The Columbus City Schools Superintendent’s Community Facilities Task Force has recommended to the school board nine schools that it believes should be closed, as well as four other schools recommended for grade realignment.
The board voted unanimously Tuesday to accept the recommendations from the task force, but plans to take more time to get additional feedback from the community before voting to close any schools.
In a presentation during a Columbus City school board meeting Tuesday, the task force recommended that the board consider closing six elementary schools, two middle schools and a high school building. Last month, the task force presented options where up to 20 possible school buildings in the state’s largest district could be closed under nine different recommended scenarios.
Superintendent Angela Chapman told The Dispatch in an interview on Monday that the work of the task force “has and always will be about centering the work on the needs of our students.”
“We know that these are difficult conversations to have in our community, but that doesn’t mean that we should shy away from them,” Chapman said. “Our kids are depending on us to lean in and have these difficult conversations —so that we can provide them with the best opportunities, the best learning spaces, best facilities that they need.”