Columbus schools task force reviewing possible school closures, consolidations

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Columbus City School’s superintendent’s facilities task force is taking a look at district enrollment, building use, capacity and conditions.

The task force is made up of people from many areas of the community who take a look at whether schools should be closed, consolidated or left as is. This process has some community members asking questions.

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“Kids are the heartbeat of our city. Everything that we’re doing revolves around how we’re addressing our youth. I think it’s important for us to come together collaborate, join forces,” WE ARE LINDEN chair, alumni parent of Linden-McKinley, North Linden area commissioner Ebony Fadis said.

“We want to just really get to the nitty-gritty and see what’s the plan moving forward,” WE ARE LINDEN Founder and Executive Director Ralph Carter said.

The task force will come up with a list of recommendations after engaging with the community; those recommendations could include closing or consolidating certain schools.

“When I heard about it, of course, you know, it was a lot of concern,” Carter said. “Nothing’s set in stone. I guess it’s a, yeah, just pure conversation. We just want to, you know, see what’s going on and look forward to a solution.”

Others at Tuesday’s meeting came to learn more and make sure they would have a chance to give input.

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“I don’t think the community knows as a whole and for the masses and we want to bring awareness to encourage them to get involved and to read more,” Carter said.

The CCS superintendent who leads the task force could not be at the meeting. The district said it would not make board members available to answer questions. They will be the ones who get the committee recommendations.

“It means for them to be transparent about what’s coming down the pipeline, what that looks like?” Fadis said.

A link to more information about the task force can be found here. This includes the recommendations the 2018 task force made and the community outreach that was done during that time.

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