Eastmoor and Marion-Franklin on endangered list

[RollingTrain]

The latest round of Columbus Public Schools being clueless, it appears Eastmoor and Marion-Franklin could be on the closure list. I have a hard time seeing either community going for this. Eastmoor would transfer to East and MF to Columbus South.

 

[ogealbhain]

The latest round of Columbus Public Schools being clueless, it appears Eastmoor and Marion-Franklin could be on the closure list. I have a hard time seeing either community going for this. Eastmoor would transfer to East and MF to Columbus South.

Does either community have a say?

 

[The Dock]

MF has been long speculated to be the next high school to go. It’s a tough situation because the south side has a more congealed, dedicated effort behind the backing of MFHS compared to the east side (any of WR, Indy, East… maybe even EA) but MF’s building has been in dire straits.

I’m curious (fearful) of how the actual logistics of merging MF into South will look down the line for the kids. Some of the areas close to South are close-ish to East. It’s hard to imagine in some regards whether the new South HS being the corridor of Lockbourne Rd neighborhoods will be a good or a bad thing.

I think at the end of the day this district has made some silly, misguided mistakes by trying to make these “prep” concept grade schools a thing. I don’t see how these schools were even going to be worthwhile, because the district’s calling card for that grade level were already in schools that existed before CCS stupidly got into this craze of “let’s slap chic names and uniform policies onto a school that doesn’t provide a product materially better than the neighborhood elementary schools we are responsible for.”

 

[The Dock]

at the same time… this district also has a bad habit over the years of kowtowing to random “community leaders” that look at general needs, like facilities, in the furthest extreme of “nice to have = must have” that bring the district largesse in the form of a new massive East High School and an Africentric campus with a 94’ foot court. Like you can make a new East HS without the bells and whistles & get Africentric out of Mohawk MS and it’s 72’ gym with something more realistic to fit the need… but nah these fellas did too much and are running into issues of why they both don’t have paper and still lose kids. At the same time the best academic high school in the district (Cols. Alternative) is in crack den condition the entirety of this rebuilding saga.

If you want a materialized example of why these things proved to be fruitless: after all these are done to keep kids in CCS, ya? Well, whoops, Wexner family bankrolled a new school with far better facilities and far better reputation than East and A-High on the same side of town, and its board has higher-profile people locally on it than a preacher with the same politics. So CCS loses money, loses the kids they want to keep and in the process also loses the people with clout that they would’ve preferred to put their reputation to the statement “Columbus City Schools is where your kids should go, residents.”

 

[RollingTrain]

I honestly can’t believe tax payers passed the last levy. This district just does stupid over and over again. The millions that they used to sink into buildings the last time around is absurd. And now another go around? They can’t get out of their own way.

 

[CoachCatBWHS]

The latest round of Columbus Public Schools being clueless, it appears Eastmoor and Marion-Franklin could be on the closure list. I have a hard time seeing either community going for this. Eastmoor would transfer to East and MF to Columbus South.

Eastmoor would not be closing, but being moved into the current building that holds East HS. East would actually be the one closing, and those students redistributed to their nearest neighborhood schools. Eastmoor is a lottery school.

Marion Franklin would be moved and combined with South HS. The existing building Marion Franklin resides in would become a junior high. South would go back to being 9-12, and their 7th and 8th grade moved to Marion Franklin.

 

[CoachCatBWHS]

Eastmoor would not be closing, but being moved into the current building that holds East HS. East would actually be the one closing, and those students redistributed to their nearest neighborhood schools. Eastmoor is a lottery school.

Marion Franklin would be moved and combined with South HS. The existing building Marion Franklin resides in would become a junior high. South would go back to being 9-12, and their 7th and 8th grade moved to Marion Franklin.

The South Franklin Blue Devils / Devil Dawgs would be a pretty good football team.

 

[27 years and counting]

Eastmoor would not be closing, but being moved into the current building that holds East HS. East would actually be the one closing, and those students redistributed to their nearest neighborhood schools. Eastmoor is a lottery school.

Marion Franklin would be moved and combined with South HS. The existing building Marion Franklin resides in would become a junior high. South would go back to being 9-12, and their 7th and 8th grade moved to Marion Franklin.

Scenario 5

• Eastmoor Academy moves to East High School and redistricts, leaving a middle school at Eastmoor;
• Johnson Park and Sherwood middle schools consolidate with Eastmoor campus and those buildings would close;
• Broadleigh Elementary School would consolidate with area schools and close.

