Which Columbus City schools will close? Board solicits feedback on 20 possible closures

Twenty Columbus City Schools face the possibility of closure under nine different scenario recommendations presented by the Superintendent's Community Facilities Task Force at Tuesday's board of education meeting.

Students, parents, teachers and staff got a first look at which of the district's more than 110 buildings might close as the task force presented its recommendations at the school board meeting. The scenarios include a number of possible ways students could be moved around to other schools, either by moving programs, consolidating area schools or closing buildings.

Superintendent Angela Chapman reiterated at the meeting 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."

About 30 Columbus Education Association members and district parents, all wearing red shirts, gathered in the parking lot before Tuesday's meeting to push back on what the educators' union called "rushed recommendations" to close and consolidate buildings. So many people showed up for the school board meeting to hear the task force's presentation that the board had to open an overflow room for people to view the meeting.

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 .

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.

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.

Which Columbus City Schools might potentially close?

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 are:

Scenario 1A

• South High School and Marion Franklin High School consolidate to one regional high school at South serving grades 9-12;
• Buckeye Middle School closes and is replaced by Marion Franklin Middle School serving grades 6-8;
• Livingston, Fairwood, Siebert, Stewart, Moler, Lincoln Park and Southwood elementary schools transition to K-5 schools or consolidate. Fairwood, Siebert and Moler would close.

Scenario 1B

• South High School and Marion Franklin High School consolidate to one regional high school at South serving grades 9-12. Marion Franklin would close;
• Buckeye Middle School would remain open and take the 7th and 8th grade students from South High School;
• Fairwood, Siebert and Moler elementary schools would consolidate with area schools and close.

Scenario 2

• Starling K-8 School moves grades 6-8 to traditional middle schools and becomes Starling K-5;
• West Broad, Valleyview and Lindbergh elementary schools would consolidate with area schools and close.

Scenario 3A

• Gifted Academy programs housed at the Everett Facility will be split between Oakland Park Elementary School and Dominion Middle School. Everett Facility would close;
• Cranbrook and Hubbard elementary schools would consolidate with area schools and close.

Scenario 3B

• Ridgeview Middle School consolidates with Dominion Middle School. Gifted Academy students from the Everett Facility would relocate to Ridgeview and Everett would close;
• Cranbrook and Hubbard elementary schools would consolidate with area schools and close.

Scenario 4

• Linden McKinley High School moves 7th and 8th grade students to area middle schools, serves grades 9-12 and draws a new boundary;
• Duxberry, North Linden, Northtowne and Innis elementary schools would consolidate with area schools and close.

Scenario 5

• Eastmoor Academy moves to East High School and redistricts, leaving a middle school at Eastmoor;
• Johnson Park and Sherwood middle schools consolidate with Eastmoor campus and those buildings would close;
• Broadleigh Elementary School would consolidate with area schools and close.

Scenario 6A

• Columbus Alternative High School moves to East High School and the building at McGuffey Road closes;
• Duxberry Arts K-5 moves to Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center and Duxberry building closes;
• Columbus City Preparatory School for Boys at Old Eastmoor Middle School co-locates with Columbus City Preparatory School for Girls and Old Eastmoor building closes;
• Broadleigh Elementary School would consolidate with area schools and close.

Scenario 6B

• Columbus Downtown High School merges with Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center;
• Columbus Alternative High School moves to East High School and the building at McGuffey Road closes;
• Columbus City Preparatory School for Boys at Old Eastmoor Middle School co-locates with Columbus City Preparatory School for Girls and Old Eastmoor building closes;
• Broadleigh Elementary School would consolidate with area schools and close.

Many parents in the room scoffed as Negron walked the board through the scenarios.

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.

Parents, students call on board to 'press pause' on school closure discussions

Rita Hallaveld, whose daughter attends Duxberry Park Elementary School, said at Tuesday's meeting that she's disappointed over what she believes has been the district's lack of transparency leading up to this point. She questioned why Columbus City Schools are considering closing buildings rather than working to increase enrollment.

Hallaveld said the scenarios presented are "inequitable" and don't seem to reflect where the city is growing.

"For Linden schools to close when Linden is one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods? It doesn't make sense," she said.

Marielle Henault, a parent of three students at CCS schools, said she was troubled by how the board has interacted with community members since voters passed the district's levy in November.

"I'm frankly devastated by the 'business-as-usual approach' by this facilities task force," Henault said.

"Do this with us, not for us or at us," she said.

Josephine Amponsah provided a student's perspective on potential school closings in an emotional testimony Tuesday.

Amponsah, a 17-year-old senior at Independence High School, said school closings ultimately impact students the most.

"The emotional and mental effects on these students are not protocol," Amponsah said through tears. "We as students pay the biggest cut emotionally."

Teacher's union president quit task force before recommendations

In late April, Columbus Education Association President John Coneglio, who heads the union representing more than 4,500 teachers and other educational professionals in the district, resigned from the task force, The Dispatch previously reported.

In an open letter to the district, Coneglio said that after six meetings of the Superintendent's Community Facilities Task Force, it was evident to him that the "sole focus of the committee is solely on the mass closure of neighborhood schools and the further managed decline" of the district. He also said the task force lacked transparency and said the closures would disproportionately impact "disadvantaged neighborhoods and communities of color."

"Our Board of Education now has a unique opportunity to work with the community and build the district of the future, not return to the same failed policies of the past," Coneglio said in a statement. "It has become clear to me that the current Task Force is another iteration of previous failed attempts."

District says process has been transparent, open in engagement

In response to Coneglio, Columbus City Schools emphasized in a prepared statement that district officials believe the process had been transparent and that "it’s important that we have representation from our labor partners, who represent so many of our employees."

"We believe our students, our teachers, and all of our staff must have access to the best curriculum, facilities, technology, and resources so they can be successful," the CCS response to Coneglio said. "That means focusing on our resources instead of spreading them out."

Russell Brown, the district's chief of strategy and performance, told The Dispatch last month that CCS wants to make all of the data, including interactive databases, meeting summaries and presentations available to the public .

That way, Brown said, "Everybody can understand what we're looking at."

Building capacity, utilization major considerations in recommendations

Brown said the biggest factors considered by the task force were building capacity and utilization.

While there are 113 CCS school buildings, not all of them are uniformly occupied, The Dispatch previously reported . In fact, some schools have utilization below 25% of their capacity, while enrollment at others is up to 120% of capacity. Utilization refers to the percentage of a school building's capacity that is used based on a four-year average of enrollment.

"If over half the kids in the building are picking to go somewhere, that's probably telling you something," Brown said. "Certainly people are choosing not to be there."

Beyond simply closing the buildings, Brown said, the district will also have options of having specialty schools inside of other schools, or combining schools.

Brown said he wanted to emphasize that May will be an opportunity for the public to interact on the recommendations before the board acts. Even then, he said, there will be a period of years while the district aims for a soft landing of potential closures.

"We look forward to hearing from people in this process. This should be an ongoing dialogue with the community," Brown said. "It will take time, and we'll want to engage with the community as we implement (the new facilities plan)."

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Which Columbus City schools will close? Board solicits feedback on 20 possible closures