right now, we're very healthy.

We'll talk about transfer transformation.

I mean, funding for damn port schools was a huge issue.

And I hate to go back too far in history, but I mean, it's really turned around.

And what do you credit that to?

I think it's, really, really real intentionality with our school board and our administration.

So about five years ago, we decided that we were going to get on a cadence that we're going to we're going to really look at our staffing patterns and we're going to forecast.

So we do five year forecasts every, every year.

We meet monthly and we review our budget and we make difficult decisions.

But you know, we've we've had to close schools.

That was not easy.

We've had to make staff reductions.

That wasn't easy.

But we know that where the balance of our staffing need to be and where everything needs to be in order for that to, to, for us to be healthy.

The last three years, Davenport Schools has settled its contract, either number one in the state or in the top five in the state, which allows us to then get into the hiring process faster.

And those types of, financial stability, those types of those types of actions are what allow us to forecast, which allow us to to budget at a, at a higher, at a very efficient rate.

When you're talking about forecast, you're also trying to forecast enrollment numbers.

Enrollment numbers at schools tend to be dropping.

Is that the same for Davenport?

I mean, you're not seeing a growing population that would, like you say, backfill the student population either.

You're exactly right.

In our area, the student population is going down.

And that's that's all of the districts in the Quad Cities.

And so we you're exactly right.

We have to take a look at the incoming kindergartners, the leaving seniors.

And we we count all of our students and we we enroll them forward.

And then we are able to forecast from there.

So that's exactly what we do.

We look at our there's several things that go into our forecasting.

And and it's student enrollments obviously number one.

And and from there we're able to make the appropriate predictions in the future.

And so far for the last five years, we've been pretty close.

Which which allow us to be sustainable, which allow us to, be innovative.

And so those are some of the key things that we do to forecast.

Well, in the latest part of the forecast, of course, is school choice in Iowa.

What do you seeing as an impact right now.

Because that's only escalating.

So for us the only thing that we worry about is being the best thing for our students, the best choice for students.

And so what we what we work on our our CTE programs, we work on our sports program.

We work on our facilities.

We're we're renovating every single one of our classrooms, putting new technology in them.

We're we're building two brand new schools.

Renovating all of our athletic spaces and and getting ready to enter into a phase two where we're going to continue to, to look towards the future.

And that's exactly what we're going to do in this era of school choice.

We want to be the choice, and that's the only thing that we can focus on.

Do you think that's going to level out then as far as school choice is concerned?

I do I think it's going to level off.

So in our area, people aren't going to build new schools or new classrooms or things of that nature on school choice because the families could choose to come back and therefore you would have an expand the school in a different area, that that wouldn't be a very good choice.

So I think in our area, it'll it'll level out well, we'll be able to we'll be able to forecast that even better in the next couple of years.

I do I do believe it'll level out.

But again, our concern is being the best choice for families at right now and in the future.

Let's talk about the construction projects.

It's like you said, we're nearing the end of phase one, which touched so many different schools.

And right now we're taking a look at at what North and Smart and Low explained to me those three schools right now.

Absolutely.

Phase.

Phase one, which started I think, 3 or 4 years ago, thought it was a five year project, wasn't it?

Yeah.

We are approving north to tonight at the school board meeting.

So it started off with a renovation at Davenport West to to finally bring the weight room and wrestling room out of the basement and build a brand new auxiliary gym there.

New turf field, new turf practice fields and competition soccer fields for each one of our high schools.

Renovated, renovated, Davenport North, which is the final phase.

Brand new sod, low and smart.

And if you're driving by those areas, you can see those projects taking foot now.

The other exciting thing is we were able to move our bus barn across the street to provide really high quality, area for our bus drivers and, and upgraded facilities.

But then that's going to get our Davenport Central baseball field out of the floodplain.

The other thing that we've worked on is indoor, competition spaces for, for hitting, softball, golf and things of that nature.

And so we're working on different indoor spaces at each one of our high schools.

So lots of projects go on a very busy, very busy summer.

You did point out, of course, the school closings it back in the 50, 60, 70 is even the 80s.

The key was neighborhood schools, for walking distance.

Is that even possible anymore?

Yes.

And if you look at what Davenport schools have, we are our walk zone is at the elementary schools is of 1.5 the state the state requirement is two.

So we're still underneath that that state requirement.

But in order for us to maximize what we have, we always have to be checking where what are we situated for?

