DUBUQUE, Iowa — November 9, 2026 — The Dubuque school board voted 6-1 Monday night to close Jefferson and Washington middle schools and move the district to one high school, approving the facilities task force’s Scenario 3 recommendation.

The vote came at the board’s regular meeting at the Forum, 2300 Chaney Road, where the consolidation plan was item XII.A under New Business. Which board member voted no was not reported.

Under the approved plan, Jefferson and Washington middle schools close after the 2027-28 school year. Beginning in fall 2028, Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School will serve sixth- and seventh-graders, Hempstead High School will serve eighth- and ninth-graders along with a new career and college readiness center, and Dubuque Senior High School will serve tenth- through twelfth-graders.

The district says the changes will save more than $4.5 million. The district has said it needs to save nearly $17 million over five years because of declining enrollment and state funding increases that have not kept pace with inflation — and that these changes alone will not close that gap. The district says more school closures and staffing changes could be needed to right-size the district.

Parents urged a delay

The vote came over the objections of parents who packed the meeting to ask the board to wait. About 60 parents and a few students lined up to tell the board to vote no. More than 1,200 people signed a petition calling for the board to delay the decision, seeking more time for a public financial analysis and a closer look at transportation, chronic absenteeism, and other issues.

Parent Melissa Castle told the board the vote means the district has lost the community’s trust. “We’re being ignored. We voted for you. These are our children. Please do the right thing and listen to us. Please.”

Superintendent Amy Hawkins defended the plan at the meeting, saying the decision needed to happen because the state is not funding schools adequately. She called it a scary time for school districts and urged Iowans to talk to state lawmakers about school funding.

The vote ends weeks of debate that began when the district’s facilities task force presented Scenario 3 at a strategic planning session on October 26, 2026. The internal task force recommended the plan unanimously, and the external task force by majority. Hawkins supported the plan and asked the board to act on November 9.

Jefferson would have closed under every scenario the task force studied. The question before the board was whether Washington closed too, and how the grades would be rearranged.

What happens next

Current students will finish out their schools through the 2027-28 school year before the changes begin in fall 2028. The district has not yet announced a timeline for the Roosevelt expansion or the new career and college readiness center at Hempstead, or details on how bus routes and staffing will change.

Sources

• Dubuque Community School District Board of Education meeting, November 9, 2026 (online meeting)
• Dubuque Community School District, Planning for Our Future