Vote nears for closing, consolidating Columbus schools
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Columbus City Schools Board of Education has a difficult decision coming up: they’ll soon vote on whether to close or merge nine school district buildings.
During Thursday night’s special meeting, board members discussed how some of them visited each of the nine schools.
The board received a report in the summer from the superintendent’s office detailing which nine buildings should be closed or merged, but this was their first time seeing the schools since reading the report.
“Walking into those buildings, seeing these programs and services, it was a completely different experience,” school board president Christina Vera said. “It brought life to what we had been reading and, in some cases, made us question some of what we had been reading.”
After their visits, board members agreed that many of the buildings were old, outdated and had some infrastructure issues.
Lindbergh Elementary School is one of the nine up for closure or consolidation, and after visiting, board members questioned why this one was on the list.
Vera said this shows there is still a lot to consider before a vote.
“I’m just really proud of the work and the progress, but recognizing there’s a lot more work to be done,” she said.
Vera said she hopes a vote will be on a meeting agenda sometime in December. She said she envisions the board voting on each school separately because the nine buildings are not a package deal.
Once the vote does happen, Vera said she hopes students, families and staff can understand their decision.
“I can understand the potential, maybe, frustration or maybe even the unknown, but understanding that we really did take our time and our due diligence to visit, to ask the questions and to think about the larger vision of this district,” Vera said.
During the special meeting, all the board members confirmed they are on the right track to make a decision soon. Vera said the goal is to hold the vote before the end of the year.