LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Lakewood families refuse to give up as they continue to advocate for the Lakewood school board to keep all seven of their neighborhood elementary schools.
News 5 reported that since 2003, Lakewood has seen a decline in enrollment by 2,400 students, which led the district to re-evaluate how it uses its seven elementary schools. This week, a task force presented four different scenarios, and three of them are repurposing one building and possibly turning it into a learning center. The fourth scenario is keeping all seven open.
RELATED: Lakewood task force recommends 4 elementary school consolidation options
"They gave us many reasons, and to be honest, the reasons keep changing, and I don't think the school district understood the parents and the community would fight back," said Lakewood Parent Monica Brewer.
And Saturday's fight involved the students for the first time. The organization Preserve Lakewood held a bike rally and parade for parents and kids to loop around Madison Park with their decorated purple and gold bikes in support of keeping the seven elementary schools.
"One thing that's been notably missing from this entire conversation is how much it's going to impact the kids. So, we wanted the kids to feel empowered, and they're here today to write what they love about their schools and try to make a difference," said Lakewood Parent Katie Solomon.
The signs and letters the kids created will be shown to the school board.
"I don't want them to shut down the school, because Lincoln is a great school," said Student Audrey Solomon.
Parents told News 5 that Lakewood is a unique community because they do not have school buses, and walking to school allows them to get to know their community. Solomon says if the district repurposes Lincoln, her kids would be forced to walk an extra mile to school through some dangerous crosswalks.
"I see cars are turning off Clifton onto the side streets that we're crossing at a very busy time of the morning, because that's when everyone's rushing to work and leaving their houses. So, safety is a big concern for us if this is approved," said Solomon.
Some Lakewood parents have started working together to figure out their own solution.
"We look through records requests, as well as our own research, to identify how we can solve this in creative ways. And we're really frustrated with the school district because we feel as though they've spent 10 months working on it, and they have not really come up with a good alternative," said Brewer.
News 5 reported Friday that Superintendent Maggie Niedzwiecki hopes to have her final recommendations to the school board by September. If the changes are approved, they can take effect as early as the 2026-2027 school year.
