A community task force has issued its final list of recommended closures for Columbus City Schools, leaving an ultimate decision on whether to close the buildings up to the Columbus Board of Education.
The task force recommended closing the following CCS buildings:
- Buckeye Middle School, where students will be consolidated into Marion-Franklin High School in a 6-12 format.
- Fairwood Elementary School, where students will either be consolidated into Ohio Avenue or Livingston elementary schools.
- Broadleigh Elementary School, where students will be consolidated into Eastgate, East Columbus, and Fairmoor elementary schools.
- West Broad Elementary School, where students will either be consolidated into Westgate, Highland, or Valleyview elementary schools.
- Lindbergh Elementary School, where students will be consolidated into either Binns, Burroughs, or West Mound elementary schools.
- Moler Elementary School, where students will either be consolidated into the Lincoln Park or Livingston elementary schools.
- North Linden Elementary School, where students will either be consolidated into Huy, Maize, Innis, or Northtowne elementary schools.
- Old Eastmoor Middle School, where Columbus City Prepatory School for Boys students will be put into the same building as the Columbus City Preparatory School for Girls.
- The McGuffey Facility, where Columbus Alternative High School students and its programming will move to East High School, which would remain open and CAHS would share space in the building.
Under the recommendations several other schools will go through a grade realignment and a set of administrative buildings in downtown Columbus are also recommended to be closed.
None of the recommendations are final until the board of education chooses to vote on it.
The board, on Tuesday, passed a resolution shortly after these recommendations were presented that said the board wanted to start a new public feedback process on these recommendations.
The three building campus at 270 E. State Street is recommended to close and the district operations at that building would move to the Southland Center at 3700 S. High Street.
Under the plan, the following schools will go through a "grade realignment" that reflects a goal of the district to create a more uniform grade structure in district buildings.
- Students from Buckeye Middle School will move to Marion-Franklin. This creates a 6-12 grade site.
- The district will consolidate sixth-grade students from the feeder pattern for Linden-McKinley STEM Academy and create another 6-12 grade site.
- The district will consolidate sixth-grade students from the South 7-12 feeder pattern and create another 6-12 grade site.
- The district will merge sixth through eighth-grade students into Westmoor and Hilltonia middle schools for Starling Pre-K -8.
The final list was determined from nine scenarios where 20 schools were considered for closure.
Under each scenario, a batch of three to four schools would have shut down and the students at the affected schools would be consolidated into other schools.
Board President Christina Vera said she doesn't have a timeline for how long a new community feedback process could take, or when a potential vote on these recommendations could happen.
"It's not a race for us. It's about getting it right. And so we're committed to getting it right. And so for us, it's not about, you know, how long, however long it takes," Vera said.
Vera said she wants to listen to the community more, especially to students in the district, before they proceed.
"Our community is telling us they want to be a part of this. So I think we are looking at this as an opportunity to continue to collaborate... this is their district, this is our community. So how do we continue to create this vision," Vera said.
Superintendent Angela Chapman presented estimates at the meeting that she said shows if the recommendations are adopted as is, the annual cost savings would be more than $9 million per year, or about $90 million in savings over 10 years. She said that would increase if the district offices would close too.
"These estimated savings could be redirected to building new, more modern facilities and renovating existing schools to continue to create the modern learning environments that our students and families deserve," Chapman said.
Before the final list was released, some CCS parents said they didn't feel involved enough in the process. Some of the parents asked the district to pause and re-evaluate the closure process.
That sentiment showed up at the board meeting again on Tuesday. Dozens of parents, teachers and community members were seated in the main board room and an overflow room. Many sported t-shirts of different colors supporting a school that might close.
Task force member John Little and some board members pushed back on opposition to closing school buildings.
"I know sometime we get, nostalgic attachments to physical facilities, but at the end of the day (it's about) how our kids are progressing and we need to do what's best for our children," Little said.
Board member Ramona Reyes said the decision to close schools will be a difficult one, but the board needs to think about the future of the district.
"I would probably cry if my high school closed also but at the end of the day, guess what? I don't go to the high school anymore. You know, I've graduated. So I got to think about the third grader and the fifth grader that lives next door to me and what school does that family need," Reyes said.
Many of the board members did recognize the frustrations of the community members throughout this process. Those frustrations were amplified by the leak of a document authored by Board member Brandon Simmons that suggested the board should deploy strategies to stifle the voices of people who dissented with the plan.
Simmons did show up late to the meeting on Tuesday, but did not speak on the topic.
Board member Jennifer Adair said the district didn't do a good enough job of helping the community understand why school closures are needed.
"We have to act as a community, but we haven't taken the time and done it in a way that we are communicating the importance of this to you. This isn't about a particular building. This isn't about taking things away from our students. This is about creating a district of the future," Adair said.
The task force members implored the board to vote to approve the recommendations, but after the meeting task force co-chair Jim Negron said he respects the decision of the board to wait and to seek more feedback.
"We took steps forward. The board's going to hear things, and we're going to continue to make progress as as a district. So I'm excited about next steps," Negron said.
The district's facilities task force was made up of more than 20 community members.
