School closings could affect Columbus history

By Donna Marbury
Contributing Writer
Columbus Post

Angela Parker drops off her son at Eastmoor Middle School each morning which is convenient she said because the school is on her route to work. Not only is she familiar with the routine, but her sixth-grade son Tyler is starting to get familiar with his friends and teachers at Eastmoor. Parker and hundreds of other parents who send their children to area elementary and middle schools can’t seem to understand why officials are considering closing schools that seem good to the community.

“I think a lot of time the people running the district make out plans on paper that don’t translate well in reality,” Parker said, after attending a town-hall meeting at Walnut Ridge High School last week, where more than 400 parents and community members voiced their opinions on possible school closings. “Working to fix schools is a good thing, but closing so many in such a short time is like wiping out the history of our kids and Columbus.”

Columbus City Schools is planning to close six schools, and have announced a preliminary list of four elementary schools (Deshler: 1234 E. Deshler Ave., Douglas: 43 Douglass St., Fair Alternative: 1395 Fair Ave., Literature Based Alternative at Hubbard: 104 W. Hubbard Ave.,) and five middle schools (Beery: 2740 Lockbourne Rd., Clinton: 3940 Karl Rd., Eastmoor: 3450 Medway Ave., Franklin Alternative: 1390 Bryden Rd., Indianola Math, Science, and Technology: 420 E. 19th Ave) that will be consolidated within other area schools in the 2010-2011 school year. Doulgas, Eastmoor and Franklin have all been tapped before for possible closure.

Columbus City Schools Superintendent Dr. Gene Harris said that the school closings fall in line with promises made after central Ohio voters passed a 7.85-mill operating levy and a $164 million, 1.13-mill bond issue in November 2008. Columbus City Schools hopes to shave $76 million off its budget by closing schools that are underproductive and being under used.

"Our goal is to relieve overcrowding in some buildings, diminish use of modular units, address under-enrollment in some buildings, close and consolidate schools, and provide new academic programs,î Harris stated in a letter written to explain the school closures.

An External Oversight Committee For Student Reassignment and Consolidation, consisting of business and community leaders evaluated schools based on enrollment, safety and access, relocation, diversity and age of building among other factors. The school district is also working to assign students to schools as close to home as possible and improve alternative school programs through the closings.

Parents say that the school district is not considering the historic value of some schools that are being considered for closure, like Indianola Middle School that was opened in 1906 and was the first junior high school in the United States. School officials said that if Indianola is one of the schools that is chosen to close, the building, which was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1980, will be used by the district in another capacity. Pete Armstrong, a graduate of Indianola who still lives in the area of the school said that he understands why schools need to be consolidated but hopes that school officials are doing more than crunching numbers when deciding if a school should close.

“I worry that Columbus will lose its identity if some of these historic schools are closed,” Armstrong said. “I love that Columbus is growing and changing with the times, but everything can’t look so brand new. We have to have some buildings with some history.”

From the 1996-97 school year to the 2007-2008 school year, enrollment in Columbus City Schools was down 10,000 students. Many blame the decrease on charter schools that offer more variety and specialized learning and parents who are choosing to home school their children. Michael Straughter, spokesman for Columbus City Schools, said that at the end of the day there are too many buildings and not enough students to fill them in the school district.

“Too many buildings are being under utilized. It's like throwing money out of the classrooms that we could be spending on academics,” said Straughter, who empathizes with parents who are concerned about school closings. “Our first mission is academics and when our schools aren't operating efficiently that cost is pulled away from academics.”

Town-hall style meetings have been planned across Columbus so parents and community members can address Board of Education members about potential school closings. Meetings have been held at East, Walnut Ridge, West and Northland high schools. The final meeting will be held at Marion-Franklin High School, on Monday, November 23 from 6-8 p.m.
Since 2002, Columbus City Schools has closed 21 schools. In its last round of school closings during the 2007-2008 school year, Columbus City Schools shut the doors on Crestview Middle School and Linmoor Middle School, which is now being used by the district for office space. Medary Elementary School was closed and Linden Park Alternative Elementary School shut its doors and is now a charter school. Officials will decide on which six schools by the end of the year.

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