 

[Zunardo]

Marion Franklin would be moved and combined with South HS. The existing building Marion Franklin resides in would become a junior high. South would go back to being 9-12, and their 7th and 8th grade moved to Marion Franklin.

Thought I remembered that this exact scenario already decided 4 or 5 years ago? Around the time M-F was moved to a lower division when it came out their actual student population was actually half of what CCS was reporting?

Or was that just the proposal, and they're only getting around to implementation now? Kinda thought the levy passing last year would've spared Marion-Franklin for a while. Will feel weird being in the south end without them.

 

[The Dock]

This saga has taken a bizarre and deeply embarrassing turn. The Columbus Dispatch has an article today about it, however it is paywalled. I’ll try to give the long and short of it, but goodness this is a doozy…

Apparently, an internal memo circulated among the Columbus BOE about a plan to basically ratf-ck the teachers’ union at upcoming community forums over the school closures. There is a specific board member that this is allegedly tied to. The document has been leaked, it got to the Columbus Education Association (the teachers’ union) and now it is public.

Among the ideas floated in the memo,

• Leverage racial dynamics within the community forum to bolster the positions of the Board, accrue support for the Buildings Task Force’s recommendations while undermining the opposition present at the forum.

• “Drive a wedge between CEA and CSEA [the latter is the union for the district’s support staff] at meetings”, including the preference and persuasion to have CSEA members stack the public comment allotment for the community forum with complaints against teachers in their building. Additional mechanisms include preferential seating and communication with the CSEA for the upcoming forum, as well as printing t-shirts for CSEA members that read “I live in the Columbus City School district, ‘how bout you?” — with the intent that the CSEA wears said shirts en masse at the upcoming forum.

• Feel out media outlets for who may be inclined to lend the board more charitable coverage on the matter, and prioritize their seating, camera positioning and interview access. Identify and chronicle outlets who are friendly to the board, versus those who may be critical of the board.

• Rearrange agenda items to exclusively talk about “good news”, even if it means talking about ‘bad news’ instead at later meetings.

• If the teachers’ union approaches the board to discuss the Buildings Closure Plan, agree to do so. Change the location at the last minute. “Let them settle into the Board Assembly room. Make them wait 10 minutes. Then move them into the cabinet room.”

There’s a bunch of other things in the memo that are damning, such as the recommendation to bring powered mechanical equipment on site for the next CEA congregation on district property and utilize it if they begin to talk to the press in the aftermath of a meeting with the Board. Above all else, this is a big black eye for the district’s leadership and a PR nightmare that will beleauger the district deeply for a long time in a saga that’s going to culminate in “who loses the least?”

 

[devilbuck98]

The South Franklin Blue Devils / Devil Dawgs would be a pretty good football team.

I might put in a vote for Bull Devils......

 

[The Dock]

This saga has taken a bizarre and deeply embarrassing turn. The Columbus Dispatch has an article today about it, however it is paywalled. I’ll try to give the long and short of it, but goodness this is a doozy…

Apparently, an internal memo circulated among the Columbus BOE about a plan to basically ratf-ck the teachers’ union at upcoming community forums over the school closures. There is a specific board member that this is allegedly tied to. The document has been leaked, it got to the Columbus Education Association (the teachers’ union) and now it is public.

Among the ideas floated in the memo,

• Leverage racial dynamics within the community forum to bolster the positions of the Board, accrue support for the Buildings Task Force’s recommendations while undermining the opposition present at the forum.

• “Drive a wedge between CEA and CSEA [the latter is the union for the district’s support staff] at meetings”, including the preference and persuasion to have CSEA members stack the public comment allotment for the community forum with complaints against teachers in their building. Additional mechanisms include preferential seating and communication with the CSEA for the upcoming forum, as well as printing t-shirts for CSEA members that read “I live in the Columbus City School district, ‘how bout you?” — with the intent that the CSEA wears said shirts en masse at the upcoming forum.

• Feel out media outlets for who may be inclined to lend the board more charitable coverage on the matter, and prioritize their seating, camera positioning and interview access. Identify and chronicle outlets who are friendly to the board, versus those who may be critical of the board.

• Rearrange agenda items to exclusively talk about “good news”, even if it means talking about ‘bad news’ instead at later meetings.

• If the teachers’ union approaches the board to discuss the Buildings Closure Plan, agree to do so. Change the location at the last minute. “Let them settle into the Board Assembly room. Make them wait 10 minutes. Then move them into the cabinet room.”

