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This article appeared in the Lakewood Observer on October 16, 2025. Zach Robock is a member of the Elementary Planning Task Force. by Zach Robock This message was originally sent to the Lakewood Board of Education and Superintendent on October 7. There has been no response, except to refer to the District’s FAQ website. Good evening, I am sharing preliminary suggestions/questions based on Superintendent Maggie Niedzwiecki’s recommendations for school repurposing and a firs

Good news: Elementary school utilization across Lakewood’s seven elementary schools is currently well-balanced, elementary enrollment over the last five years is stable, and no major redistricting or school closure is required. 

The district’s latest push for a centralized Pre-K building actually proves the opposite point: families deeply value neighborhood PreK sites, especially at Harrison Elementary. Consolidating into one building would hit Harrison families hard, as many Pre-K students at Harrison live near the school, particularly those in and around Birdtown who may be enrolling in Pre-K as soon as next year.

The conversation about potentially closing one or even two of Lakewood’s neighborhood elementary schools has gone on so long that many in...

Over the past months, some district leaders have suggested that our schools face an imminent threat of being taken over by charter school operators if enrollment dips below 60% capacity. The argument, repeated in recent meetings, is that the “school board is the last line of defense” against such a scenario.

There seems to be a deeply held belief by the current Board of Education that Grant Elementary should never have been rebuilt.  Yet the...

We have been evaluating the merits of closing one or two elementary schools for over a year.  Stepping back, however, a threshold question was overlooked – Are the proposed scenarios physically possible as designed - are there enough classrooms available in each school?  Surprisingly, the answer is “no”.  

Real battles are underway in the state of Ohio over the funding of public schools. From the perspective of those who support public education, there’s little debate that state lawmakers are dismantling Ohio’s public school systems while heavily investing taxpayer dollars into charter and private schools. This year’s state budget is likely to continue this trend, causing additional harm to many school districts.

Lakewood City Schools is considering closing one or even two of its seven neighborhood elementary schools, including Grant, Lincoln, and Roosevelt, claiming declining enrollment (with outdated and cherry-picked data) and the need for "more efficient use of facilities" (a vague statement).

Lakewood City Schools is evaluating whether to close and repurpose one or even two of our neighborhood elementary schools in favor of creating a building for recreation programs or centralized Pre-K building. It appears that the centralized Pre-K building is the more likely outcome of current considerations. 

Real battles are underway in the state of Ohio over the funding of public schools. From the perspective of those who support public education, there’s little debate that state lawmakers are dismantling Ohio’s public school systems while heavily investing taxpayer dollars into charter and private schools. This year’s state budget is likely to continue this trend, causing significant additional harm to many school districts, regardless how the final language shakes out in June.

Lakewood parents and residents are growing increasingly concerned about the longer and more dangerous walking/biking routes that will result from elementary school closures and repurposing in our walking school district.

Over the last eight months, Lakewood's school board has been considering whether or not to close and repurpose one or even two of our neighborhood elementary schools - some of our community's most precious assets.

Though the survey context was muddy, the priorities still rose to the surface: Lakewood residents prioritize walkability, safety, and equitable class sizes. This can be achieved by simply redrawing boundary lines for the elementary schools.

Lakewood City School District's updated enrollment projections show that the district will only lose 77 students from Pre-K to 5th grade over the next 10 years.