Board reviews routing maps and floor plans for possible elementary closures; narrows options to Preston and Price

The Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education on July 9 examined routing maps and draft floor plans that show how closing any one of three elementary schools — Preston, Price or Richardson — would reassign students across the district and affect bus routes, building capacity and special‑education placements. After extended discussion, board members said they would narrow the formal options for further study to Preston and Price and hold neighborhood meetings to collect community feedback.

Transportation supervisor Marjorie Johnson showed the board a step‑by‑step demonstration of the district's routing software and draft boundary “sandboxes,” saying the program lets staff test different boundaries without changing live data. “I like to keep it somewhere between a half hour to 45 minutes,” Johnson said, describing her informal target for elementary ride times and adding that extreme cases can reach an hour.

Those ride‑time, routing and capacity considerations inform the staff projections: Johnson told the board that closing Preston would displace 282 Cuyahoga Falls students from Preston itself and produce about 508 reassignments across the district in the staff scenario presented. Closing Price produced a staff scenario of about 548 students reassigned; closing Richardson produced the largest projected reassignment total, about 640 students. Johnson cautioned these figures exclude open‑enrolled students and are “guesstimates” based on projected kindergarten cohorts and current address data.

Why it matters: the board's decision affects families' daily routines, school capacities and the number of bus routes and drivers the district would need. Johnson said routing choices try to keep students on main thoroughfares, avoid routings that would cross railroad tracks where possible, and reduce the number of drivers required by limiting cross‑district loops.

Superintendent Dr. Salicco also presented an option that would avoid closing a building outright: repurposing Chenay Learning Center (the district's current preschool and an alternative high‑school program) by selling that property and relocating those programs into a single one‑story elementary building. Salicco said the district prefers one‑story sites for preschool students with mobility needs and to keep preschool program spaces (related services rooms, sensory rooms, separate entrances) separate and secure. “Perhaps we look at ... keep all six of our buildings open, but it doesn't necessarily mean they'll be elementary,” Salicco said, describing a plan to move preschool and an alternative high‑school program into a repurposed elementary building.

Board discussion tested tradeoffs across three components: which neighborhoods would be affected, whether receiving schools have usable classrooms and specialized spaces (for sensory rooms or related services), and transportation costs and route times. Board members repeatedly returned to two constraints Johnson emphasized: (1) several receiving buildings already show limited classroom availability in the district's baseline capacity study (the staff materials note building capacities based on a 2015 study) and (2) rail crossings add time and complexity because buses must stop and re‑enter traffic when they cross tracks.

Several board members said Richardson posed the largest city‑wide disruption and should be removed from immediate consideration. “When you look at right now ... Richardson affects the most, along with the fact that the numbers right now ... do not work for capacity,” said board member Mr. Gomez during the discussion. Board members agreed to focus staff work on two options (Preston and Price), ask transportation and facilities staff to refine grade‑level classroom estimates for those scenarios, and schedule neighborhood meetings in the affected areas to gather community feedback.

What staff will do next: the district will refine the draft boundary maps to account for grade‑level classroom needs, special‑education spaces and open‑enrolled students; produce a clearer grade‑by‑grade classroom break down; and draft materials for community meetings at Preston and Price, likely in late August after school opens. Board members said staff should also include projected route changes, estimated additional driver and bus needs, and capacity clarifications so residents can see how many students would move and where they would be assigned.

Ending: The board did not take a formal vote to close any school on July 9. Instead it directed staff to refine scenarios for Preston and Price and to return with more detailed classroom‑level and transportation plans and with community meeting dates for neighborhood outreach.