What’s The Board of Education’s Strategic Plan for Lakewood’s Public School District? There Is None.

Above: Video content by Alaina McCourt

Below: Written content by Jennifer Schlosser

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.  

These neighborhood elementary schools are some of our community’s most precious assets, and we as taxpayers have invested heavily in them, and will continue to invest in them for decades to come.  

For Lakewood residents who have been following this process, it remains unclear what exactly the school district is trying to accomplish.  

Is there a dire budget shortfall that can only be filled by sacrificing one of our precious neighborhood elementary schools?  No; in fact, Lakewood City Schools received an increase in state funding for the next two years in the recently signed state budget.  

Are there waitlists to get into every preschool program in or near our community, and hundreds of children unable to get a spot in preschool?  No, Lakewood is fortunate to have a thriving ecosystem of public and private preschool options conveniently located all across the city.   Lakewood City Schools posted on their social media that the pre-k program had open spots, just days before this school year started.

Is Lakewood’s population and elementary enrollment declining rapidly since Covid?  No, census data show Lakewood’s population has stabilized, and the school district’s own recent enrollment study published February 2025 shows that Lakewood City Schools’ elementary schools are nearly all operating at the highest utilization percentages, with the number of elementary students projected to potentially increase in the coming years.

The last strategic plan the school district published was in 2022.  It was a “three-year strategic plan” and expired this year.  The 2022 strategic plan made no mention of concerns about enrollment.  No mention of fiscal concerns.  No mention of a need to open a centralized preschool building.  No mention of closing one of the three newly built elementary schools.  

Over the last 12 months, we have watched as all of these topics emanated out of a parallel, non-strategic, non-public and illegal process.  The school district commissioned an enrollment study in May 2022, but for some reason the topic of enrollment and facility utilization was entirely omitted from the strategic planning process. 

Strategic planning is the foundation of a school board’s role and is required by Ohio law. Yet, the Lakewood school board refuses to do it.

The school district has spent the past two years trying to convince the public that a newly built elementary school needs to be closed, without any plan or strategy in place for the future of the district. 

They've focused on elementary capacity and enrollment alone, when their own data clearly says that middle and high school enrollment and capacity are in far worse shape than the seven elementary schools. 

They have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees and staff time, and untold amounts of community time and angst, on a process that made no sense to begin with and was abruptly halted just as it was preparing its recommendations.

Lakewood residents deserve better. The Lakewood school board owes the community a clear vision and a plan for where it is taking the school district. 

If the current school board members aren’t interested in managing our schools with a clear strategy and how to best utilize their estimated $85 million annual budget, then Lakewood, let’s step up. Election Day is on November 4.  Together, we can elect new school board members who value strategic planning and accountability to our community and to the law. Ones that know how to listen, lead, and properly manage our schools.

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