DUBUQUE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Logo of the Dubuque Community School District

DUBUQUE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT. The law enabling the organization of school districts in Iowa was passed by the First Legislative Assembly that met at Burlington, Iowa, on November 12, 1838. The Second Legislative Assembly, convened in January 1840, passed additional laws allowing communities to establish a complete system of public schools.

Despite this early interest in schools by the State, nothing was done to establish public education in Dubuque until the spring of 1844. A number of private schools were then operating in the city.

In April 1844, a tax levy was approved and Board of Education officers were elected. These included Warner LEWIS, president; J. J. E. Norman, secretary; Timothy Mason, treasurer; and William Carter, director. This board arranged with private schools to accept any children living within the district. Tuition would be paid on a per capita basis. Money remaining in the treasury after the payment of tuition was used to purchase school sites in the First and Third Wards. Records indicate no further activity of the Board until 1849 when a tax was levied which yielded $1,396.

During 1850 contracts were issued for the construction of two one-story brick schools, one in the First Ward and the other for the Third Ward. Soon after the buildings were completed, the District ran into financial difficulties and the buildings were sold under the Mechanics Lien laws. During 1851, Directors of the Third Ward District redeemed their school building. A school census in 1855 indicated that 3,466 children resided within the city.

Dubuque's slow movement toward establishing a school system led the State legislature in 1855 to pass a law making the City of Dubuque a permanent school district. The law further authorized the City Council to appoint a Board of Education to serve until the next city election.

No action was taken on this matter by the City Council until January 21, 1856. The City Council then created a Board of Education consisting of the MAYOR and one member from each ward in the city. The Mayor, City Recorder, and City Treasurer were all given ex-officio status on the new Board. Members of this Board included John G. SHIELDS, the mayor; Dennis A. MAHONY, First Ward; James A. Reid, Second Ward; James Burt, Third Ward; James R. Goodrich, Fourth Ward, and C. B. Waples, Fifth Ward. At the board's first meeting on February 7, 1856, Mahony was elected President pro tempore.

Disagreement with the City Council soon erupted over whether the Board had the authority to buy or exchange real estate. On March 10, 1856, the City Council adopted an ordinance that repealed the appointment of the first board. A new board was named including H. A. Wiltse, Frederick. E. BISSELL, J. J. E. Norman, J. A. Reed, and S. M. Case. The board first met on March 11 and elected H. W. Wiltse as its president.

This board acted on many items. Textbooks for primary and secondary grades were adopted, teaching candidates were examined, schools for the Third and Fifth Wards were opened, and plans were drawn for the opening of schools in two sites on the hill and one along Southern Avenue. Since school facilities were rapidly proving inadequate for handling such large classes, it was decided that no child under six would be enrolled. Any student absent for over five hours in one week for any reason other than illness would be dismissed for the rest of the term. Teachers were prohibited from enrolling AFRICAN AMERICAN children, as such an action would be illegal. A limit of sixty students per teacher was set in the Third Ward School. A limit of fifty students per teacher was established in the Fifth Ward School. The academic year was divided into three terms, and a resolution forbidding the use of tobacco in the schools was adopted. Continued friction between the Board and City Council was shown when the Board censured the Council for appointing a committee to inspect the Third Ward School.

During 1857-1858 financial difficulties for the District led to warrants being issued with rates of interest as high as 4 percent per month. Proceeds from the sale of warrants were placed in a fund for the purchase of fuel. A petition from several teachers asking that they be paid in currency or GOLD was denied as the Board had only SCRIP to offer.

The dismal financial condition of the District continued to be an issue in 1858-1859. A report of the board secretary showed that teachers lost $276.15 being paid in scrip that local merchants often discounted. The District Township School District of Dubuque was formed in accordance with laws passed during the previous session of the legislature. During the year, controversy arose over reading of the Bible in the schools.

A high school was started in May 1858, using the Third Ward school building at the corner of 12th and Clay (now Central) Streets. Hard financial times led to the high school being discontinued the following year. The District was only able to operate primary, secondary and grammar school classes when the teachers agreed to work for half salary. All schools were closed for the first term during the 1861-1862 academic year, but were reopened in January 1862.

During the 1864-1865 school year a petition was received by the Board asking that a school for African-American children be opened. Since a private school for these students was open at the time, the Board chose to pay the operator of the school ten dollars per month from May 1, 1864, for each student enrolled.

Educational quality was on the minds of Board members when, in 1865-1866, they chose to examine all candidates for teaching positions and those already employed as teachers. Persons receiving the highest average on the examinations would be rewarded with employment. The petition for a school for African-American students was again presented. This time the Board rented a church basement and began the school on March 5, 1866. Of the 4,867 school age students in the District, the secretary's report indicated that 2,364 children were enrolled. The average daily attendance was 1,853.

