COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Five Columbus City School buildings and one administrative building are set to close following a vote by the Columbus City Schools Board of Education.
This year, more than $10 million has been invested in the five school buildings, despite the ongoing closure conversation. Columbus Superintendent Dr. Angela Chapman said that because CCS students and staff are in those buildings right now, the district will continue to invest in them.
Five school buildings are set to close following a vote by the board of education on Tuesday night. However, this won’t happen until at least the 2026-2027 school year.
"We're going to continue to invest in these buildings because we have our most valuable resources in these buildings our people, our students, our families, our teachers," Chapman said.
The reasons behind closing these schools include moving students to updated classrooms, closing decades-old buildings, and, eventually, saving the district money.
"It just costs more to maintain these buildings. And if the buildings are significantly underutilized, then we're really not being the best stewards of our resources when we're maintaining buildings that are significantly underutilized," Chapman said.
NBC4 Investigates wanted to know just how much it has cost to maintain the five schools set to close. Just this year, while the closure discussions were happening, a little more than $10.2 million total has gone into the five schools from January through mid-July.
Broadleigh Elementary received about $227,000 for new fire alarms and a new playground.
Moler Elementary received about $1.9 million for a new HVAC system and plumbing upgrades.
West Broad Elementary received just over $604,000 for new HVAC, roofing, playground and learning environment upgrades. Buckeye Middle School received almost $700,000 for plumbing upgrades, a new HVAC system and learning environment upgrades. Finally, Columbus Alternative High School received the highest amount: more than $7.7 million for an HVAC overhaul and roofing.
"We will not set the conditions for our students and our staff. All of these buildings are currently occupied. So, we have to continue to invest in them. If there's a problem with the roof tomorrow, we're going to fix it. If there's a problem with the HVAC system tomorrow, we're going to fix it," Chapman said.
Since 2020, $22.9 million has been invested in upkeeping these five buildings.
The district says the decision to close buildings will save them money down the road. The board was presented with the option to close 10 district buildings. They voted to close five school buildings and one administrative building.
"I definitely want our community to know that this is not the end. This is the beginning of a larger process. As our superintendent has indicated, we need to be having these conversations almost annually at this point," Columbus City Schools Board of Education President Christina Vera said.
What happens to the kids in these five schools is still being discussed. The district said it wants hyper-local community involvement so parents can give feedback on how schools will be combined.
If every recommended building closed, the district said it would save $9 million a year; the district has yet to release how much will be saved by closing the six chosen buildings.
