Parents, leaders respond to school closing recommendations
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A number of Columbus City Schools are on the potential chopping block after a district task force recommended closing them in the near future.
Now parents and community organizations are speaking out. Through the mix of responses to the task force's final recommendation, this is one of the first times people have responded with hope.
Some said they see the time that went into this decision. Others are excited to see a pause in the process and look forward to giving their input.
Conversely, one district parent said seeing her kids’ school on the list brought her to tears.
"I will be unenrolling my children from (the) Columbus school district and homeschooling them if the school closes," parent Susan Cavendish said.
She walks her kids to West Broad Elementary. She said the other options are ones she cannot do.
"I'm hoping that now that they've decided to pause the vote, we can have more community engagement and they will decide not to close West Broad, ultimately," Cavendish said.
West Broad Elementary is one of the nine recommended facilities on the closing list. The others are Broadleigh, Fairwood, Lindbergh, Moler and North Linden elementary schools, Buckeye Middle School, Columbus City Preparatory School for Boys, and McGuffey Road Facility, which houses Columbus Alternative High School.
"You want to be mindful of what schools are merged together, which schools are closed down, and things like that. And I think the task force did what they needed to do and executed it well," Community-led initiative 'We Are Linden' Founder and CEO Ralph Carter said.
On the district's website, it says West Broad can hold 550 students. However, this past school year, 359 were enrolled.
Others on the list, like North Linden Elementary, fit 400. This year, it had 296 students enrolled.
"When you look at it from a standpoint of these buildings have a lot of classrooms, right, a lot of building, but not a lot of kids, so you want to be mindful of that," Carter said.
This pause in the vote is giving organizations and parents hope that their concerns will be heard.
"We are on the precipice of some true transformation in the district. It is not going to be easy," Columbus Education Justice Coalition Co-Founder Izetta Thomas said. "There is a lot of trust to build and rebuild with the community. But I think that we are really, we're really looking at reconstruction in a new way."
She said this is giving many hope.
"Several parents felt like the board was actually hearing them and taking the time to consider their needs and how to do this differently," Thomas said.
"We're very optimistic that in the end, a solution that we want to offer is one that is long term and not short term," All in for Ohio Kids leader Jason D. Marshall said. "I definitely feel like the pause is a sign that they're listening to us."
The board has not voted on these recommendations. If the recommendation is approved, the changes will start taking effect in phases starting next year.