My Mind is Made Up; Don’t Confuse Me With the Facts A Summary of the Phase III Process
More than a year after forming the Phase III Committee, the Lakewood City Schools’ Board is scheduled to vote on which elementary school will close permanently as part of the final phase of their master facilities plan. That is not to say that other schools will no longer be at risk. Keep in mind the dire financial circumstances the district finds itself in as it prepares to put a 6.9 mill operating levy on the May ballot and the fact that school buildings will close for renovation/rebuilding.
What the committee, community and Board has debated and contemplated for twelve long months may best be summed up using a simple problem solving assignment given to some of our own elementary students.
1. Identify the problem. The Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) determined that our declining enrollment only qualifies us for state funding to rebuild a total of six elementary schools. Lakewood must decide to pay for the seventh building or close it.
2. Gather Information. The Phase III Committee assembles and prepares a presentation and survey for the community to determine working criteria. On April 2nd, community forum attendees strongly agree that the committee should move forward with a “six elementary school configuration” and rank “maintaining equitable class sizes” the most important criterion for selecting the two schools to be rebuilt, followed closely by “reasonable walking distances,” “safety” and “keeping neighborhoods intact.” The Phase III Committee members divide into three sub-committees, Building Sites, District Configuration and Transition. Armed with results from the April forum, guiding principles from the 50 Year Committee, limited support from administration and their own resourcefulness, the sub-committees study the issues and attempt to reach agreement within their groups. The Building Sites Sub-Committee recommends that Lincoln and Roosevelt be rebuilt and Grant be decommissioned despite a professional architect’s report that rates the Lincoln site POOR for rebuilding. The District Configuration Sub-Committee recommends that Grant and Roosevelt be rebuilt and Lincoln be decommissioned based on current student residences, auditor records and census data that indicate a denser elementary population nearer these central and southern schools. The Transition Sub-Committee makes no recommendation, citing the short timeframe of their impact and the availability of adequate temporary space during transition given any option. The Phase III Coordinating Council prepares another presentation and survey for the community to determine their preference. The community gathers September 15th to hear the Phase III Committee’s findings and participate in the survey, but the sub-committees’ recommendations are omitted and vital data is minimized. Additionally, a new criterion “best for re-use” is introduced without study or supporting evidence. With little else to guide the discussion, confusion and inconsistency with the “consensus” process, many “votes” were cast to close Grant. Results of the forum were published the next day without review or analysis.
3. List and consider options. The Phase III Committee presents its report to the Board in the form of two large binders but makes no recommendation of which elementary school to close citing a breakdown in the process. The only requests are that the Board carefully review and consider the data collected by the Phase III Committee, seek additional information and delay decommissioning a school until after construction and the two remaining elementary schools are in service. The options before the board are the same as those before the community at the September 15th forum.
4. Consider advantages and disadvantages of each option.
Option A: Complete LHS East, Roosevelt & Grant/Decommission Lincoln
Keeping Grant Open:
Disrupts fewer neighborhoods based on proposed redistricting maps prepared by Lakewood City Schools.
Results in shorter walking distances for more students, based on current student residents and the location and density of family-friendly housing units.
Provides for safer walking routes for more students by minimizing dangerous Detroit and Madison crossings, as described by Ed Favre, Lakewood Police Officer and School Board Member, and as illustrated by proposed redistricting maps.
Builds on a better site, as initially evaluated and confirmed in a further study by the architectural and planning GPD Group based on criteria from the OSFC Design Manual.
Allows maximum flexibility for managing class sizes throughout the district, by maintaining a centrally located school boundary that can expand and contract with enrollment.
Option B: Complete LHS East, Roosevelt & Lincoln/Decommission Grant
Keeping Lincoln Open:
Pleases a group of citizens that have been misguided into believing that the school board has the authority to sell the Grant property for private development, while unaware of the enormous hurdles placed before school boards by the Ohio General Assembly to dispose of property in O.R.C. 3313.41.
5. Choose and implement a solution. True to their code of ethics/conduct, I expect that our Board members will vote; remembering that their first and greatest concern must be the educational welfare of all students attending the public schools; rendering all decisions based on the available facts and their independent judgment rather than succumbing to the influence of individuals or special interest groups; avoiding conflicts of interest or the appearance thereof; refraining from using their Board position to benefit themselves, family members, or business associates.
The vote is scheduled to take place during the regular Board Meeting, to be held in the East Cafeteria of Lakewood High School on Tuesday, February 16th at 7:00 p.m.