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Lakewood Residents Deserve Clarity And Honesty On School Funding From Lakewood City Schools

This article was originally published in the Lakewood Observer on June 18, 2025.

by Jennifer Schlosser


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.


The state budget bill won’t be finalized until Governor DeWine signs it on or by June 30. But the current version of the state budget bill – passed by the Senate on June 11includes an increase in state funding for Lakewood City Schools. Currently, our school district would receive $17,270,639 each year in 2026 and 2027 – $426,431 more than Lakewood received each year in 2024 and 2025.


Recently, Lakewood City Schools released messaging in a Cleveland.com article regarding the impacts of the house version of the budget bill on Lakewood’s schools. We appreciate school officials raising public awareness to how state policy will impact Lakewood. Unfortunately, this piece is significantly misleading.


The manner in which Treasurer Zeman and Superintendent Niedzwiecki chose to present this topic, we believe, does a disservice to Lakewood.


The reader is spun up with misleading and dramatic numbers, then lulled into a non-sequitur rationalization of the Elementary Planning Task Force “repurposing” an elementary school into a centralized preschool building. The superintendent caps off the misleading presentation of state policy to imply that $14 million in biennial budget cuts could mean “more than repurposing” an elementary school is necessary.


We take particular issue with this misleading statement by Superintendent Niedzwiecki in light of how little the administration and School Board have done to address the fiscal issues implied by this statement. Three items for readers’ consideration:


First, the way Ms. Niedzwiecki is using the $14 million figure is a mischaracterization of the actual policy. Second, Mr. Zeman is projecting that Lakewood will be running annual losses to the tune of $8,714,531 per year by 2027 growing to $16,393,785 by 2029 prior to any of these state budget changes.


So the 30% cap would increase these annual losses to over $23,000,000 by 2029. Yet, the only potential cost reductions considered by the administration and School Board over the past two years is to “repurpose” a newly built elementary school.


If the administration’s data is taken at face value, the estimated ~$750,000 in annual operating savings from closing an elementary school would amount to about 3% of the operating deficit Mr. Zeman is projecting for 2029. In other words, closing a school is a drop in the bucket compared to the deficit Lakewood would need to address, and would make little difference in the size of levy needed in 2026.


As far as we are aware, the administration and school board have spent zero time assessing ways to grow enrollment or otherwise boost funds to the school district outside of taxpayer levies. (For example, offering the opportunity for students living outside of Lakewood to attend Lakewood City Schools by paying tuition could provide a new source of revenue and bring additional students to the school district. Or, transitioning the management of Lakewood’s recreation department to the City of Lakewood, opening up additional funds for Pre-K to 12 education.)


Third, the administration and task force have presented zero information showing the business plan or costs for building and operating the centralized preschool that would replace the elementary school. It is an affront to the term “fiscal responsibility” for the administration and school board to use this phrase to describe any aspect of the Elementary Planning Task Force process.


We urge Lakewood’s school board members and district leadership to prioritize proactive transparency and honesty with our community, and make a plan to restore trust with Lakewood’s community moving forward. Lakewood’s future – and our children’s futures – depend on it.


Preserve Lakewood Schools is a coalition of parents, residents, and leaders in Lakewood committed to preventing the closure/repurposing of elementary schools by Lakewood City Schools, and supporting the long-term vitality of Lakewood’s public schools. Learn more at PreserveLakewoodSchools.org.


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