COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus City Schools announced they will be closing five schools and one administrative building in the coming years after a vote on Tuesday.
10TV's Tracy Townsend sat down with CCS Superintendent Dr. Angela Chapman to discuss what this means going forward for the district.
"As we think about these five impacted school communities, first we want to make sure that we are educating our community and informing them so they are aware of the changes," Chapman said. "Particularly for our students and staff at these five impacted schools, we will be working alongside them, side-by-side supporting them during this transition process."
She said the district will be having conversations with the impacted school communities to work on the boundary decisions for which schools the impacted students will attend in the future.
Chapman also discussed how the buildings slated for closure have outlived their ability to function.
"They are really old, over 50 years or more and we have not significantly invested in them," she said. "Some have foundational issues and those are issues you can't really put a bandaid on."
That includes one of the district's premiere schools, Columbus Alternative High School, which has earned high marks from U.S. News and World Report and in state performance rankings.
However, the school earns low scores for its location.
"So we have one of our best high schools situated in one of the oldest elementary school buildings," Chapman said. "This is a high school. It should be in a more modern space to offer students the resources and spaces they need so the program can be even more successful."
Columbus Board of Education President Christina Vera said the entire process was difficult, but touring the buildings allowed her and her colleagues to see firsthand the conditions at buildings that don't measure up.
"In order for us to get to a point of being able to truly provide the type of educational experience that our students need and deserve, we've gotta be able to make these hard decisions because at the end of the day, this is about the future generation of students," Vera said.
Chapman emphasized there is a considerable amount of work to be done before closing the five schools. The district won't begin to implement the changes until the 2026-2027 school year.
By the end of this school year, the administration will be responsible for presenting a full timeline to the board about when they will begin the process.