Akron Public Schools says it plans to "right-size" the district in the wake of years of declining enrollment, constructing new schools and closing some old ones, the district said in an early December news release.
The school district is set to host meetings Monday at Firestone Park Elementary and Thursday at East Community Learning Center to discuss changing school building boundaries, and the closure of some school buildings.
“We have to achieve a balance,” Superintendent Michael Robinson said in the Dec. 7 press release. “For years in our city, while we were busy rebuilding our inventory and consolidating our footprint, population changes created new challenges we must meet. We must address our building capacity in the midst of a diverse yet declining population throughout our city.”
In total, the district is closing Firestone Park, Pfeiffer and Essex elementary schools (Essex is currently being used as a kindergarten) as well as the Miller South School for the Performing Arts and the Stewart preschool, according to a facilities plan approved by the Akron Board of Education earlier this year. The board of education in that resolution also approved a plan to house the Miller South and Pfeiffer students at a new building, to be constructed at the former Kenmore High School location. The district has said it also wishes to rebuild North High School but currently doesn't have a plan for how to fund that construction.
Robinson said in the news release that a redistricting plan – which still needs approval from the Akron Board of Education – will ensure more students are learning in newer buildings.
The redistricting plan as proposed will mean some students will need to change schools, based on what part of Akron they live in and what school they attend. The following changes are being recommended to the board, according to the news release:
- The closing of Firestone Park next school year will mean those students going to McEbright, Voris or Glover Community Learning Centers in the “Garfield cluster” of schools on the city’s southwest side.
- Essex, which the district had been using to accommodate students from the overcrowded Harris-Jackson Community Learning Center in North Hill, will see its students return to Harris-Jackson.
- David Hill Community Learning Center, now in the district’s “East cluster,” will rejoin the Garfield cluster where it was originally. That school now becomes an option for Firestone Park elementary students to attend. David Hill’s graduating fifth-grade classes would attend Innes Community Learning Center
- To accommodate the “North cluster” elementary schools that are experiencing overcrowding, some students from Harris-Jackson Community Learning Center will be going to Barber Community Learning Center.
- Portage Path Community Learning Center would rejoin the “Buchtel cluster” on the city’s west side.
Students who are reassigned to a different school will be allowed a special “open enrollment” period starting in late January 2024, to enroll at another school of their choosing other than the one assigned to them, according to a Powerpoint presentation on the district’s website,
“It is most important that we have two-way conversations about this with our families about proposed changes that are imminent,” Robinson said in the news release. “The impact of these changes can be significant; our families need to be fully aware of what we are planning. We need to listen to their voices. This is very important to this process.”
The meeting for families in the Garfield cluster is set for Monday, Dec. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Firestone Park Elementary Auditorium, and the meeting for families in the East cluster is set for Dec. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at East Community Learning Center Auditorium.