Before we did those school closures, Davenport schools had enough open seats to where if Bettendorf schools were to close, we could absorb all of those students.

Now think about from an efficiency standpoint.

We had we had we had to make that decision.

And and for us, we we did it the right way.

We involved our community.

We saw input in and throughout the a year long process.

We move forward with that.

And so far where those where two of those schools where you're seeing brand new schools being built back.

And so that's that's really a look towards the horizon in the future.

Do you see it as a reinvestment?

It's a 100% reinvestment into our communities.

Let's talk about another thing.

And that is your new enhanced school schedule.

It starts this year.

It's really an interesting, proposal that you have is that it's offering more classes, more class choices.

It's offering.

Right now, you generally have 45 minute classes.

You could have some 90 minute classes.

You could have some.

Is it nine?

Oh, no.

It's.

Yeah, nine, 18 or 36 week courses.

Tell me where this came from.

Why is this and this?

I mean, we keep using the word transformative.

Why is this needed in the Davenport school?

Yeah, absolutely.

We we looked at our data a couple of years ago about how our students getting to and through our certificate programs, and we needed to make a change.

And to be clear, high school schedules in a school, you could find research for either one of them.

So we said a task force.

We said, okay, what's the best thing for Davenport schools?

And what we found is we needed a hybrid of both.

So there are there are times where we need block classes in some of our more advanced classes, and there are times when we need 45 minute classes, in our introductory classes.

And then there's classes that need to go all year long.

And so we set about building a schedule that can accomplish all of those things.

Now that's very rare where you combine a traditional schedule and a block schedule.

And so that's what we're working through right now.

And we have we have great people that are working towards finding that perfect solution for us.

Again, the best solution because nothing can ever be perfect.

But that's that's where we are right now.

And we are really excited to see what the next couple of years bring.

We're hoping increased opportunities for our students, enhancing our graduation rate and our CTE programs all of those things are expected outcomes for us.

And this is the first of a two year phase in in order to get it right.

Exactly.

So this year we have an initial phase.

And then we have a course review coming up.

So in the next couple of months we will be reviewing our courses.

Which one should which one should be.

Like you said on the 30, 36, 16 and nine and what's the what's the length of those class periods.

And so we, we put together a process for reviewing those courses.

And, and that'll allow us to build our course guide in October.

And for the 26, 27 school year, it would seem that you would need more staff for that because you're offering more choices, more and more options and different topics.

Is that the case?

Is or are teachers being asked to do more?

Well, I would say in today's in today's world, our teachers are asked to do more.

But one of the one of the interesting things about high school schedule is the first thing we do is we ask the students, what do they want to do?

And from there, we do our best to try and match what the student need and want is.

And so that's when we build our staffing.

That's when we build our programing for our students around that.

And that's why it's incredibly important to do this work in October and November, because you really start building the high school schedule in December and January and for the next, for the next school year, because that's how long it takes.

And so, that's, that's what we've got.

That's why we did it in a two year phase.

And to allow for the programing to meet what our students need in some ways, because I'm thinking of these 90 minute classes, that's long class.

Is that more for college prep.

So the 90 minute classes can be where there's a lot of setup time.

So think about a science lab when you got to get in.

There needs to be some explanation.

But then you've got to get in.

You've got to do the work.

You got to you got to figure it out.

Then you have to clean up.

So, so there's there's a lot of necessary need for that.

And so that's what we're going through now and reviewing what are the necessary classes to have those, larger blocks of time, the difficult time.

The difficult part comes from when it's time to schedule those things.

It's incredibly difficult for a scheduler to put things together on a mixed schedule.

That would seem to me the biggest challenge, because certain students are going to want to do something.

It's a 90 minute course, and something else they want to do is during that 90 minutes, that is exactly right.

And so the notion that you have a four year high school career where you can accomplish those things, that's where the scheduler comes in.

And so each one of our students going into their freshman year put together a plan, an academic plan of what, how, how they think their journey will go.

And that plan is incredibly important.

But there needs to be flexibility built into that.

Because while you might start your high school career thinking you want to be a musician, you might finish it as a carpenter.

And so those those flexible points need to be in there.

The number of students that are that are graduate.

The other critical component about planning your schedule is the number of students that are graduating with a year's worth of college in their belt and paid for because the the college credits that you can take in a high school, is incredible.

The number of students graduating with that is it's impressive.

And so that academic planning is really important, whether whether you're in a year long class or a 90 minute class.

