The Des Moines Public Schools have experienced both enrollment decline and shift, which have impacted the district’s ability to fund its schools. The district has seen its enrollment decrease for each of the past six years, with the largest enrollment loss in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, likely due to the impact of the pandemic. The district’s largest enrollment occurred in 2012-2013, with 32,521 students.The district’s current K-12 enrollment is closer to the 30,000 mark.

The district is also experiencing an enrollment shift, meaning that some schools are seeing an increase in enrollment while most schools are seeing a decrease in student enrollment.

If no changes are made to district facilities or attendance boundaries, several schools are projected to be over capacity, meaning they will have more students than available classroom space, at some point in the next five years. At the same time, many other district schools are currently using or projected to soon be using less than 70% of their building capacity.

Des Moines Public Schools has convened a Facility Planning Committee to Reimagine Education across the district, bringing together a wide range of voices and perspectives.

The committee’s members range in age from under 18 to over 60, and come to the committee from every attendance area of DMPS. The members reflect a broad range of lived experiences and cultural backgrounds with one thing in common: a commitment to shaping and improving the future of education in Des Moines.

The committee has a total membership of 83 volunteers, with more than 40 who participate regularly in meetings and site visits. Click here for more information about the committee.

The committee reviewed research and information, visited other innovative school programs and studied feedback from other district stakeholders to help in preparing its overall recommendation. See the resources the committee reviewed.

Developing a facility master plan is a long-range planning process that utilizes local input, credible data, and school district resources to:

• Establish future of facilities
• Create financial stability in the district
• Ensure district resources are distributed equitably to all students

The facility master plan supports work throughout the school district to improve student educational outcomes by improving places for learning and introducing new academic programs and opportunities.

The Facility Master Plan being developed as part of the Reimagining Education initiative may include any or all of the following:

• New schools
• Building additions
• Adjustment of school boundaries
• School consolidation
• Change to grade configuration

In addition to facility planning, the Reimagining Education initiative is considering several improvements to academic offerings throughout DMPS, from the Diploma+ program to expanding preschool.

The Reimagining Education initiative and the development of a facility master plan involves a large number of people, from community members volunteering their time with valuable input and feedback to others with expertise in engineering, demographics and more.

Facility Planning Committee

A committee of students, parents, staff, administration, community partners and citizens who:

• Attend committee meetings
• Provide feedback to facilitators
• Work towards committee consensus

RSP and Associates

A firm specializing in school district planning, RSP’s work with DMPS includes:

• Facilitate committee meetings
• Study enrollment and demographic data
• Analyze school boundaries analysis

BBS Architects/Engineers

An architectural and engineering firm assisting DMPS with:

• Review of current facilities
• Assessment of facility conditions

DMPS Administration

School district leaders and staff provide support to this effort in several ways:

• Logistics for the facility planning committee
• Information and data on school district programs
• Insight into educational and academic programs
• Background on school district budget and financing

The Community

Last – but far from least – the community will be an important voice in this process:

• Submit input through various survey opportunities
• Engage in community meetings and forums to learn more about the proposal
• Participate in in-person and online sessions to provide feedback on the recommended plan

The facility planning committee will take its proposal to the board of education in January. It will become public then, along with all the opportunities to give feedback about the proposal.