Lakewood Observer: "Message From Meghan George: Recommendation To Close Lincoln Elementary School Lacks Justification And Community Support"

This article appeared in the Lakewood Observer on October 9.

October 9, 2025

by Meghan George

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. At the time, I felt hopeful for the process because important work was being done by the Elementary Planning Task Force and community members were actively voicing their opinions. The Task Force was asking difficult questions, applying a critical lens to the data, and working in earnest to listen to the people of Lakewood to understand their priorities. I would like to thank those who volunteered their time to be part of the Task Force.

Unfortunately, the work of that group was recently halted by Lakewood City Schools. The reason given is that objections were made which alleged that the Board of Education had violated Ohio’s public meetings laws by including all Board members on the Task Force. Rather than righting the ship and aligning the Task Force with sunshine laws moving forward, the district instead dumped the Task Force completely and ignored all of the analysis and input that group had provided the district for over a year. This eroded the hard work and trust of so many individuals on the task force and in the larger community.

If we are going to make a fundamental choice for the future of Lakewood’s children, shouldn’t we commit to doing it the right way? If the Task Force was so important, why simply kick that group to the curb so quickly and ignore the themes that were emerging from that group? These are some of the many important questions that people want and need answered by the Lakewood Board of Education before they move forward with any decisions.

Now, the School Board has placed the responsibility of making a recommendation regarding the future of Lakewood’s children in the hands of a single, unelected school employee. With the work of the Task Force and other community voices now sidelined, that official, the Superintendent, has recommended to the School Board to repurpose/close Lincoln Elementary School. If the Board acquiesces to this, it would mark the death knell of Lakewood’s walkable, neighborhood-based model of elementary education that has served us so well for over 100 years.

Other fundamental changes were also recommended on Monday, including centralizing preschool at Lincoln (another move against a walkable neighborhood model) and moving the CHAMPS, RISE and gifted self-contained classrooms elsewhere in the district. According to the district’s own consultants, FutureThink, the repurposing of Lincoln Elementary “makes the imbalance of enrollment between schools worse and it doesn’t smooth out the boundaries along the major thoroughfares.” Additionally, nearly every school boundary would need to be changed and the maximum walking distance would increase to 26.5 minutes.

The Board of Education cannot simply be a rubber stamp for the recommendation of single school official. While watching the recording of Monday’s school board meeting, I was heartened that some members of the Board were asking important questions and appeared concerned over the lack of a data-based rationale to justify such a radical recommendation.

After publishing my article six months ago, I was overwhelmed by the number of residents who reached out with similar thoughts and concerns. I have never heard such passion from Lakewood and it became more clear than ever that we as a community still cherish and prioritize our tradition of neighborhood-based education. It was also clear that people are willing to fight for that model, and if asked they would support it again financially. Some who reached out to me were shocked that this is all happening before a future levy is even considered.

This all leads me to ask more questions: Who is begging for a school closure within the Lakewood community? How will all of these changes be funded? What is the impact on moving these special education services to other schools? What’s the strategic plan moving forward? And why now? It seems that the main voices calling for this move are the Superintendent and Treasurer of Lakewood Schools, and not the parents and the people of Lakewood. It is those community voices and priorities that must dictate the future of our schools – the people of Lakewood should set the strategic direction of our schools, and the school administration must carry it out.

Recent data on enrollment from the Lakewood City Schools shows that our elementary school enrollment has stabilized following COVID and has been flat for five years. The downward trend in enrollment that we saw before was in fact clearly predicted well over a decade ago during the 50 Year Committee plan process. At that time, Lakewood voters made an informed choice to double down on our neighborhood model and invest hundreds of millions in capital dollars to rebuild our schools.

We knew this enrollment decline was coming, and Lakewood still chose to stay true to our neighborhood model. We already made the difficult choices to close three schools (Madison, McKinley, and Taft) over ten years ago. During that process the community determined that the current footprint was right for Lakewood given our geography and the priority we place on being a walkable school district. To date, the district has provided no reasonable, legitimate rationale for changing course after that hard work was done.

We all are aware of the ongoing attacks on public education from the state legislature and federal government. But what I also know more strongly than ever is that the people of Lakewood are committed to our children and that we will not let what is happening in Columbus or Washington dictate the quality of education we provide to our next generation. A community that is focused on managing decline and willing to abandon its shared priorities and values is doomed to failure. Lakewood has a tradition of embracing a hopeful future, and we must do so again in this instance.

I will close by echoing what I wrote six months ago, because this much has not changed – the Lakewood Board of Education must take the long view when it comes to our school buildings and resources. The process that has unfolded recently was rushed and unprofessional and it has sidelined the community’s voice. Closing neighborhood schools should be taken off the table unless and until there are no other options, and we have not seen a legitimate justification for what is being proposed to the School Board. We still owe it to the children of Lakewood – now and for generations to come – to keep our walkable, neighborhood school model intact and thriving.

Meghan George is an LHS graduate, former Lakewood City Academy school board member, mom to a Lincoln elementary preschooler, and current Mayor and Safety Director of Lakewood.

Read the article on LakewoodObserver.com.

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