And so I understand that if a person is on that, that course for college.

Phenomenal and fantastic, but you also know that there's kids that you just want to get them to get the diploma.

How does this help that child?

Absolutely.

The flexibility that comes with the schedule is another really impactful part for helping students get to and through the bar, we call it.

And so one of our goals is that each one of our kids has an opportunity to get a certificate.

I mean, we have 17 endorsed programs where you can graduate with some type of certificate or on your way to a certificate, and that's really impressive.

So to give you an example, we have student Home Bill, and we have students that go in there and they they think they're going to want to be in a trade and like, yes, perfect.

The trade works perfect for me.

There's a story where a kid that he wanted to go into a trade but realized he really was, he really liked the drawing of the house.

So then changed, went declared his major at Iowa State and is going to be an architect.

So those exploratory classes, and, high level classes, really allow our students to see what their future is.

And it's really exciting.

There used to be a time that all you're supposed to do is reading, writing, arithmetic.

You know that.

Well, and critics would say that's what's supposed to happen, but that's not what's going on in the real world.

I mean, what by the time a child graduates, in a way they have to kind of already know what they're going to do next.

Is that an unfair burden for a child that young?

So, yes, I think it can't be.

But here's what we're here's what we're focused on.

What we're focused on is giving every one of our kids a competitive advantage.

So when you're in one of our high schools, you don't have to decide what you want to be by the time you're 18.

But if you can, if you can put siding on your house, if you can weld something together, if you've been in an advanced manufacturing class and you can jump right into the workforce and and make a really good living until you determine what you want to do, that's a competitive advantage.

If you already know what you're going to do.

For example, the student that was going to be an architect, major, don't you think that student has a competitive advantage?

Because I built a house before.

I know exactly what it takes to do these kinds of things.

So that notion that, yeah, you don't have to figure out what you want to do, but have a competitive advantage entering that, entering the workforce or the college or wherever it is that you're going.

We've talked a lot about high school.

Let me talk about earlier education, because as you know, reading scores, and, and math scores have not been improving necessarily in some school districts.

How important is it by third grade to have a good reading level?

It's that's always been the benchmark.

As a third grade, the the early, early instruction in reading is paramount.

And that's why Davenport Schools, we're getting ready to launch phase two.

And one of the one of the very first things we're going to be looking at in the phase two, long range facility planning is how can we enhance the preschool in our, in our district so that early childhood education is a is a rock solid, well known intervention for getting students to that proficiency level, that third grade, which you're exactly right.

What happens before then?

Students are learning to read at third grade.

They read to learn.

And that's an incredibly, important, pivotal, pivotal moment.

And for us, we're constantly racing to get our students to there.

So Davenport schools is invested in letters training, which is the, one of it is the science of reading.

And all of our K through three teachers have that have that training.

We've also purchased what I consider one of the best curriculums in terms of reading and learning to read in our in our elementary schools.

And it actually has a band that goes all the way up through eighth grade.

So we are heavily investing in our staff and the materials to really go after that.

That benchmark that you had talked about in third grade, because it's absolutely pivotal over the last couple legislative sessions, you've seen a lot of laws coming out of Iowa, coming out of Des Moines, towards school districts, mandates that you have.

How tough has it been to meet some of these mandates?

Some of those mandates have really helped us.

I'll give you an example of one.

The attendance mandate that we've had, we took that and and really went after students that have chronic absenteeism and our chronic absenteeism, really improved over the last couple of years.

So what we're trying to do is take those mandates, really find the best way to move forward with them.

Sometimes it's a lot coming at us, but but we know that if we get those in our system, find the best way to move forward with them in a timely manner, that that's required by us by law, that's been successful for us.

The letters training that I talked about, which is language essentials, the teachers are reading and spelling, oh my God, I can't believe I remember that.

Nicely done.

That is actually that is an actual, a mandate from the, from the state.

And so we took that and we ran with it.

And so while some of these things are happening really fast, you know, our legislators have the same sense of urgency that we do.

They want better outcomes for our kids and they want them now.

So while they may be happening fast, we are we are being given a little bit of grace while we're implementing these, to to make sure that we're really improving outcomes for kids.

You do know that I'm telling you something that you know very well is that schools are a microcosm of society.

Are you worried for your LGBTQ students?

So one of the things I'm incredibly proud of is, is how we treat all students in Davenport.

We are a very welcoming environment.

