

By Lucia Cheng, Iowa Public Radio
Des Moines, IA-The state’s largest school district released their overview of a decade-long plan to overhaul the school system. The plan, dubbed “Reimagining Education,” responds to years of declining enrollment and budget cuts in Des Moines Public Schools.
Since 2019, DMPS has been steadily losing students, largely through open enrollment. In the 2019-2020 school year, about 1,500 students left the district. Now, for 2024-2025, that number has almost doubled — about 2,900 transferred to neighboring suburban districts.
When students transfer out of a district, the schools they leave behind lose funding. The new district gains the funding with the incoming student. This year, about $7,800 are exchanged with each student.
As student numbers have declined, DMPS has had to make multiple rounds of budget cuts. The district cut $14 million ahead of the 2024-2025 school year.
By 2030, DMPS hopes to reverse its open enrollment numbers and gain more students into the district than transfer out.

Associate Superintendent Matt Smith presents district education proposals to the school board in a public meeting. Proposals include placing sixth grade back in elementary school.
“This is about making Des Moines Public Schools a premier destination of choice. We need to get in that game,” Associate Superintendent Matt Smith said at Tuesday’s school board meeting. “We need to make sure we are providing the best educational experiences for our students day in, day out.”
A DMPS committee made up of students, parents and staff spent 14 months reviewing policies from top-performing schools. Their plan includes attracting families by expanding preschool and replacing or repurposing some of the district’s aging buildings.
Some of the key elements include:
- Increasing Access to Full-Day Preschool: The district will expand access to pre-K services at select elementary schools and pre-K centers.
- Moving Sixth Grade Back to Elementary: The retention rate drops the most between fifth and sixth grade, Smith said. Combining sixth grade with elementary schools again would ease the transition between elementary and middle school.
- Interest-based Signature Schools: Some schools will specialize in specific topics, such as STEM or art.
- Improving Activities and Athletics: DMPS will renovate athletics facilities to encourage more extracurricular participation.
- Diploma Plus Programs: Students can earn special distinctions and certificates through Diploma Plus to better prepare them for the workforce.
- Splitting District into Three: The district will be divided into three regions using the rivers as borders, Smith said. Each will have its own feeder patterns.
- Consolidating, Repurposing and Retiring Buildings: The district will renovate or retire some buildings, although no locations have officially been announced yet.
One teacher, Kate Lechtenberg, spoke up during public comment to question why teachers seemed to be left out of the planning process.
“Without a commitment to reimagining these teaching and learning systems, I fear that any efforts to reimagine education will be superficial adjustments to spaces, boundaries and programs, rather than the cultural sustaining and transformative changes our students and families deserve,” Lechtenberg said in comments before the plan was presented.
More details will be announced at a DMPS State of the Schools event on Feb. 11. A series of public forums will follow.