Task force recommends Dubuque middle school consolidation, $70 million bond proposal

In 2023, Dubuque Community School District voters narrowly rejected an up-to-$150 million bond that would have funded multiple projects, including construction of a new middle school as part of the district’s efforts to consolidate from three to two middle schools. At a public information session on Wednesday, district officials shared the task force’s recommendation for the district to seek voter approval this fall for a bond to build a new middle school at the current site of Washington Middle School, as was proposed in 2023. Jefferson Middle School would be closed, and the new middle school would operate as a feeder school to one of the district’s two high schools, along with Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School. If the school board votes to move ahead with the new general obligation bond referendum, however, it would be for $70 million and would only include construction of the new middle school.