Lakewood Observer: "Lakewood Board of Education Rejects Community Input and Adopts a Half-Baked Elementary Consolidation Plan" by Zachary Robock

This article appeared in the Lakewood Oberver on October 23, 2025.

By Zachary Robock

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.

While the general idea of closing an elementary school has been in discussion for over a year, this recommendation in its current form was first introduced only two weeks ago. Between two Board meetings, there was approximately forty-five minutes of questions and deliberation by the Board.

The plan has not been pressure-tested and there are significant unanswered risks and gaps. 

• Closing Lincoln as an elementary and eliminating neighborhood preschool will not benefit Lakewood residents.  Based on the limited data provided, there are no demonstrated cost savings to this consolidation, and there will be considerable transition costs. The district will continue to own and operate 7 buildings, and the district projects requiring the same number of classrooms (88) before and after the consolidation. Hayes Elementary school appears to be 3 classrooms short on space to house all the programs proposed. Virtually all special education students will be moved to a new location, disrupting their routines. There will be a 60% increase in the number of classrooms district-wide with the maximum 23-25 students, and a sharp reduction in the smaller class sizes that residents prefer. Walking to school will no longer be a viable option for hundreds of families from across the district due to the closure of Lincoln elementary and all neighborhood preschool programs. No traffic studies were conducted. There is already not enough aftercare for elementary students, which will worsen with consolidation. This list goes on.

• The plan goes against overwhelming community sentiment. No one is asking for this plan. Residents from across the spectrum, with and without kids, from every neighborhood of town, have spoken out against a school consolidation plan like this over the past year – in community surveys, public comments, and letters to the Board. Our voices have been dismissed. I encourage you to take the time to watch the Oct. 6 and/or Oct. 20 Board of Education meetings on the district’s YouTube channel (you can watch on 2x speed) and judge for yourself.

• The process has deeply eroded community trust.  There have been credible allegations that the Board violated Open Meetings Act laws during this process – to the point that a year-long community task force was disbanded prior to giving its recommendation. According to Superintendent Maggie Niedzwiecki  “due to the Demand Letter we received in May from a few concerned citizens, our legal counsel has instructed me that my recommendation can’t utilize the work of the task force.” Instead of slowing down, and rebuilding trust, the district removed meaningful community input and sped the process up.

  
  

• There is a strong preference for neighborhood preschool and limited demand for a centralized preschool. Lincoln’s building capacity is between 374-425 students depending on the capacity formula you use. There are currently 180 preschool students in neighborhood preschools around the district, and there was no waitlist for any of these preschool programs in the 2025-2026 school year, including the full-day preschool at Taft.  Most of the current students are AM-only or PM-only, so there are less than 180 total preschool students in a building at any time. The district has offered no explanation for where the additional 100-200 students needed to achieve a reasonable utilization rate would come from. In 2024-2025, the primary preschool populations are currently at Hayes (60 students) and Harrison (41 students), so shifting preschool to Lincoln will be the furthest distance from current locations.  Residents spoke up about the particularly damaging impact this will have on lower-income residents who may not have reliable transportation to make this commute.

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