What Residents Are Saying

The Lakewood City Schools Board of Education, led by Pres. Nora Katzenberger and Vice Pres. Betsy Shaughnessy, voted 4-1 to adopt an elementary school consolidation “plan” comprised of a dozen slides and minimal supporting data that will close Lincoln Elementary and all neighborhood preschools and replace them with a centralized preschool in the current Lincoln building.

Hundreds of Lakewood residents came together to rally for our 7 neighborhood schools. Lakewood, you showed up for your schools today. Regardless of the outcome of the school board meeting, we came together to support our schools, and we thank you.

Lakewood resident JP shares why we need to come together as a community to keep our 7 neighborhood elementary schools.

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

Lakewood resident Parker shares why closing Harrison's Pre-K and moving all Pre-K classrooms to a consolidated building would be devastating to Birdtown's (and all of south Lakewood's) youngest residents, limiting, and in some cases preventing, access to early childhood education for many children in the neighborhood.

"As a third-generation Lakewoodite, I’m heartbroken and angry about what’s happening with the proposal to close or repurpose Lincoln Elementary.

In March, I offered an article here in the Observer sharing my thoughts on the process being undertaken by Lakewood City Schools to determine the future of our model of education in Lakewood.

The School Board’s heavily controlled community meeting are their attempt to make it look like the community chose to close Grant school instead of them. They held an identical “community meeting” at the end of the last disastrous “Task Force” debacle which was called “Phase Three.”

Hear from Lakewood resident Angela Clunk on her perspective and views on the possible closure and repurposing of elementary schools in Lakewood, and the need for change at the school board level.

We want to give a huge shout-out to several friends and neighbors who have answered the call in Preserve Lakewood Schools PAC’s “Month of...

We are asking everyone who cares about the future of Lakewood’s neighborhood schools to register for the Superintendent’s “tabletop conversation” on September 29th. 

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”.  

Earlier this year I wrote several Observer articles that, in my mind, outline the multitude of reasons why the Lakewood City School District should not be reducing the number of elementary schools. To recap: Consolidating our elementary schools is not financially or administratively necessary by any objective measure, nor is it objectively beneficial.

My name is Kelly Moyer and I live with my husband and our four children (three current Rangers) on Lakeland Ave. I’m here tonight to respectfully ask that the Superintendent and School Board halt any decision on closing an elementary school until we have more complete, post-COVID enrollment data.

Over the last 12 months, Lakewood residents have watched as our school board members and school district leadership have led the community on a rollercoaster ride of a community debate over whether or not to close and repurpose one or even two of Lakewood’s neighborhood elementary schools.  

For months, we’ve been following the conversation surrounding the possible consolidation of Lakewood’s seven elementary schools due to declining enrollment.

Parents and students carrying signs lined up along Detroit Avenue Tuesday ahead of the Lakewood Board of Education meeting.

I am Monica Bruaw. I live on Arthur Avenue. In August 2024, the district first started sharing building capacity numbers. In February 2025 and again a few weeks ago in an email, capacity numbers were shared for each school building (for the same school year 2024-25) and they didn’t match.

The email communication on 8/26/2025 from the Lakewood City School District raises serious concerns about how building utilization is...