Safety Concerns: School District Decides Against Studying Safety Amidst Potential Elementary Closures
Lakewood parents and residents are voicing strong concerns about student safety due to the potential closure and repurposing of one or even two of our neighborhood elementary schools.
Closing and repurposing even just one elementary school would force Lakewood’s youngest children (ages 5 to 11 years old) to walk or bike longer distances to school, with many more students crossing busy streets and railroad tracks.
Studies show the greater the distance a student has to travel to school, the more they are at risk for absenteeism, with a sharp decrease in attendance after 6 tenths of a mile. Right now the walk length for many elementary students is less than that; if schools were closed, that distance would dramatically increase— putting many more students at risk of absenteeism and other negative impacts. The first goal of the District should be that the students actually reach the school buildings.
Since the district does not offer bussing for general education students (and saves an estimated up to $2 million annually by not doing so), district leadership has a responsibility to ensure that Lakewood students have safe, reasonable walking routes to school.
No Plans to Complete a Traffic or Safety Study Despite Community Concerns
District leadership has said that they don’t plan to study how closing schools would impact traffic and safety in Lakewood, because they partnered on creating Lakewood’s Active Transportation Plan (https://www.lakewoodoh.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/041524-Lakewood-ATP-Adopted-reduced-size.pdf), which was finalized in April 2024.
The problem with this is that it was developed BASED ON HAVING SEVEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. The plan also does not account for the incoming hundreds of multifamily housing units under construction at Brockley and Detroit, which will increase traffic stress levels, nor has it looked at the traffic or safety impact of the District's idea to create a centralized pre-k.
The district was offered funding for a more in-depth traffic and safety study to address the loss of up to two schools and declined - Why?
Our best estimate? An in-depth study would show that closing an elementary school is unsafe for kids’ commutes to school and is a bad idea. It will also cause longer car lines and additional safety issues for students commuting to the remaining schools.
Could the funds spent on TWO consulting firms— one to assemble the data and another to manage the Task Force-- have been better spent on gathering data to ensure the safety of our children?
Pedestrian And Bicycle Crashes In Lakewoods: 97% Within 1/2 Mile Of Schools
Even without an adjustment for the current proposal which would increase danger for children walking and biking longer distances, and increase congestion and car traffic around the proposed remaining schools, the Transportation Plan reveals sobering data on the number of crashes involving bicyclists and pedestrians in Lakewood from 2017 to 2021 (See Lakewood Active Transportation Plan, page 43 for more detail).
According to the Plan, from 2017 to 2021, there were 141 crashes involving bicyclists and pedestrians in Lakewood, 21 of which resulted in serious injuries, and 1 of which resulted in a fatality.
• 66% of pedestrian crashes were within 1/4 mile of schools, and 97% were within 1/2 mile of schools. • 67% of pedestrian crashes that were fatal or caused serious injury were within 1/4 mile of schools, and 84% were within 1/2 mile of schools.
Survey data from the Lakewood Active Transportation Plan show safety is a top priority: 83% of residents ranked minimizing walking distance as important, and 78% prioritized avoiding major thoroughfares. Still, the district has declined targeted community requests for and offers of outside funding to conduct a traffic study.
What It Looks Like
Here’s a way to visualize this. Per the Lakewood Active Transportation Plan, Clifton, Hilliard, Detroit and Franklin, and are cited as high-risk corridors. If, for example, Lincoln Elementary were to close, children on the west of Lincoln would presumably be redistricted to Horace Mann, an estimated 0.9 mile walk along Clifton Blvd, a corridor that is rated 4 - which is the highest, for Pedestrian Crossing Level of Traffic Stress.
The school district’s unwillingness to gather and analyze additional safety data puts students at risk, especially in Ohio’s most walkable and densely populated city.
And with elementary enrollment stabilizing and increasing over the recent years, our question remains: why are we still discussing closing an elementary school in Ohio’s most walkable school district?
Preserve Lakewood Schools is a coalition of parents, residents, and leaders in Lakewood, Ohio, committed to preventing the closure/repurposing of elementary schools by Lakewood City Schools, and supporting the long-term vitality of Lakewood's public schools.
Jennifer Schlosser is a Lakewood resident, business owner, and parent of two.
Jennifer Schlosser
Jennifer Schlosser is a Lakewood resident, business owner, and parent of two.