Safety Concerns: How Will Closing and Repurposing Elementary Schools Impact Our Students' Safety?

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.

Unfortunately, over the last several months, there have been many car crashes with bicyclists and pedestrians, involving children and adults, that have resulted in injury and even death, as well as the trauma of witnessing such incidents.

Walkable Schools Save Taxpayer Dollars

Lakewood City Schools does not offer bus service for general education students, nor does it have any plans to begin bussing students. And it is one of only two school districts in Cuyahoga County that does not offer bussing for elementary students who live over a mile from their school.

We estimate that Lakewood City Schools saves nearly $2 million a year by not providing bussing to its general student population, so Lakewood also has the responsibility to ensure that students can walk to schools safely.

Closing and repurposing schools would mean many more students walking and biking longer distances, and across busy intersections and the railroad tracks.

As a result of Preserve Lakewood Schools' advocacy, school district officials added some safety information to each scenario as the Task Force deliberated - the number of additional road or railroad crossings that would result from each scenario.

No Plans to Complete a Traffic or Safety Study, Despite Community Concerns

However, Preserve Lakewood Schools, as well as many other members of the community, have repeatedly asked for a traffic and safety study, and the school district has no plans to complete a traffic or safety study, to determine the impact that closing and repurposing one or even two elementary schools would have on traffic and safety for students, families, as well as all residents of Lakewood.

The school district's response was "The District did not conduct a separate traffic study because it participated in the City's Active Transportation study. This study provides valuable insights into traffic patterns and transportation planning in the area. You can view the full study through this link: Lakewood Active Transportation Plan."

Walkable Elementary Schools: A Clear Community Priority

Over the last five months, Preserve Lakewood Schools has engaged with thousands of Lakewood residents, and a clear community priority that continues to rise to the top is safety for our children and our community, which includes walkable neighborhood elementary schools. Data from Lakewood's own January 2025 community survey support this:

• Respondents ranked minimizing walking time and distance as the highest priority item, and avoiding students crossing major thoroughfares was the third highest priority item.

• An overwhelming majority of respondents (83%) said minimizing walking time and distance to schools was either Very Important (61%) or Important (22%).

• 78% of respondents said avoiding students crossing major thoroughfares was either Very Important (57%) or Important (21%).

• And, the majority of respondents with elementary students (65%) reported that their student usually walks or bikes to school.

Why Won't Lakewood's School District Study Safety Impacts Further?

We'll first look at aspects of Lakewood's Active Transportation Plan, and then ask why the district won't engage further on the issue of safety. You can review the “Safe Streets for Lakewood” Active Transportation Study here. Highlights of the plan are below. All text, markings, and arrows in bright green has been added by Preserve Lakewood Schools.

Highlights:

• The only LCSD employee listed as as stakeholder appears to be Mark Walters (listed incorrectly as Mark Walter), as seen in the screenshot of page 2 below. 

  
  

  

• The many benefits of being a walkable city include: physical health, mental health, economic development, quality of life, and environmental quality.

• In the report, Equity focuses on meeting “the unique needs of children, youth/teens, older adults, people with disabilities, people in low-income households, and people without access to a vehicle.”

• Equity also focuses on allowing people without a vehicle to access “employment ,school, grocery shopping, and a variety of other life activities to fully participate in society”.

• Lakewood is the densest and most walkable city in Ohio

• The "Safe Routes to School" portion of the report stated:

  
  

  

  Lakewood Active Transportation Plan, Page 19

  
  

• Safety, even above weather, was cited as the #1 key issue impacting caregiver decisions to let child walk or bike to school.

  
  

  

  Lakewood Active Transportation Plan, Page 20

Major Concerns for Safety if Elementary Schools Close

• Clifton, Hilliard, Detroit, Franklin, and are cited as high-risk corridors. Below, we took the school district’s map and called out which elementary schools may close with a star, and overlaid the Pedestrian Crossing Level of Traffic Stress from the city's Active Transportation pedestrian on top of it.

  
  

  

  Using the above map, for one example, if Lincoln Elementary were to close, those kids 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 - Highest Street for Pedestrian Crossing Level of Traffic Stress - as described by all of the red dots along Clifton Blvd. And the district will not be conducting a study to focus on these safety concerns.

Source: Lakewood Active Transportation Plan, Page 43

The Plan also shares 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.

• 16% of those crashes resulted in serious injuries or 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.

The Active Transportation Plan Safe Streets for Lakewood initiative is full of well-planned, thorough information. It is centered on Lakewood having seven neighborhood elementary schools. Why wouldn’t LCSD and/or the Board of Education agree to complete a more in-depth study during the Elementary Planning Task Force process to look at safety impacts of school closure for our youngest residents, which changes everything in the report?

According to the school district's own survey, parents and residents are very concerned about safety, and the lack of proactive study on safety/traffic shows that our school leaders are not.

We are also aware that the school district was offered funding for a traffic study and declined - why? Our best estimate: it would show that closing and repurposing an elementary school is unsafe for kids commuting, and will cause longer car lines and additional safety issues in the remaining schools.

The Board of Education and the district are entrusted to manage Lakewood's public school district. In this case, eliminating even one elementary school in the most dense and walkable city in Ohio means our youngest students are at risk of being struck by a vehicle when simply trying to get to school.

Your Voice Matters! Please contact our school board with your opinion, so that they can hear all perspectives as they make this crucial decision on our behalf. Send them an email, or speak at an upcoming school board meeting. Thank you!