There’s a bunch of other things in the memo that are damning, such as the recommendation to bring powered mechanical equipment on site for the next CEA congregation on district property and utilize it if they begin to talk to the press in the aftermath of a meeting with the Board. Above all else, this is a big black eye for the district’s leadership and a PR nightmare that will beleauger the district deeply for a long time in a saga that’s going to culminate in “who loses the least?”

Here’s an article from WOSU published in the last hour on this: https://www.wosu.org/news/2024-05-2...s-resignation-after-document-leaked?_amp=true

The article confirms something I didn’t mention, but privately thought was the case: this dude on the BOE went to damn Kinkos to print out, single-sided, a damn conspiracy. Passed it out! Someone on the Board gets it, reads it and is like “oh hell nah, I’m not interested in spending any time in a courthouse. Here ya go, Teachers Union, help us throw this fool out the boat!”

 

[RollingTrain]

listen, I wouldn’t trust either side in the debacle (or in a lot of districts) and is yet further proof that it was absolutely baffling that voters passed a levy. I wonder how many voters are on tax abatements that gave a “yes” vote?

 

[The Dock]

listen, I wouldn’t trust either side in the debacle (or in a lot of districts) and is yet further proof that it was absolutely baffling that voters passed a levy. I wonder how many voters are on tax abatements that gave a “yes” vote?

It’s hard to say.

My gut reaction was that the highest volume of ‘yes’ votes within an area of generally low abatement prevalence was Clintonville. This map below doesn’t have gradients, but I can look at the precinct spreadsheet as best as I can.

It looks like that splotch of “yes” above Berwick is the portion of Eastmoor that is South of Main. The ritzier, higher-value portion of Eastmoor north of Main appears to have voted no.

There’s no doubt that a big concentration of “yes” voters on abatement are in that chunk around the Discovery District, Olde Town East, Vic Village and East Franklinton. I think German Village is your next high-volume pocket of “well-intentioned rich libs and DINKs pressing ‘yes’ as hard as they can” after Clintonville.

I don’t know what the abatement numbers and turnout is in Easthaven and Blacklick Estates (south of 70, north of 33) but I’m not surprised voters in complexes vote ‘yeah.’ That patch of ‘yes’ up by OSU Airport, I dunno what’s going on there. https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/columns/2023/12/04/columbus-city-schools-levy-what-next-district/71494635007/

 

[ogealbhain]

This saga has taken a bizarre and deeply embarrassing turn. The Columbus Dispatch has an article today about it, however it is paywalled. I’ll try to give the long and short of it, but goodness this is a doozy…

Apparently, an internal memo circulated among the Columbus BOE about a plan to basically ratf-ck the teachers’ union at upcoming community forums over the school closures. There is a specific board member that this is allegedly tied to. The document has been leaked, it got to the Columbus Education Association (the teachers’ union) and now it is public.

Among the ideas floated in the memo,

• Leverage racial dynamics within the community forum to bolster the positions of the Board, accrue support for the Buildings Task Force’s recommendations while undermining the opposition present at the forum.

• “Drive a wedge between CEA and CSEA [the latter is the union for the district’s support staff] at meetings”, including the preference and persuasion to have CSEA members stack the public comment allotment for the community forum with complaints against teachers in their building. Additional mechanisms include preferential seating and communication with the CSEA for the upcoming forum, as well as printing t-shirts for CSEA members that read “I live in the Columbus City School district, ‘how bout you?” — with the intent that the CSEA wears said shirts en masse at the upcoming forum.

• Feel out media outlets for who may be inclined to lend the board more charitable coverage on the matter, and prioritize their seating, camera positioning and interview access. Identify and chronicle outlets who are friendly to the board, versus those who may be critical of the board.

• Rearrange agenda items to exclusively talk about “good news”, even if it means talking about ‘bad news’ instead at later meetings.

• If the teachers’ union approaches the board to discuss the Buildings Closure Plan, agree to do so. Change the location at the last minute. “Let them settle into the Board Assembly room. Make them wait 10 minutes. Then move them into the cabinet room.”

There’s a bunch of other things in the memo that are damning, such as the recommendation to bring powered mechanical equipment on site for the next CEA congregation on district property and utilize it if they begin to talk to the press in the aftermath of a meeting with the Board. Above all else, this is a big black eye for the district’s leadership and a PR nightmare that will beleauger the district deeply for a long time in a saga that’s going to culminate in “who loses the least?”

