A Dubuque Elementary School Will Permanently Close Following Vote
A Dubuque elementary school will close at the conclusion of the ongoing school year following a school board vote, per Telegraph Herald and numerous other sources.
On Monday, February 11th, Dubuque Community School Board members unanimously voted to approve the closure of Hoover Elementary School, located at 3259 St Anne Drive. Superintendent Amy Hawkins asked the board to consider the move due to ongoing financial concerns coupled with Hoover Elementary's declining student enrollment, per Telegraph Herald.
Hoover Elementary will now be the second Dubuque school in three years to cease operations, following the closure of Fulton Elementary School in 2022. Fulton closed due to the school's dwindling enrollment, low increases in state aid, and the district's declining unspent balance.
Closing Hoover will save the district about $1 million per year in staffing costs. Current Hoover staff will fill positions across the district. At this time, Hoover Elementary employs 44 staff-members, and the district expects to be able to place all who wish to remain working in other positions.
The Telegraph Herald notes that the aforementioned "unspent balance" is akin to a savings account from the district's general fund. District officials want to keep the unspent balance at an amount equivalent to one month of expenses, which, at present, is $12 million.
Should Hoover remain open, with no other cost-saving measures taken, the unspent balance was projected to fall below $6 million during the 2026-27 school year.
Students from Hoover Elementary will be transferred to nearby Irving, Kennedy, Table Mound, and Carver elementary schools. Six new class sections are expected to be added across those schools, including four at Irving and one each at Kennedy and Carver, to accommodate new, incoming students.
The decision ultimately was a financial one, not an indictment on the quality of education offered at Hoover Elementary.
Once plans for staff transitions are finalized, Hoover Elementary School Principal Kathleen Walech-Haas said that the school will aim to connect the Hoover students and staff to the same buildings next year, so students will have familiar faces in the hallways of their new school:
The staff is heartbroken, but I think we also do understand the financial constraints that the district is under. We just want to remain steadfast in providing students the best educational experience they can have at Hoover through the end of this year. - Hoover Elementary School Principal Kathleen Walech-Haas, per the Telegraph Herald
Read more about Hoover Elementary in Dubuque closing, as well as quotes from school board and community members, on Telegraph Herald's website.
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