We, Davenport schools, a lot of, a lot of people are very proud that there's kids go to school like the rest in an environment that that models the rest of the world.

And so in a time, in a time where all students matter, we need to continue to say that message despite what we can and can't have in our handbooks, despite what things may change when our kids come into our classrooms, into our schools, they feel welcome.

And that's our goal.

And every day we strive towards that.

So.

So every student that comes in our doors, we treat uniquely, because that's the world that we live in.

We live in a, in a society where, where there's all types of people, and we want to make sure that our students feel welcome.

One other area school security that you're always concerned about, you put in new security measures, back in the spring.

How do you see that working, for this coming school year?

So I am incredibly proud of how our staff rolled out our weapons detection system.

So I want to ask you a question.

Which airplane do you want to ride on?

The one with weapons detections or the one with that.

And that's how our that's the feedback that we got from our community.

You know, when you go to a Hawkeye football game, when you go to a concert, they're now a part of everyday society.

And people want that safety, that feeling.

We're, we're we're putting enhanced measures in, you know, different door alarms, different security.

And I don't I can't really talk about a lot about those things because we want to make sure that our playbook is secure.

But we take that very seriously.

And our community, you know, if you would have said ten years ago, put weapons detection in your schools and system, it would have had a different vibe than it has right now.

And so our I was there the first day we put them in and it was it was not to our students.

They just came in the building to our staff.

It just became a part of our routine.

Yeah, it's another thing that we have to do, but we want our kids to feel safe.

It's a sad reality that you have to do it.

It is a sad reality.

And and you know, if you go to a Hawkeye football game, they're there.

And do you think about your think about when you walk through those are they're a little annoying and there's a little bit of a line, but just that little additional measure.

Nothing's ever perfect.

But that little additional measure ensures that that a bad actor has to go and take another step.

And that's what we're all about doing.

Just have a few seconds left.

What do you expect this year?

I mean, what are you telling the incoming kids?

I expect greatness, I expect, this generation of students, I expect them to be great.

And we're going to do everything that we can to make sure that they have everything that they need.

Loving teachers, great stat, great great buildings, all the materials that they need to have a wonderful experience.

And I'm thinking about this incoming kindergartner, you know, to when they start their journey all the way through their senior year to build a strong foundation for the rest of their lives.

And our seniors that are outgoing, they're going to represent our community, and in, in our community and all across the nation.

Why?

It's going to be a wonderful year.

Our thanks to Davenport School Superintendent TJ cloth.

The new school year is upon us, but there are still some events that your entire family can enjoy in our area.

Here are some ideas you may consider thanks to.

Visit Quad Cities.

Check out the things to do this week in the Quad Cities.

Watch a movie under the stars on the rooftop of the Last Picture.

House on August 21st.

Then, if you love live music, great food, and family fun, Mercado on fifth is a place to be.

Enjoy amazing views while having dinner on the Celebration bells captain dinner cruise.

Then get ready to catch a Quad Cities River bandits game at Modern Woodmen Park on August 23rd.

Finally, sit back and enjoy Mary Poppins at Circa 21 Dinner Playhouse on August 24th.

For more events like these, check out our events calendar at visit Quad cities.com.

we're celebrating the upcoming 250th birthday of America by highlighting the people who helped make our region a better place to live.

Everyone has a role in the fabric of our nation.

In a way, it's their civic spark.

During the pandemic, the big message about the virus and vaccines came from public health officials like Brooke Barnes from the Scott County Health Department.

So we asked her, what's your civic spark?

So public health was sort of the career I never knew about and never knew I always wanted.

I started in social work and got into public health after I got a degree in public policy and had started with tobacco prevention and control, looking at policies within the community.

And so that's where I got started.

And then, you know, really just kind of dived into all the amazing work that public health does in a community, really that driver of questions and facilitation and trying to better understand policies and systems.

And so for me, that really brought together the two things I had been interested in was, you know, social work helping as well as some of the policy pieces.

And now as we, you know, really take a focus on health equity and how we can make systems equitable for individuals.

That's really what drives me every day.

And the passion that I see.

And really the important role I think that public health plays in a community is asking those questions, making sure we're looking at things in different ways and and really seeing how, everything impacts individuals and their ability to, you know, be healthy, live fulfilling lives, and just to make our community strong.

Our thanks to Brooke Barnes from the Scott County Health Department.

On the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device and streaming on your computer.

Thanks for taking some time to join us.

As we talk about the issues on the city's.