Planning Today Ensures The Best Outcomes For The Future — For Everyone

In Lakewood, our schools have always been the heart of our community. We pride ourselves on the fact that, on any given school day, our sidewalks are occupied by parents walking their children to their neighborhood schools.

As members of the Board of Education, working with Superintendent Niedzwiecki, Treasurer Zeman, and other District leaders, our job is to preserve what is best about our schools and pursue excellence in the education of our students. At the same time, we need to be aware of potential challenges to the things we hold dear.

One such issue is declining birth rates. Like other school districts in our region, state, and across the country, we have witnessed a decline in our enrollment resulting from an overall decline in population. Lakewood has experienced a decrease of roughly 1,600 students across all grade levels since 2013. The capacity utilization – the number of students in a building versus the maximum number of students that building can hold – of our elementary schools has dropped to an average of 68%, with a low of 62% for one school. These percentages use class sizes of 22 students as a target, which is below the State of Ohio’s standard of 25 students. 

Due to this drop in enrollment, the distribution of students across our elementary schools has become unbalanced, leading to a wide variation in class sizes and the number of classes in each grade. We have had to move teachers between buildings to address these imbalances, which disrupts continuity and reduces their ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues. Our buildings are not being used as effectively as they could be. 

If we take action to balance class sizes across our elementary buildings, we would enable more equitable attention to student learning needs, more opportunities for peer interaction, and more collaborative learning. In fact, many class sizes would actually be smaller. These factors would help educators in every building achieve the level of excellence we demand of ourselves for our most important job: educating our children.

To address this challenge, in August 2024 we convened our Elementary Facilities Task Force, composed of 50 Lakewood parents, teachers, community members, District leaders, and others, representing a wide range of viewpoints. The purpose of this active, knowledgeable group is to provide informed guidance and strategic recommendations to the Superintendent on optimizing the use of District facilities, particularly where there is excess capacity. We provided them with an enormous amount of data about enrollment, building capacities, District history and finances, teacher movement, and much more. (You can view these materials on the Task Force page of lakewoodcityschools.org)

We also provided the Task Force with seven initial scenarios to consider, some of which involved repurposing one or two elementary buildings. All scenarios involve redrawing District boundaries. It is important to note that these were developed using parameters we provided that included: preserving walkability, minimizing crossing major roads, minimizing walking distances (well under a mile for most students), holding building capacities above 60%, and keeping neighborhoods together. Safety was a vital consideration throughout. 

The Task Force has analyzed these scenarios, evaluating the financial, educational, and logistical impacts of potential changes, while incorporating feedback from the community. They have processed data, asked questions, reviewed community survey results, and engaged in detailed discussions. They have suggested modifications to scenarios and, over the coming weeks, will be narrowing the list of viable options. Task Force members have been able to put their personal interests aside to focus on what is best for the District as a whole. They don’t always agree in the discussions, but that honesty is what will lead to a good outcome.

Those of us on the Board of Education know that effective leadership involves asking tough questions and having difficult conversations. If we waited until dire circumstances were at hand to have these conversations, we wouldn’t have time to convene a task force, analyze data, and involve the community. Frankly, it wouldn’t be a conversation. Change would be swift, and options would be severely limited. That is not a circumstance any of us wants.

In the coming months, the Elementary Facilities Task Force will complete its work, Superintendent Niedzwiecki will make a recommendation to the Board, and we on the Board will come to a decision that we feel will be best for all of our Lakewood elementary students. Whatever plan we settle on, we will work together as a community to preserve all that we love about our schools and provide the best outcome for all of our children, now and in the future.