Reported price gouging by local bookstores angered the Board in 1867. The Board responded by passing a resolution requesting local bookstores to reduce their prices to those charged by stores in Chicago or face the possibility of the Board operating its own bookstore. Teachers were made financially responsible for any books lost or destroyed.

Crowding in the First and Fifth Ward Schools during the 1868-1869 school year led to classes being divided into morning and afternoon shifts. A request by the German Catholic Congregation School to be considered a public school so that it could share in the school revenues was denied. The Board pointed to the presence of other private schools in Dubuque and that the school was not part of the jurisdiction of the Board of Directors.

The first graduation from a high school in Dubuque took place in 1870. Students of the high school, with additional citizen support, purchased an organ for the school and presented it to the Board. The Secretary's Report indicated 6,929 children lived within the District and that 2,721 attended public schools. With six male and fifty-seven female teachers, the student-teacher ratio was 43:1.

Vandalism plagued the District during 1872--1873 to the degree that the Board requested the mayor deputize building janitors as special police.

The school year of 1875-1876 witnessed the beginning of German instruction in the ward schools and the start of a fifteen-minute recess during morning and afternoon sessions. The Board denied the right of African American children to attend ward schools by claiming that the teacher at their school was capable of instructing children through the sixteenth year. The Board did approve any African American child completing the sixteenth year attending high school.

High school courses beginning in the 1876-1877 school year were divided into three classes. Business courses lasted three years. Classical and Latin scientific each required four years to complete. Students graduating with an average of ninety or better from the four-year courses were presented a Teacher's Grammar Certificate. Those graduating with an average from eighty to ninety received Teacher's Secondary Certificates upon application. Only twenty-five students graduated from the three-year course. By 1877 most courses were extended to four years. Four year Latin scientific and classical courses were continued after 1877 along with two-year business courses. After 1885 the classical course was discontinued. In 1895 the Board of Education realized that most students were enrolling in the two-year business course. This program was soon discontinued, and high school became a four-year program.

African American children attempted to attend ward schools during the winter of 1876-1877, but were denied admission. The Board was taken to District Court, but instructed its counsel not to offer any defense. All pupils withdrew from the African American school on February 14, 1877, and the building was closed.

Board member Jane D. Jennings resigned on January 24, 1881, because he had changed his party affiliation at the last election. An unwritten rule that the community supported provided that the membership on the Board would be evenly divided between the two political parties. Filling his vacancy was M. M. HAM.

Drawing was started in the schools during the 1880-1881 academic year. Since the Board did not wish to hire specialists, teachers were requested to attend classes to learn how to teach the new subject.

Drug education started in the District during the 1886-1887 school year. A course, written to comply with a new state law, was introduced which showed the effects of alcohol, stimulants and narcotics on the human body. The student teacher ratio had risen to 54:1.

Schools were renamed during December 1889, to honor famous Americans. The schools with their former and new names were: First Ward School--FRANKLIN SCHOOL Third Ward School--PRESCOTT SCHOOL Fourth Ward School--LINCOLN SCHOOL Fifth Ward School--AUDUBON SCHOOL West Dubuque School--IRVING SCHOOL Couler Avenue School--FULTON SCHOOL Eagle Point School--MARSHALL SCHOOL West Locust Street School--JACKSON SCHOOL South Dodge Street School--BRYANT SCHOOL Dodge Street School--Morse School

Lots 359 and 360 at the corner of Seventh and White Streets were purchased for $700.00 and for $2,576.65.The Peter Cooper School was constructed.

In 1892 Irving School, rebuilt after being destroyed by fire the same year, became the first public school in the District to be heated by steam and provided with indoor toilets. Truch, Southworth and Company were granted permission to mine beneath the Lincoln School grounds for two years.

By a vote of 956 to 235, Dubuque voters in 1893 approved issuing $75,000 in bonds for the construction of what became CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL. The P. J. Lee lots at the corner of 15th and Locust were purchased for $15,000. G. Stanley Mansfield of Freeport, Illinois, was employed as the architect. The high school, dedicated on January 17, 1895, was occupied by students on February 4, 1895, and was used until the opening of DUBUQUE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL in 1923. The 1894-1895 school year also saw the District begin kindergarten classes.

Teachers' salaries were studied by a committee of the Board during the 1897-1898 school year. After comparing salaries in Dubuque with surrounding cities, the committee's report was adopted, and some salaries were cut.

