Charter schools take their toll on 4 Columbus Public Schools buildings

Panel recommends closing 4 Columbus schools
By Bill Bush
The Columbus Dispatch
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Four more Columbus Public Schools should close this spring, according to a community task force helping the district respond to falling enrollment.

They are:

• Douglas Alternative Elementary, which has 271 students this school year, down 34 from two years ago. The school is at 90 percent of its capacity.
• Linden Park I.G.E. Alternative Elementary, which has 171 this school year, down 88 from two years ago. The school is at 49 percent capacity.
• Medary Elementary, which has 140 students this school year, down 73 from two years ago. The school is at 37 percent.
• Linmoor Middle, which has 234 students, down 90 students from two years ago. Linmoor is at 31 percent capacity.

Douglas and Linden Park were among four schools that the district put on a “watch list” last school year because of dropping enrollment.

The task force considered schools that met these criteria, among others:

• Size: High schools with fewer than 800 students, middle schools with fewer than 600 and elementaries with fewer than 400
• Declining enrollment: Schools that have lost students compared with two years ago
• No new upgrades: School that have been revamped as part of the district's ongoing plan were excempt
• Nearby space available: Seats must be available at nearby schools to accommodate the students if a building is closed.

The district will hold forums in January to hear feedback from the community. Any closings ultimately would have to be approved by the school board.

Columbus Public Schools, like other urban districts, has been losing students to charter schools for several years. A new state voucher program that pays for private-school tuition has added to the struggle this year.

The district was down 3,081 students as of the 12th day of the school year compared with the same day in 2005.

Some parents at Douglas Elementary School said today they were upset the school was closing and couldn't understand why Columbus Public Schools would shut down a building in good repair with good academics.

“As a parent, I'm not happy,” said Karen Rector, whose daughter Sydney is in the first grade . “This is the greatest place you could have your child in school.”

If the board approves, this would be the third wave of closings in three years.

The school board voted to close 10 elementary schools and two middle schools Last January. All closed at the end of last school year.

The elementaries were Beck Urban Academy, Brentnell Alternative Traditional, Gladstone, Second Avenue, Koebel, Main, McGuffey, Reeb, Scioto Trail and Stockbridge. The middle schools were Barrett Urban Academy and Crestview.

Another elementary school, Kent, was shuttered at the end of the 2004-05 school year.

Columbus currently operates 128 schools: 76 elementaries, 23 middle schools, 17 high schools, and other schools that combine various upper- and lower-classes, are for developmentally disabled students, and career centers that teach vocational trades.

Since 1999 the district has lost about 10,000 students, or 15 percent of its enrollment. Most of the loss has been attributed to parents choosing to send their children to charter schools -- tuition-free schools that are financed by the state of Ohio but typically are privately run.

Task-force members include business and union leaders as well as Robyn Taylor, president of the Columbus Council of PTAs. The committee's co-chairmen are Alan J. Davidson, a former National City Bank executive, and Floyd V. Jones, a senior vice president of The Dispatch Printing Company, which publishes The Dispatch

bbush@dispatch.com