Columbus City Schools students at North Linden Elementary were welcomed to school Wednesday on what could be one of the last school starts for the building in the state's largest district.
Students trickled in on foot, by bus and by car Wednesday morning for the first day of classes for most students in the district, including at the North Linden school that is among nine CCS school buildings proposed for closure.
Aissata Kome, 31, said this was her fifth grade student's first year in CCS and at North Linden. She said she had seen good reviews of the school online before enrolling her daughter.
"So, yeah, that's going to be hard on them, especially when the students have to go to a different school, and then they're not going to be with their schoolmates anymore," Kome said.
In June, the Superintendent's Facilities Task Force recommended at a Columbus City school board meeting that the board consider closing six elementary schools, two middle schools and a high school building in the state's largest district. That's 11 schools fewer than what the the task force presented in May, where up to 20 school buildings could have been closed under nine initial scenarios .
More: Columbus school closings: Neighbors fear blight as district mulls shuttering buildings
Superintendent Angela Chapman said she hopes parents and families at the nine schools can focus on having a great academic year, regardless of whether their school may be closed in years to come.
Chapman: Families should focus on 'having a great year'
While the superintendent and task force's work is completed, the school board will have to weigh whether to close the buildings and promised in June to further engage the community, The Dispatch previously reported. Board President Christina Vera said earlier this month the public can expect an update on school closings at the second meeting of every month.
Chapman said she doesn't want parents and students to worry this school year as buildings will remain unaffected while discussions remain ongoing.
"I don't want them to worry right now. I just want them to stay focused on instruction and stay focused on having a great school year," Chapman said. "Certainly we'll make sure that our community is involved and engaged when those conversations resume."
Regardless, she said, the needs of the district with a bloated real estate profile aren't changing in the meantime, and the challenges aren't going anywhere.
"The fact that we still have aging buildings that should be taken offline; that has not changed," Chapman said. "Our buildings are not going to get younger — they're going to continue to get older."
District has 'enough drivers to cover all of the routes' this year
Chapman said Tuesday she was confident the district was prepared for busing thousands of CCS students and around 8,000 charter and nonpublic students (which is required by law).
"We certainly made some system improvements over the summer, and we have enough drivers to cover all of the routes that we have this year, so we're in a really good place to provide the services for our Columbus City School students, as well as our charter nonprofits," Chapman said.
Earlier this month, district administrators warned about the possibility of late buses and that the district was only at 74% of its target goal of drivers, but expected to have enough drivers to fill all of its routes, The Dispatch previously reported .
The district also had its greatest bus driver recruitment in over five years, recruiting nearly 100 drivers over the summer.
The nationwide bus driver shortage remains a persistent issue for districts across the country, and according to a November 2023 study by the Economic Policy Institute , there has been a 13.6% decline in state and local government school bus drivers since 2019.
Chapman looking forward to smiling faces on first day
Chapman said she hopes students across the district have a great first day of school and believes that many students will be excited when they come to school and see improvements across the district, including new playgrounds and furniture .
"I think the most exciting part of school is when the students first meet their bus driver, when the students first arrive at the school, and they meet their new teacher, and they meet new friends," Chapman said. "It's those relationships that I think about on the first day of school — the opportunity to reconnect with some familiar faces and meet new faces."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus City Schools' first day: Parent's perspective from a school proposed for closure
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