The West Des Moines Community School District is proposing to eliminate Walnut Creek Alternative High School, a program created for students with significant academic, behavioral, emotional, and attendance needs. These students are not in alternative placement by accident. They are there because Tier-1 high schools were not meeting their needs, and because they require smaller environments, additional support, and individualized structure.
Returning this cohort to large buildings is not reform, it’s displacement. It will have direct consequences for the students at Walnut Creek, for the teachers expected to reacclimate them, and for classroom environments across the district.
Based on the district workshop held November 24, 2025, the proposed plan appears to be shaped by ideas from the recent National Alternative Educators Association (NAEA) conference in New Orleans titled: Roots & Rhythms: Embracing Community and Change which district staff attended. In the support materials provided by the district, they identify a goal of “leveraging lessons gained” from that conference.
The district cites attendance and absenteeism as a primary justification for the change yet offers no evidence that returning these students to Tier-1 buildings actually improve attendance. Attendance improves when students’ underlying academic, behavioral, and relational needs are addressed through consistent, high touch support. Research shows this happens most effectively in smaller, specialized settings, not by simply relocating students to larger Tier-1 buildings
Even more concerning was the presentation itself.
- Sixteen slides
- Surface-level data with no meaningful analysis
- No methodology
- No outcome analysis
- No comparison to successful Iowa programs
- No cost model
- No staffing plan
- No student impact study
For a district with highly paid administrators, the lack of professionalism was stunning. No business would consider a major structural change based on the information presented.
The only intellectual framing in the presentation came from two authors:
Resmaa Menakem, whose book My Grandmother’s Hands (2022) is rooted in somatic abolitionism and the belief that trauma is embedded in racialized systems and bodies; and Gholdy Muhammad, whose book Cultivating Genius promotes culturally responsive teaching grounded in critical pedagogy and identity frameworks. These are ideological lenses, not behavior science, not dropout-prevention research, and not models for students with significant needs.
Even more troubling is the ideological framing the district used. The district even stated in the workshop that the issue must be examined through a “critical lens.” Given Iowa’s passage of HF 802, which prohibits the promotion of divisive concepts tied to systemic-oppression frameworks, this raises a serious question:
If district leaders are confident openly speaking about examining issues “through a critical lens” in a public workshop, one must wonder whether this ideological approach is already embedded in staff training, decision-making, and the current educational environment. Parents deserve transparency about whether these frameworks are influencing programming, resource allocation, or major structural decisions.
This is especially important because, at the same workshop, the district’s DEI director stated that Iowa State University conducted a study concluding WDMCS is “systemically racist.” If such a study exists, the full report and methodology must be released immediately. Such a claim cannot be quietly referenced in a meeting and used behind the scenes to shape district decisions affecting thousands of students and millions of tax dollars.
All of this comes just weeks after West Des Moines voters approved a $135 million bond, with 8,302 yes votes, following an aggressive promotional campaign filled with “wants” including athletic upgrades, facility enhancements, and modernization efforts, but very little discussion about student learning outcomes or structural needs. At no point during the bond push did the district disclose that it was considering dismantling its alternative high school. Voters are right to feel blindsided.
The district must:
- Release the full “in-depth audit” it claims to have conducted.
- Demonstrate it researched more than one approach, examined successful models in comparable districts, and conducted a thorough analysis
- Disclose the materials from the National Alternative Education Association conference which claims guided this decision; a conference that does not publicly share agendas, keynote speakers, or session topics.
- Show evidence that Tier-1 buildings can safely and effectively serve students with these levels of need without overloading already overwhelmed teachers.
ANYTHING LESS IS UNACCEPTABLE.
Our students with the highest needs deserve specialized, evidence-based support. Our teachers deserve realistic workloads and safe classrooms. Our community deserves honesty and transparency – not ideology, not secrecy, and not sudden decisions made without data.
Until the district provides real evidence for this shift, the board must pause the process.
Our schools belong to the community. If you want a system that prioritizes students, not slogans, reach out! Email the West Des Moines School Board. You can also attend the next board meeting on December 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM to make your voice heard.
West Des Moines deserves better.
- Teri Patrick
West Des Moines
