20 Columbus City School buildings could face closure. Here's what to know about the plan
The Columbus City Schools Board of Education heard initial recommendations for possible school closures and consolidations Tuesday night from the Superintendent's Community Facilities Task Force.
The recommendations include nine different scenarios and a number of possible ways students could be moved around to other schools, either by moving programs, consolidating area schools or closing buildings. In all, 20 Columbus City Schools buildings are facing potential closure.
After the district successfully passed a nearly $100-million levy in November, district officials said it would close some of the 113 school buildings in the state's largest district, The Dispatch previously reported.
The Superintendent's Community Facilities Task Force was formed in early 2024 and includes nearly two dozen members of the public, parents and educational professionals. The group has met six times since February to piece together its recommendations. One member, John Coneglio, who is president of the Columbus Education Association representing teachers and others, resigned before the task force completed its recommendation report because he believes the group's goal was mass school closings.
What schools are at risk of closing?
There are 20 schools that could potentially close as part of consolidations, changing district lines and moving students to other buildings around the district.
The schools are:
Buckeye Middle School, 2950 Parsons Ave., South Side
Fairwood Alternative Elementary School, 726 Fairwood Ave., East Side
Siebert Elementary School, 385 Reinhard Ave., Merion Village
Moler Elementary School, 1201 Moler Road, South Side
Marion-Franklin High School, 1265 Koebel Road, Marion-Franklin, South Side
West Broad Elementary School, 2744 W. Broad St., Hilltop
Valleyview Elementary School, 2989 Valleyview Drive, Valleyview Heights
Lindbergh Elementary School, 2541 Lindbergh Drive, Brookshire
Everett Facility (Old Everett Middle School), 100 W. 4th Ave. Victorian Village
Cranbrook Elementary School, 908 Bricker Blvd., Cranbrook, Northwest Side
Hubbard Elementary School, 104 W. Hubbard Ave., Short North
Duxberry Park Alternative Elementary School, 1779 E Maynard Ave., Argyle Park, North Central
North Linden Elementary School, 1718 E. Cooke Road, North Linden
Northtowne Elementary School, 4767 Northtowne Blvd., Forest Park East
Innis Elementary School, 3399 Kohr Blvd., Walnut Creek, Northeast Side
Johnson Park Elementary School, 1130 S. Waverly St., Eastmoor, East Side
Sherwood Middle School, 1400 Shady Lane Road, East Side
Broadleigh Elementary School, 3039 Maryland Ave., Broadleigh, East Side
McGuffey Road building that houses Columbus Alternative High School (CAHS would move to a new building) 2632 McGuffey Road, North Linden
Old Eastmoor Middle School, Eastmoor, East Side
Why are there so many different plans?
Community Facilities Task Force Co-Chairs Al Edmondson and Jim Negron presented nine different scenarios to the board that included which schools might close or consolidate.
The scenarios, they said, considered several criteria in their creation:
Increase more equitable service delivery opportunities across the district
Increase access to additional academic and extracurricular programming
Standardize grade levels
Honor prior taxpayer investments
Consider all areas of the district for consolidation options
Columbus City Schools spokeswoman Jacqueline Bryant said task force co-chairs "believe the number of scenarios presented is appropriate and aligned with the current and future state of the district."
When asked if the district would ultimately pursue just one of the scenarios or if multiple scenarios could be enacted, Negron did not directly answer the question. Rather, he said he wants to hear from the community.
"I don't live in a world of hypothesis, so we have to trust the process," Negron said.
Bryant said final task force recommendations will be based on community feedback and "what they want to see in the future of education in Columbus City Schools." After the final recommendations are complete, Bryant said the board of education will review and consider them in their decision process
Why is Columbus City Schools considering closing and consolidating schools?
Throughout the district's levy campaign last year, Board of Education Member Jennifer Adair warned that a levy failure would mean an unpleasant timeline for shuttering some of the district's buildings.
Passing the levy didn't remove the need to close buildings, which Adair said is still a high priority, but the district can focus on strong engagement with the public during the process.
"And we now have the ability to really look at this now through an equity lens, and not just a financial one." Adair previously told The Dispatch. "And so, we're grateful to the community for allowing us that."
Columbus City Schools is the state's largest school district with about 46,000 students, but enrollment peaked at 110,173 during the 1971-72 school year.
Superintendent Angela Chapman said that half of the district's buildings are more than 50 years old and many operate under capacity.
Several parents raised concerns at Tuesday's meeting about the district closing school buildings as Columbus is growing.
Bryant said Michael Wilkos, United Way’s vice president of community impact, spoke at the task force's February meeting and at the district’s CCS Elevate Panel Discussion to give a historical overview of the region.
"Wilkos provided a historical overview of the demographics and economic viability of central Ohio and the impact it is having on the City of Columbus’ changing landscape; systematic changes, redistricting, and families with moving out of the inner city and to the suburbs," Bryant said. "According to Wilkos and the United Way study, the city is growing, but not growing in terms of families moving into the city."
What is the district's timeline to decide?
Chapman said that the scenarios are initial recommendations and feedback from the community will inform any final approvals to be made in June.
"I would say to all of our parents, community members and stakeholders, to take a deep breath," Chapman said before the board went into executive session. "These are initial recommendations that have been submitted to begin the conversation about where we go from here."
The district will hold a number of in-person and virtual community forums and "gallery walks" over the next month for people to share feedback on the scenarios with the board. See below for a full list of dates, times and locations for those forums.
The board will hear final recommendations and vote to approve a plan in June, according to the district's released schedule. Once approved, the final plan will be implemented at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year.
"This is work that will take years to really figure out," Board of Education President Christina Vera said.
What is the future plan for any potentially closed schools?
Bryant said there are "no concrete plans or decision on the future of any potentially impacted building."
When are public forums planned?
The district has in-person and virtual forums and "gallery walks" scheduled over the next month across the city for community members to share feedback on the scenarios with the board.
Chapman said gallery walks will include maps of the proposed scenarios to give community members an idea of what they would look like.
They will take place at:
May 16 at 9:30 a.m. at the Columbus Metropolitan Library Shepard Branch at 850 N. Nelson Rd.
May 16 at 9:30 a.m. at the Columbus Metropolitan Library Parsons Branch at 1113 Parsons Ave.
May 16 at 5:30 p.m. at East High School at 1500 E. Broad St.
May 16 at 5:30 p.m. at the Columbus Education Center Assembly Room at 270 E. State St.
May 22 at 10:30 a.m. at the Whetstone Community Center at 3923 N. High St.
May 22 at 11:30 a.m. virtual session
May 23 at 9:30 a.m. at the Barnett Community Center at 1184 Barnett Rd.
May 23 at 9:30 a.m. at Community Grounds Cafe at 1134 Parsons Ave.
May 23 at 5:30 p.m. at Old Orchard Elementary School at 800 McNaughten Rd.
May 23 at 5:30 p.m. at Briggs High School at 2555 Briggs Rd.
May 29 at 11:30 a.m. virtual session
May 30 at 9:30 a.m. at the Schiller Community Center at 1069 Jaeger St.
May 30 at 9:30 a.m. at Bottoms Up Coffee Cafe at 1069 W. Broad St.
May 30 at 5:30 p.m. at Community Refugee & Immigration Services at 4645 Executive Drive
May 30 at 5:30 p.m. at the Columbus Education Center Assembly Room at 270 E. State St.
June 1 at 11 a.m. Radio One Town Hall. Community members can call in to ask questions live on FM 107.5/106.3 and FM 95.5.
Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for Extra Credit, her education newsletter, here.
@sheridan120
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Here's which Columbus schools might close and when to attend a forum
