Columbus City Schools proposes closing more buildings

Columbus City Schools proposed closing more buildings at a town hall Oct. 12, WOSU reported, as rising costs collide with shrinking state and federal money. The plan calls for permanently closing 10 school buildings and two other buildings, and eventually building two new high schools and an elementary school.

About 20% of classroom seats, roughly 13,000 desks across 109 academic buildings, are unused, and some schools are less than 30% full. The district wants to reduce its 20 under-enrolled high schools to between 10 and 12.

Proposals include closing Siebert Elementary and Mifflin Middle, merging South and Marion-Franklin into a new South Side high school, and moving Columbus Gifted Academy to the Franklin building and adult education to Eastmoor. Superintendent Angela Chapman stressed that none of it is final.

The board has approved nine closures in the past two years and recently formalized another $50 million in budget cuts. Senate Bill 311, which has passed the Ohio Senate, would require districts to get rid of under-enrolled buildings.