During 1898-1899 a resolution was introduced to include music in the curriculum. The resolution was defeated by the Board in a vote of four to one. The faculty of the District then consisted of sixteen men and one hundred twelve women that, with the student enrollment of 5,174, resulted in a student-teacher ratio of 40:1.

John McCabe was elected the District's first Truant Officer and began his duties in September 1903. Schools were dismissed on June 2 at noon, but students were expected to return at 4:00 p.m. to accompany their teacher to the reception for President Theodore Roosevelt.

Dubuque schools received a gold medal for written work and shared another gold medal with the East Des Moines and Burlington Schools for best drawings submitted as part of the Iowa State Exhibit at the St. Louis World's Fair during the 1904—1905 school year. In his first annual report to the Board, John McCabe, the new truant officer, detailed the one hundred five cases he had investigated since taking office.

During the 1908-1909 school year, the Palmer Handwriting Method was introduced in the District. Manual training was also made a part of the seventh and eighth grade curriculums.

Merchants along Clay Street petitioned the Board to abandon Prescott School on April 25, 1912. Merchants complained that the buildings were unsafe and that the traffic posed both a noise problem for the students as well as a hazard. The Board chose the half block facing White Street between 12th and 13th Streets for the new Prescott Elementary School.

Fraternities and sororities in the high school were banned by action of the Board in 1913-1914. Members of Zeta Beta Psi and Iota Beta Phi sororities and Alpha Omega, Phi Sigma, Phi Delta and Phi Sigma fraternities resigned during the 1914--1915 school year to comply with the Board ruling.

On October 6, 1916, a petition was filed with the Board for the construction of a new Bryant Elementary School. Of the 11,427 children living within the District, 3,152 attended public school. With the staff numbering fifteen men and one hundred thirty-one women the student teacher ratio was 27:1.

On November 19, 1919, a $50.00 bonus was approved by the Board for all teachers retroactive to the beginning of school in September. The amount was paid at a rate of five dollars per month. Permission to organize fraternities and sororities at the high school was granted.

At a special election held on May 15, 1920, voters approved the construction of a new high school by a margin of 51 percent. Condemnation proceedings were begun on one site, but rescinded on May 25 when it was decided to buy the West Locust Street site at the corner of Seminary Street and West Locust, the present site of Dubuque Senior High School. The land, purchased from the SISTERS OF CHARITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, B.V.M., cost $45,335. Teachers with five or more years of experience received a salary increase effective in 1921 of $400. Teachers with less experience received $30. On June 3, 1920, voters approved a proposal to erect two junior high schools.

Sites for the junior high schools (now WASHINGTON MIDDLE SCHOOL and JEFFERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL) were selected on April 22, 1921, and January 7, 1922, respectively. The Board adopted a resolution during the 1922-1923 school year barring the employment of married women as teachers.

During the 1928-1929 academic year, junior high classes at Central School were discontinued. Classes for the deaf, handicapped and part-time were moved to the building.

The Peter Cooper School was closed during the 1930-1931 school year. Voters in 1932 approved a plan to sell the building and place the money in the School House Fund. During the same year the practice of renting textbooks was started at Washington Junior High School. Financial problems returned to the District, and 10 percent of all salaries were withheld for balancing the budget. At the end of the year, 60 percent of the money withheld was repaid to the employees.

In an effort to balance the budget, salaries were again reduced by 10 percent during the 1933-1934 year with an additional 10 percent coming from salaries exceeding one hundred dollars per month. At the end of the year, 75 percent of the withheld money was repaid.

The 10 percent reduction was used again during the 1935-1936 year with 30 percent of the withheld money returned. The teaching contract of Frederick W. KALTENBACH was not renewed, and the MURALS at Dubuque Senior were completed under the direction of Cyril FERRING, a former student.

In 1936-1937 the Dubuque Teachers Association asked the District to begin payment of salaries in twelve equal installments. Each paycheck was issued on the first day of the month.

On September 26, 1938, Dubuque voters approved by a vote of 4,763 to 1,265 to issue bonds for the construction of schools to replace Bryant, Fulton, Lincoln, and Marshal. A resolution was adopted on November 10,1938, to accept a grant from the federal government to help in the construction of the schools in a sum not to exceed $343,636. Marshall was accepted as completed on January 23, 1940. Bryant was accepted on February 23, 1940. Lincoln was accepted on April 1, 1941, and Fulton was accepted on April 16.

During 1941-1942 the Board adopted a rule that required all teachers to attend summer school and obtain a minimum of six hours of credit every six years. The federal government requested students in manual training classes during the same year to build airplane models to be used in the instruction of airplane spotters.

To enable more women to enter the workforce during World War II, the District began a day nursery at Audubon School for young children during the 1942-1943 academic year. In 1944 a second nursery was opened at Fulton School.

