COLUMBUS, Ohio — After a month of meetings, the chance for families, faculty and staff in the Columbus City Schools district to weigh in on school closures wrapped up Thursday night. The last of the CCS Facilities Task Force meetings wrapped up at Briggs High School and Olde Orchard Elementary School.
Many members of the community said they feel their voices still aren’t being heard by the district and fear what could come next.
Cynthia Leonard, a teacher for more than 25 years at West Broad Elementary School, said they’re feeling worried and anxious about the decision. Leonard said she and her siblings are graduates of West Broad Elementary, as well as her kids. She added the school means a lot to the west side community.
"I feel like we're a number,” Leonard said.
The purpose of the task force is to determine which buildings should be closed or consolidated based on a number of factors, in order to better serve the 46,000 students in the district. But many teachers and parents alike fear the impact it could have on the students forced to start going to a different school and exacerbate problems like attendance and bus challenges.
"Students that are late now because of the bus… if we transfer to another school it’s going to be much worse. The kids that are being bused will not have time to get breakfast,” Leonard said.
West Broad Elementary provides a number of resources to its school community like breakfast for students who need it, something Leonard said many families rely on. There’s also the factor of a new unknown for displaced students.
"You're taking away their comfort and whenever we do that, now we're starting from scratch all over again to get them to want to go to school,” Leonard said.
Sarah Ingles, a member of the Columbus Board of Education, said she’s taking this feedback seriously. Ingles is one of seven board members who will have the final say on the recommendations made by the task force.
"It's very hard to tell people that you may be moving their student from where they are currently,” Ingles said.
Ingles said she and other board members have attended some of the community engagement meetings to hear firsthand what their concerns are so that she can make an informed decision when the time comes.
"When I vote at the board meeting, I will do it with the best intent for our students and how we move forward as a district,” Ingles said.