Columbus City Schools committee outlines plan to close two elementary schools, sets boundary timeline and performance 'guard rails'

Chair Michael Cole convened the Columbus City School District Academic and Facility Alignment Committee on June 12 to present a phased realignment plan and to begin setting board "guard rails" and interim metrics to measure student outcomes.

The district presenter opened with facility data showing 112 district buildings totaling about 8.3 million square feet, capacity for roughly 60,000 students and current enrollment under 47,000, leaving significant excess space. The presenter said 66 buildings have not been modernized (average age ~70 years; nine are over 80) and that the board-appointed task force recommended consolidation informed by that footprint.

Phase one of the plan targets Broadley and Mhler for closure at the end of the academic year, with students reassigned to neighboring, modernized schools: Broadley students would be moved primarily to Eastgate, East Columbus and Fairmore; Mhler students would be reassigned to Livingston and Lincoln Park. The administration said the moves are intended to place students in facilities designed for contemporary instruction, to shorten travel for special education and English-language learners where possible, and to preserve continuity by attempting to move self-contained staff and units together.

On timing and community engagement, the district said a boundary consultant, Copper GIS, has been contracted to facilitate mapping and public-facing webpages. Staff began sending data to the consultant in early June; a local planning team will meet in July; advisory and public engagement meetings are scheduled for August–October; and families are to receive address-based school assignments by Thanksgiving (the district called this the wellness-week deadline) so transportation planning and any lottery options can proceed.

Committee members pressed for details on who will receive preferential lottery placement and how current lottery placements are handled. The administration clarified that students who previously "lotteried" into other schools retain those placements; preferential or early lottery options are intended for residents of the affected neighborhoods who are being reassigned so they have an eased transition.

The district described estimated near-term savings of about $1.8 million from taking the two buildings offline and said the contracted boundary-engagement work for both schools is about $150,000. The presenter added that broader capital work — new construction and renovations beyond realignment — will still be required to reach the superintendent’s long-range vision.

During discussion, board members and community advocates raised concerns about classroom crowding, teacher assignments, and preserving services for diverse learners. The administration pointed to a standard operating procedure that will guide staff reassignments, subject in part to the district’s collective bargaining agreement, and said individual outreach to families (including in native languages for ELL students) has already begun for some special-education placements.

The committee then turned to board "guard rails" — policy-level limits the board will use to ensure resource alignment with student-outcome goals. Committee leaders described four guard rails (including resourcing multi-tiered systems of support, whole-child priorities and culturally responsive staffing), and outlined a schedule to reset measurable interim metrics: public feedback in June, draft metrics returned in August, superintendent presentation for board adoption in September, and a monitoring calendar with reports tied to specific guard rails across December–June.

Board members and attendees also urged stronger early-reading intervention and universal pre-K access. In response, district staff said Columbus’ pre-K programs are state-rated highly, the curriculum and professional development have been aligned to the "science of reading," and longitudinal data show growth from pre-K through third grade for students who attend district pre-K.

The committee closed with notes that additional properties are slated for demolition, that the district must decide future uses for vacated sites, and that the board will review a building-closure policy and a draft artificial-intelligence policy at future meetings. A motion to adjourn passed on a voice/roll-call response.

The committee’s next steps are to continue community engagement on boundaries, produce draft interim metrics for the guard rails in August and present final interim metrics to the board in September. The district stressed letters to families by Thanksgiving as key to preserving lottery and transportation options.