An epidemic of poliomyelitis delayed the opening of school for one month in 1943. The same year a School Site Fund was created and funded by all delinquent taxes collected.

In 1946 the single salary schedule for teachers was adopted. The same year teachers received a two hundred dollar salary increase. On July 9, 1947, part of the Center Grove School District was annexed. This was followed on October 10 by the Oakville School District.

The start of school in 1949 was again delayed by poliomyelitis. A strike by coal miners left the District with a fuel shortage. Temperatures in the schools were lowered, and all after-school and evening activities were cancelled.

Construction contracts for the erection of a new Irving Elementary School were awarded in 1952. The building was dedicated on October 28, 1953, and WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH purchased the site of the old Irving School. Audubon School opened a classroom on a half-time basis in the fall of 1954 for the teaching of the mentally handicapped.

The merger of the Independent School District of Dubuque and the Independent School District of Center Grove was approved effective July 1, 1956. On December 10, 1956, the Board passed a resolution changing the name of the District from the Independent School District of Dubuque to the Dubuque Community School District. Merger with the Asbury Independent School District was approved effective July I, 1957.

Mergers with other districts occurred frequently. The District merged with the Stone Hill School District during the 1958-1959 academic year. The following year a resolution was approved merging the Dubuque district with the Rural Independent School District of Julien. The actual merger occurred July 1, 1960. The District agreed to merge with the Derby Grange Rural Independent School District (effective July 1, 1961), but denied the merger application of the Wilton Rural Independent School District, preferring to merge with only one district annually. In 1961 a petition to merge with the Table Mound Township School District was received. This was completed in 1962. Wilton Rural Independent School District merged with Dubuque on July 8, 1963. During the 1963-1964 school year the Board set aside its limitation on mergers as five rural school districts (Salem Rural Independent, Washington Township, St. Joseph Rural Independent, Mosalem Township and Center Township) joined Dubuque.

In testimonial to Wilbur DALZELL for his forty-three years of distinguished service to the District, the Board passed a resolution during the 1964-1965 academic year to name the athletic field at Senior High in his honor.

Dr. Garlyn WESSELS succeeded Max CLARK as superintendent of schools in 1965 at an annual salary of $16,000. Dr. Howard PIGG was introduced as the new assistant superintendent. To comply with state law that all areas of the state be part of a K-12 school district, the County Board of Education announced that the following were attached to the Dubuque Community School District effective July 1, 1966: Bloody Run, Jefferson, St. Josephs, Knollville, Riverside, Sageville, Sherrill, Vernon and Washington Mills. In addition the merger of Prairie Springs and St. Donatus with the District was approved.

Bi-monthly meetings of the Board of Education began as a suggestion of the superintendent in 1967. The first meeting was designated as a business meeting while the second would deal with matters of educational programs. A Continuation School for expectant school-age girls was approved to be held on the third floor of Central School. The contract for the construction of STEPHEN HEMPSTEAD HIGH SCHOOL was awarded. Humke School, now displayed at the HAM HOUSE MUSEUM, from Center Township was donated to the DUBUQUE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

HOOVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL was dedicated on Sunday, November 17, 1968. EISENHOWER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL was dedicated on November 24, 1968. During the 1968-1969 school year a "Stay in School" eight-week summer program designed to prevent students from becoming dropouts was approved by the Board. It was announced that Hempstead High School would not be ready for students by September 2, 1969, necessitating double sessions of classes at Dubuque Senior High School. Three sections of Hempstead were ready for use following Christmas vacation in 1969. The Board declared that January 26, 1970, the start of the second semester, would be the date of the move.

The superintendent reported during the 1969--1970 year a need for 289 elementary classrooms. Only 271 were then available. The Board approved the purchase of portable classrooms and remodeling to Fulton, Lincoln and KENNEDY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. A state of emergency was declared by the County Superintendent making repairs possible without advertising for bids. The Board authorized a two-year lease with the SISTERS OF THE VISITATION for the use of the ACADEMY OF THE VISITATION. The building, used by shared-time students from Holy Ghost School, Saint Anthony School, and Nativity School was considered an annex of Washington Junior High School. The District purchased twenty-three acres of ground at Kaufmann Avenue and Chaney from the ARCHDIOCESE OF DUBUQUE for $75,000. Part of this site, once considered for a new junior high school, was later used for the administrative offices of the District.

During 1990 the combination of Eisenhower Elementary School with KELLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL was accomplished with the name of the school remaining Eisenhower. The District commitment to special education included working with students from Hills and Dales. (Photo Courtesy: http://www.dubuquepostcards.com)