WOSU 89.7 NPR News | By George Shillco*ck
PublishedMay 30, 2024 at 1:51 PM EDT
Columbus City Schools is moving forward with its plan to close several schools buildings in the district despite recent controversy from a leaked document.
The district's facilities task force is still seeking feedback from community members at several forums and gallery walkthroughs in the city.
One of Thursday's forums was at Schiller Park Recreation Center in German Village and a couple dozen people showed up to listen to school district staff and view the maps displaying the different school closure scenarios.
Brittany Gibson is a resident of German Village and has a four-year-old child who may impacted by any school closures.
Gibson said she generally is receptive to the district closing some buildings. She said right now she doesn't plan on having her child attend CCS, but that could change in the future as the district's boundaries change with the potential closures.
"I think changing things is going to happen and it's a good thing. I just don't know, like what the exact right choice is," Gibson said.
No school board members were at the forum Thursday but there were plenty of school district staff present to answer questions from community members.
The district has already held several community feedback sessions like the one Gibson attended Thursday. The district said at the forums they've heard residents have concerns about transparency and about how closures could impact student wellbeing.
This forum happened less than a day after the Columbus Board of Education voted to censure one of its members for a leaked strategy document.
Board Member Brandon Simmons, who voted to censure himself Wednesday, was one of potentially several members who created the document. The document outlined divisive and suppressive strategies to handle the teacher’s union’s negative reactions to board plans to close some of the district’s schools.
Simmons contends he did not work alone to create the document, but school board president Christina Vera claims no other board member helped write it. Simmons alleges Vera, Columbus schools superintendent Angela Chapman and board vice president Tina Pierce gave him feedback that he included.
The district's chief of strategy and performance Dr. Russell Brown gave a presentation to the people who attended the Schiller Park forum.
Brown told WOSU after the forum the drama on the school board has not impacted the task force's work.
"I haven't seen (the document) be part of the task force in any way, shape or form. They met this week. They were focused on their, charge, which is coming up with a list of recommendations for closure and rationale for this," Brown said.
Brown said he hopes the forum was able to help answer questions and alleviate some concerns residents have had about the closure plan. He said people are concerned about if this will cause larger class sizes, which he said won't happen unless the law on class size maximums is changed.
Brown also said people are confused about the timeline of any closures and how this will affect school district boundaries. He said the 2024-2025 school year will be spent ironing out the logistics of any approved closures like the boundaries. He said the following school year will be when any changes will start to be implemented.
Brown said he doesn't expect all 20 buildings under consideration to close.
“Theoretically, if every one of these buildings carried forward, and I don't expect all of them would," Brown said.
Gibson said she thinks the process to decide has happened very quickly and she has doubts the district will be able to get enough community feedback in the timeframe this has happened in.
“It just sounds like you're on a roller coaster ride, like strapped in for very quick decisions," Gibson said.
The district first said it might consolidate some schools in November. The facilities task force was formed in February and then made its initial recommendations last month. The district has sought feedback in the last month and expects final recommendations to the board in June.
Gibson said she wants the district to be focused on improving quality education, access to programs and giving kids more choices with AP classes and sports.
“I think that should be a main driver as well as accessibility of the location," Gibson said.
