Columbus City Schools is working with an expert from Texas to look at closing nine schools in the district.
Columbus City Schools has hired Texas expert Terrance Green, a professor of educational leadership and policy planning at the University of Texas at Austin to explore the closure of nine schools, focusing on community engagement and equity in the decision-making process.
The district is paying him $13,000 for a 90-day contract.
The hiring of Green comes after the meeting of the district superintendent's facilities task force.
The volunteer group charged with recommending which buildings should close met in June and listed the nine schools it had recommended for closure.
Below is the full transcript of an interview between WOSU's Debbie Holmes and Columbus City Schools' Board of Education President Christina Vera.
Holmes: Joining me now with more details is Columbus Board of Education President Christina Vera. Thanks for your time.
Vera: Thank you, Debbie.
Holmes: So why did you hire this person and tell us about them?
Vera: Yeah. Well, thank you for the question. So, you know, kind of circling back to when we received the task force recommendations, the board at that time made a conscientious decision to say we needed to spend more time in the community of these schools. So wanting to be able to look into more of what was happening in each building from a programmatic standpoint, from wraparound services, from, you know, really just being able to spend time learning more about the culture and community of each particular building.
Vera: And so we wanted to ensure that we had a, you know, authentic process as to how we were going to go and do those nine visits. And so being able to find an expert that could really help us curate a process to ensure an authentic experience was really critically important for us. And that's how we were able to find and partner alongside of Dr. Green.
Holmes: And so Dr. Green is from Texas, correct. Tell us just a little bit about his background.
Vera: So actually he's a professor out of Texas. Austin has done this work in different parts of the country and was huge as a part of San Antonio's most recent review of buildings and consolidation, and his work is deeply rooted in equity and really being able to dive deeper into the systems behind school consolidation and closures.
Vera: And so he has been able to do this work around the country and has a lot of great data and supporting facts and information as to how school districts really can be intentional as we are evaluating such important decisions like school consolidations and realignment of school communities.
Holmes: Then those nine schools that were listed, those are not certainly closing, the decision has not been made definitively yet?
Vera: That is correct.
Holmes: How do you think this is going to help them with this expert?
Vera: It's going to really help, you know, curate an authentic process when you think about seven individuals going into nine different school communities. You know, that's, that's a lot. And so wanting to be intentional about what are we looking for?
Vera: How do we capture what we're looking for and then how are we able to come back together and then debrief around these experiences? And so being able to partner with an expert, like Dr. Green really is going to help us continue to map out this process in collaboration with our school communities and the families that are in each one of these buildings.
Holmes: What's the cost of hiring this expert?
Vera: Our investment is $13,000, and so that is our investment with him for this process.
Holmes: And how long will he be working with the district?
Vera: He's committed to working for, you know, however long this particular process lasts. So, right now, you know, we have pretty much the next 90 days mapped out in terms of engagement and then the follow up and the debrief.
Vera: So right now we have roughly around a 90-day work plan, but if we feel like we need more time, which I'm leaning towards, but for a starting point, that's where we are.
Holmes: Why not go with the recommendation by the task force that recommended closing six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school and an administrative building downtown?
Vera: Well those recommendations are how we got here, so certainly their contributions are a huge part in this next phase. But recognizing there were some additional contributing factors that were not a part of the task force's process that the board wanted to be able to be a part of.
Vera: So certainly their contributions matter. They got us to this point and certainly are a huge part of how we will continue to move in this next phase.
Holmes: Thank you so much.
Vera: That's president of the Columbus Board of Education Christina Vera.
Holmes: Thank you, Debbie.
