Dublin Schools leaders address redistricting pause for the first time.

DUBLIN, Ohio (WCMH) -- Dublin City Schools leaders spoke to the community for the first time after pausing the high school redistricting process last week following negative community feedback.

At a school board meeting Wednesday night, Superintendent John Marschhausen said he realized the process was not on the right track after hearing from parents during listening sessions last week.

“There were a lot of things at the beginning of this process that were done by a small number of people. I think we want to frontload the process with input and get that input into the process earlier,” said Dr. Marschhausen.

When the redistricting process restarts in the spring, Marschhausen said parent and student voices will be included.

Dublin community members were not shy about their disappointment in the process.

“I’ve been frustrated that it seems like there was an 11th hour disconnect between the school board and the superintendent that led to really a big mess at the final stages of this decision being made,” said Kristie Russ, a parent with two kids at Dublin Schools.

“They need to be more open in this process. We need to have a more collaborative approach to doing this right,” said Mike Skalak, who has two elementary-aged kids in the district.

Reaction to the pause was mixed. Some were relieved while others said they don’t want to prolong the inevitable.

Marschhausen said he also doesn’t want to make the process longer, but it’s clear community input needs to be prioritized.

“We want people to know we listened, that we heard their concerns and their concerns had an impact on what we did as a board and as a leadership team,” said the superintendent.

Skalak said hearing directly from Marschhausen and board members helped restore his trust in the district.

“The district kind of was called out on some of the things that had happened. And they came back and they said, you know what? We made a mistake and we're ready to right this and do this correctly this time,” said Skalak.

Marschhausen said the school board will be more involved in the redistricting process this time around and that creating at least 20 diverse focus groups will be a priority.

“They did address the questions and the concerns that we had. So, yes, I think they're listening. I think they have the ear of the community,” said Skalak.

The superintendent said the winter will be a cooling off period before redistricting restarts in the spring. Elementary and middle school boundaries could be changed as well.

The current boundaries across Dublin will stay in place for the 2026-2027 school year.