The Iowa State Board of Education approved the Council Bluffs Community School District's application to create a charter school in a meeting Thursday, and now the district is pushing to solidify its plans so the school can open to freshmen and sophomore students for the 2027-28 school year.
Superintendent Vickie Murillo said plans are moving forward along parallel tracks — finalizing the authorization for the school, securing the land for the new building and confirming the site is ready to build, designing the new facility and finding a construction company, and raising the necessary funding.
Those efforts are expected to come together in the coming weeks as the district moves forward with the city's first charter school — one operated by the school board and not by an outside company or nonprofit group.
By operating as a charter school, the district would gain flexibility, including being able to hire industry professionals for classroom instruction and emphasizing project-based learning. The school's focus would be on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, but students would still earn a traditional high school diploma.
The new school is expected to have medical technology, engineering and robotics as areas of concentration alongside artificial intelligence, aeronautics, cybersecurity and bioscience as well as the Pathways in Technology Early College High School program.
At the state board meeting Thursday, the district stated it expects about 40 seats at the school would be filled by Nebraska students whose home districts would pay tuition, similar to specialized educational programs offered by the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
District officials gave the state board members an overview of the project, which aims to be innovative and offer learning opportunities not available in a traditional school setting. Lessons would focus on real world problem solving and community partnerships, placing an emphasis on projects and work based learning.
"The vision of our STEM innovation charter high school is really to inspire and empower students to become tomorrow's leaders, innovators and change makers through hands on real world STEM learning," Tracy Mathews, chief academic officer for the Council Bluffs schools, told the board.
The Iowa State Board of Education praised the plans, as well as praising the district's Anne E. Nelson Early Learning Center, which board members toured during a meeting held in Council Bluffs in 2023.
"I think this is going to be amazing," Iowa State Board of Education Vice President Brooke Axiotis said.
Murillo said the district still needs to finalize a five-year charter contract with the Iowa Department of Education, which should be completed Feb. 12 and would go before the Council Bluffs school board, too.
"While that train there is going down the track," Murillo said, there will also be a push to "acquire the land on the River's Edge" from the City of Council Bluffs.
Murillo acknowledged the district is working to purchase the land from the city during Thursday's meeting, and she confirmed the city is the other side of the negotiations during an interview Friday with The Nonpareil. Murillo said the district is seeking to secure an option to purchase the land, not an immediate sale, providing flexibility should plans for the charter school encounter unanticipated obstacles.
The Nonpareil asked Mayor Jill Shudak — herself a former Council Bluffs City Council member and, before that, a Council Bluffs school board member — about the land on Friday afternoon, but she declined to comment at this time because the topic involves nonpublic discussions with city officials.
Murillo said the city would need to hold a public hearing before it could move forward with a sale option agreement, and the school board would also need to act on the agreement. She said she expects the topic will go before the council at its Jan. 26 meeting, which is also expected to include the appointment of a vacant council seat left by Shudak's election as mayor.
"While that's occurring, in March we will pick up meeting with our architects," Murillo said.
The district has engaged HDR as an architect and hired Boyd Jones as the construction manager at risk for the project, and the plan is to go out to bid for a general contractor in the summer. She said HDR can move quickly once they are given the green light to proceed.
Additionally, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would need to confirm that the site is OK to build upon, which is a potential hurdle for the project, and Murillo said the aim is to have that completed by April.
The district also needs to finish fundraising. So far, $24 million has been pledged toward the school, and Murillo told the state board she hopes to raise $35 million in total for the STEM school, which would include additional funding to cover any gaps if enrollment falls short or other unexpected expenditures are needed.
"We have a great interest in those waiting to see the application get approved and the land to get bought," Murillo told the state board Thursday. "It is our goal to have the fundraising done and completed by May 1st."
Find more information on the proposed STEM high school, including answers to frequently asked questions, at cb-schools.org/schools1/stem-innovation-charter-high-school.
© 2026 The Daily Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Iowa. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
