FAQs

Over the five months that the District has engaged the Elementary Planning Task Force and the community through our Community Conversations about a possible reconfiguration of our elementary schools, many questions have arisen regarding the process. Hopefully, the Frequently Asked Questions below will bring some clarity.

Who makes up the task force?
The task force is made up of parents from all seven elementary boundaries, community members, city leaders, alumni, district administrators and teachers who reside in Lakewood. Community members, including District parents, make up two-thirds of the task force.

Why weren’t more scenarios created?
The District created seven draft scenarios to share with the task force. It was stated early in the process that the District is open to other suggested scenarios, whether they come from the task force or the community at large. It is also possible that any of the seven scenarios could be modified.

Why wasn’t community input sought before convening the task force?
Part of the task force’s charge was to sift through all the data provided on enrollment, finances, walking distances, etc., and determine how best to share with the community information that took hours to analyze in a 40-minute presentation. It is not the community’s responsibility to sift through all of the data, although we welcome anyone who wishes to review the data themselves to do so. No decisions were made regarding the seven scenarios in the first round of task force meetings. Now that the meetings are concluded, the task force will reconvene in February to review the input from the Community Conversations and the communitywide survey as it considers its recommendation to the superintendent. 

Why didn’t the District use current data for enrollment figures?
The information shared with the task force, the community and on our website comprises years of work and data collection. The draft scenarios used the last full year of elementary student enrollment data that was available to us (2023 -2024). 

Why can’t more preschool classes with before and after care be added to the buildings with excess capacity?
State licensure requires dedicated space for before and after care that is separate from the space used for our K-5 education and has specific square footage requirements. We are considering all possible avenues to be able to provide these services.

How will repurposing a building impact the need for a levy?
The need for a levy is not dependent on any decision the Board of Education makes regarding elementary buildings. What could change is the amount of mills the District seeks for that levy although the public should keep in mind that we would repurpose a school for primarily educational benefits, not financial. 

If we were to repurpose two schools, how many students would be in a class?
Grades K-2 would range from 20-23 and grades 3-5 from 23-25. Occasional exceptions may occur.

What does being a walking district mean?
To understand a walking district, you need to understand Ohio Revised Code-3327.01.

Some districts bus all their students; others only provide busing for groups of students in K- 8 who reside outside a 1-mile or 1.5-mile radius. For example, Bay Village provides busing for grades K-2 outside a 1-mile radius, grades 3-4 outside a 1.5-mile radius and grades 5-8 outside a 2-mile radius. It all depends on the district. Therefore, most schools in Ohio have a mix of students who walk/drive and students who get bused. As a dense city of only 5.5 square miles, Lakewood, per Ohio Revised Code, provides transportation to qualifying students with a disability, and all of our other students walk/bike or drive. 

Will there be another community meeting once the task force makes a recommendation?
We are committed to continuing to work through our process and analyzing our survey data. We pledge to keep the community informed as we proceed. The plan is to have one final community  meeting once the task force makes a recommendation. We do not have a date as to when that would be.

What will be done to address the social-emotional needs of those students who will need to change schools?
Once a decision is made, the District will allow an entire school year to strategize how to address all the needs arising from redrawn boundaries, including student wellness. Student Services Department staff, such as student wellness specialists, social workers, psychologists and family resource coordinators, families will be deeply involved in this process.