Columbus City Schools should have a task force in place by next month to help officials determine which school buildings to close by August 2025.
That’s according to a facilities task force report Superintendent Angela Chapman gave at Tuesday’s school board meeting at Beechcroft High School on the North Side.
Consolidating the district’s 113 school buildings will reduce costs, the report said, noting that 47% of the schools have not had any major renovations in more than 50 years.
The report said that Columbus City Schools spend more on facilities maintenance per school than similar districts across the country — $544,000 per Columbus school building compared to $459,000 nationally — with the age of Columbus school buildings likely a factor.
According to the timetable, the task force is to make recommendations to the school board by June, with implementation of final decisions by August 2025.
Chapman will create the task force and the school board will vote on it, likely at its Feb. 6 meeting. Included in the task force are to be students and parents, labor groups, community organizations and social service agencies, representatives from local government and higher education, small and large business representatives, and those within the schools.