Preserve Lakewood Schools Educates Residents On Proposed Elementary School Closures

A full house learns about plans to change the definition of neighborhood schools in Lakewood.

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More than 70 Lakewood residents recently had the opportunity to learn more about Lakewood City School District’s consideration of whether to make changes to how it delivers elementary education in Lakewood, which may result in the repurposing or closure of one or even two of Lakewood’s neighborhood elementary schools.

Preserve Lakewood Schools held a community information meeting on February 11, at Grant Elementary School, hosted by Grant Elementary PTA. Residents were able to learn more about the planning efforts being undertaken this school year by the Lakewood superintendent’s Elementary Planning Task Force, and understand how the repurposing or closure of any elementary school could affect not only families with young children, but also the entire Lakewood community.

“We are here because we love Lakewood’s schools, because we value our neighborhood schools, and because we want all of Lakewood’s residents to know that the school district may make major changes to how it delivers elementary school education, including closing one or even two of our neighborhood elementary schools,” said Preserve Lakewood Schools member and parent Jennifer Schlosser.  

“We want to share information about this process, and encourage all Lakewood residents to get involved in the process, whether that’s sharing their perspective at a school board meeting, talking to their friends and neighbors about it, or contacting their school board members and superintendent with how these changes would impact their family,” Schlosser added.

Attendees represented nearly all seven elementary schools in the district, bringing with them a combined 576 years of connection to Lakewood, and 72 children who would be directly impacted by these potential changes.

The meeting started with asking attendees to share three words or phrases that come to mind when thinking of Lakewood City Schools. Attendees’ responses were overwhelmingly centered around walkability, community, diversity, connection, kindness, inclusivity, and bikeability. When asked about the benefits of walking to school, top answers included community, independence, exercise, neighborhood, and environmental impact. These values are at the heart of Preserve Lakewood Schools’ mission, as the group aims to protect Lakewood’s neighborhood schools from being closed.  

Approximately one-quarter of the attendees had not participated in the superintendent’s Community Conversations held in the fall, so the meeting included a summary of the school district’s planning process. Several task force members provided crucial insight into the planning efforts so far and answered questions. Concerns raised by attendees included enrollment projections, questions about the potential desire for a centralized pre-kindergarten school building, changes in personnel due to fluctuating enrollment, efforts to attract families to Lakewood, housing issues, and the value of maintaining walkable, neighborhood schools.

With the Task Force planning to present recommendations to the superintendent in May 2025, Preserve Lakewood Schools encouraged attendees to make their voices heard. They suggested several actions to support the cause, including signing and sharing the online petition to halt the closure of elementary schools, sending personal comments to the school board and superintendent, speaking at upcoming school board meetings, canvassing door-to-door, making donations to the organization, and staying engaged on the group’s Facebook page (Preserve Lakewood Schools) and website.

Preserve Lakewood’s Schools is a dedicated community initiative in Lakewood, Ohio, focused on preventing the closure or repurposing of elementary schools within the Lakewood City School District. Sign the petition at https://change.org/preservelakewoodschools For more information, visit https://www.preservelakewoodschools.org.

Monica Bruaw is a lifetime Ranger and a mother of three.