Lakewood City School District Superintendent Maggie Niedzwiecki announced a recommendation Monday night to repurpose Lincoln Elementary, one of the district's seven elementary schools, to become an early childhood learning center.
The proposal proved controversial among some parents and local residents, however. Some attendees spoke out during public comment wearing purple “Preserve Lakewood Schools” t-shirts, representing an advocacy group formed earlier this year to oppose school consolidation. That group has since created a political action committee to support new school board candidates, with two open board seats on the November ballot.
Those opposed to consolidation of the district’s elementary schools argued it would harm the city’s vitality and home values and create traffic problems and longer commute times for parents and students. Parents like Caity Solomon, a member of Preserve Lakewood Schools, said the district is being short-sighted in its planning.
"These closures feel like reactionary moves, not part of a thoughtful vision for Lakewood's future that the community can buy into," she said. "What have we done with this time that we have known that enrollment is decreasing? What specific marketing initiatives have been launched?"
The district’s board of education will still need to vote on Superintendent Maggie Niedzwiecki's recommendation on Oct. 20. If approved, she said the district will not make any changes to its building makeup until the 2027-2028 school year.
The district has mulled a decision for more than a year to consolidate one or two of its seven elementary schools in response to years of declining enrollment. Niedzwiecki highlighted that the district's kindergarten-through-fifth-grade enrollment is down almost 500 students over the last decade.
"As educational leaders, we have a responsibility to care for, protect, and maintain our facilities and buildings, and periodically review the use of our facilities and the role each facility plays in helping us achieve our mission, so we can ensure decisions are focused on maximizing student growth and opportunity for the future, are sustainable, and are financially responsible," she said during her presentation.
The move would increase class sizes but only minimally, she argued, adding four elementary-level classes that are at its highest range, between 23 and 25 students. She said student enrollment would be evened out across the remaining elementary schools. Grant Elementary is currently about 85% full, while the rest of the elementary schools are between 60 and 70% full. Consolidation would keep the enrollment of those schools in a similar range, she said, while creating a new, centralized early learning center.
Meanwhile, Niedzwiecki said the district will see a minimal increase in the walking time for families who no longer send their students to Lincoln.
"It supports neighborhood walkability with the shortest travel distances for students, enhances student safety by minimizing the need to cross major roads, and promotes stability with the fewest number of students changing buildings," Niedzwiecki said of why the district chose Lincoln.
Concerns about the process
A new report was published Monday night by opponents of the district's facilities planning process, suggesting the district violated state laws. The report was created by Friends of Lakewood Schools, a nonprofit formed earlier this year that threatened legal action against the district for its facilities planning task force, which met behind closed doors over the last year.
"It is clear that not only was the school board actively involved in every step of the elementary closure process but that it violated Ohio law on numerous occasions in its efforts to keep its deliberations and the true intent of this process hidden from the public," the report reads.
Alaina McCourt, a Lakewood schools parent, argued the district's entire planning process was a "sham," adding public records suggest the district's leadership sought to consolidate buildings from the very beginning.
"Your emails and text messages show that you have decided you wanted to close the school, and then you crafted a process in an attempt to make it look like it was the community who decided to close and not you," she said.
Board President Nora Katzenberger urged respectful debate earlier in the meeting, saying some have resorted to "personal attacks" in recent weeks against district officials due to the facilities planning process.
"I encourage everyone speaking here tonight and elsewhere in the coming weeks and beyond to keep the discussion focused on the facts and issues not on people," she said. "... that's the only way that for us move forward, with the kindness and sense of community that Lakewood is known for."
