Lakewood board approves plan to repurpose Lincoln Elementary for centralized preschool after heated public comment

Lakewood City Schools on Monday approved Superintendent Niedzwiecki

s recommendation to repurpose Lincoln Elementary as a centralized early learning center, a decision board members said is aimed at improving early-childhood services and stabilizing uneven class sizes across the district.

The board

s action followed a 40-minute presentation from district staff explaining why a single-site preschool could increase program consistency, free up related-service minutes for therapists, broaden eligibility for certain grants and allow reliable before- and after-care partnerships. Superintendent Niedzwiecki asked the board to consider the Oct. 6 facility recommendation as part of a larger facilities and enrollment strategy.

Why it matters: Administrators said consolidating preschool classrooms would let the district deliver a full continuum of services under one roof, reduce travel time for speech, occupational and physical therapists and improve opportunities for teacher collaboration. Dr. Morgan, a district administrator, underscored the district

s legal obligations tied to special education: "We are obligated to seek out and identify any children between the ages of 3 and 5 who may have a disability," she said, framing the district

s child-find responsibility as a primary reason public preschool exists.

Presentation highlights: District staff described the current multi-site model in which Emerson, Grant and Taft offer different instructional models (full-day general education, co-taught…