Senate Committee Votes to Save Price Lab; Several Hurdles Remain

The Iowa Senate Appropriations Committee has voted to provide $3 million in funding to the University of Northern Iowa to keep Malcolm Price Laboratory School open next year.

The Senate committee's action doesn't mean the school is saved. The funding, part of a 54-page bill, must be approved by the Senate and then would become part of budget negotiations between the Senate and the Iowa House.

In approving the one-year extension of funding, Chairman Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, said the committee is trying to give the Legislature more time to “get more information and figure out what actually is the best thing to do,” the Gazette reported.

Rep. Nick Wagner, R-Marion, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said he doesn’t think the House will second-guess the decision to close the school.

“The regents empowered (UNI President) Ben Allen and they have supported his decision,” Wagner said. “We need to trust what they are doing.”

The planned closure of the school, which is part of UNI's teacher education program and has an enrollment of over 350 pre-K through 12 students, has been fraught with controversy.

"The University of Northern Iowa appreciates the Iowa General Assembly's interest in Pre-K through 12 education in Iowa," a statement issued by UNI in response to the bill said. "However, we think it's important to reiterate that while Malcolm Price Laboratory School has served the university and community well, the school was not the foundational element of the UNI teacher-education program."