With the current school year winding down, CBCSD officials are implementing budget cut decisions for 2026-27, including “administrative streamlining,” mental health service transition, “curriculum adoption cycle,” and transportation efficiencies. Middle school and high school levels include the pause of the middle school zoo program, cutting high school administration, and high school staffing alignment (ensuring the right number of teachers, with the right skills, to match student enrollment and course demand).
District officials made the decision to return to a structure of three assistant principals at each high school. Assistant principal John Crall is being let go due to this decision.
Crall said he will miss the relationships he’s made.
“Part of what makes my experience here so amazing here to me and why I will remember it so well is partly because up until now, my experience in education has been so specialized,” said Crall. “I always knew a smaller number of kids extremely well, and coming to AL was a wonderful opportunity and just meeting everyone. Just the variety of students, the number of kids, I’m developing relationships and having influence and supporting kids that I’ve never had experience being there for, and I really like it, and it makes me feel, you know, cause it’s all new.”
Crall said he will miss the district’s passion for education.
“This community is very dedicated to education and supports it very strongly, and I certainly felt the benefit of that,” said Crall. “Going to a new community, you’re kind of rolling the dice again. And chances are they might not care about education as strongly as Council Bluffs does, and so they might not invest in it as highly as CB does. So there is something to say about that, that I’ll certainly miss.”
To align with current enrollment, five teaching positions will also be reduced. When five teachers resign or retire, their positions will no longer be filled, but rather eliminated.
Recently, English teacher Brooke Doner announced she is resigning and her position will not be filled. Doner said she is looking for a job outside of education.
“I’m looking more at things within the corporate world, and so I’ve been looking at a lot of things I’ve looked at project management. I’ve also looked at UX Design most recently, which is user experience. And that looks at making sure that any product, but mainly technology, things that are developed for mobile phones, for computers, stuff like that is usable,” Doner said. “That’s something that I’m really looking at because I like the aspect of that that involves empathizing with the user and figuring out what might be difficult for them, what might be something that would cause an issue, and really making sure that all technology is accessible to everyone.”
Doner said these cuts affect the students, and that bothers her most.
“Ultimately, it bothers me that students are losing more opportunities to engage in courses that provide them with true opportunity to use their knowledge and understanding in meaningful ways for them. We continually take money from and cut positions from programs,” Doner said. “We try to keep as much as we can in English and in math and in science, because a lot of what is driving educational decision making now comes from standardized testing. And we cut from band, we cut from orchestra, we cut from drama, we cut from journalism and media broadcasting because those appear to be courses that are not essential to students doing a lot of standardized tests.”
Superintendent Dr. Vickie Murillo said these cuts were made with education in mind.
“The decision to implement cost-saving measures for next school year were made after careful consideration to protect the classroom experience for students and ensure that we continue to make progress toward our strategic goals,” said Murillo. “Our priority continues to be ensuring every student feels connected and supported as they work toward their
High School Diploma and Diploma +1 degree or credential.”
Principal Dr. Rachel Bruce-Sagert said the cuts will affect the school’s programs, but their mission remains unchanged.
“Budget cuts are difficult and can make staff feel like they are being asked to ‘do more with less.’ I trust in their ability to prepare kids. Teachers and staff are continuing to focus on what will make a difference. While our physical resources may be leaner, our mission remains unchanged,” said Bruce. “We are doubling down on our staff’s expertise to provide the essential skills students need to thrive. Our greatest asset in preparing students for the workforce isn’t a line item in a budget—it is the mentorship and professional modeling provided by our educators.”
Bruce also said while these cuts have been made, students will remain the top priority.
“Students will continue to have the same opportunities as laid out in the program of studies. While some classes or the number of sections may be affected, we will continue to offer a variety of options to meet students’ needs. As we move forward, our priority is to support you (students) in the work that matters most: keeping our students connected and on track,” said Bruce. “We remain focused on the goal of graduation and ‘Diploma +1,’ and we will work together to ensure that mission stays at the forefront of everything we do.”