 

[playboi12]

It’s hard to say.

My gut reaction was that the highest volume of ‘yes’ votes within an area of generally low abatement prevalence was Clintonville. This map below doesn’t have gradients, but I can look at the precinct spreadsheet as best as I can.

It looks like that splotch of “yes” above Berwick is the portion of Eastmoor that is South of Main. The ritzier, higher-value portion of Eastmoor north of Main appears to have voted no.

There’s no doubt that a big concentration of “yes” voters on abatement are in that chunk around the Discovery District, Olde Town East, Vic Village and East Franklinton. I think German Village is your next high-volume pocket of “well-intentioned rich libs and DINKs pressing ‘yes’ as hard as they can” after Clintonville.

I don’t know what the abatement numbers and turnout is in Easthaven and Blacklick Estates (south of 70, north of 33) but I’m not surprised voters in complexes vote ‘yeah.’ That patch of ‘yes’ up by OSU Airport, I dunno what’s going on there. https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/columns/2023/12/04/columbus-city-schools-levy-what-next-district/71494635007/

If someone can educate me really quick. It appears that some of these precincts are also in other school districts? Is that the case?

 

[The Dock]

If someone can educate me really quick. It appears that some of these precincts are also in other school districts? Is that the case?

it is indeed the case that portions of Columbus are actually in suburban districts, (~212k total votes cast in the barely contested Mayors’ Race vs the ~150k cast on Issue 11) but the map itself does (as far as I can tell) not incorporate the portions of Columbus proper that are serviced by other districts and thereby cannot vote on Issue 11. Such as that white area north of 33 & east of 270 on the southeast side. Ironically that area is closer to Independence HS than the light blue around it lol

 

[The Dock]

So, the Facilities Task Force (which has the Board and other “community partners”) had planned forums with the public to be held today and tomorrow — those got postponed last night “due to recent events with the Columbus Board of Education.”

The Board President at the BOE meeting said that the member in question did it on his own accord and what was written doesn’t reflect the views of the Board. Meanwhile, the dude who wrote it (mind you he is a 22 year old, which is an apt metaphor as to how the district is where it is) decided to get in front of the cameras (instead of keeping his mouth shut) and made the remark that “the reason why you saw the document is because another board member (who he called out by name) was given it, and she shared it with the teachers’ union.”

He said that other people helped in writing it; but it’s reasonable to presume that the Board member who he called out for sharing it with the teachers’ union (who specifically campaigned on “let’s have a better relationship with the teachers’ union”) is not one of the collaborators behind the document.

— — —

So, the Board Member he called out as the leaker is, uh, pretty popular with the white libs in Clintonville, Beechwold and GV as well as generally popular to the teachers’ union. Who is also on the same term cycle as him, too.

I don’t really know what sort of thinking goes into “let’s prop and give preference to the lesser School Employees Union, so that they can help us beat the teachers’ union that is giving us a hard time on how we’re doing our business… and let’s use the race factor as a cudgel to put us over the goal line” and god knows the thinking that goes into publishing it into print (I get that he’s 22 lol.) I’m also not sure what goes into saying on camera “yeah that memo said what it said, and that white lady is to blame for you knowing about its existence” or for that matter anything on camera that isn’t “I’m ashamed and I’m resigning.”

Because… the only people who are guaranteed to get hurt in the end regardless of whatever shakes out, however it does, is your own people. And that before all of this extra BS came, before the idea got concocted; before you’re throwing hand grenades across the Board in front of the TV Stations. It’s not as if there was a chance you can lessen the blow on your people at some general expense of other people (you can’t spread it evenly, and it wasn’t even in the recommendations where it was possible.) If ya’ angry, you’re angry; if ya’ mad, you’re mad. It’s OK to feel what you feel, but you’re called to be responsible by the people who put you there. To be a responsible steward for their school district. And the only thing that came out is the District is mired in even more needless controversy, where the trouble trickles down to your neighbors in the end.

…oh, and if it isn’t clear, the way things are looking now this timeline to close schools (or at least close them in the most fair manner) by ‘24-25 isn’t looking great and this dude is going to be on the board by the time the teachers’ union contract expires. It’s gonna be a cruel Summer, and a rough next couple of years for the Big Red Apple

 

[ogealbhain]

So, the Facilities Task Force (which has the Board and other “community partners”) had planned forums with the public to be held today and tomorrow — those got postponed last night “due to recent events with the Columbus Board of Education.”

The Board President at the BOE meeting said that the member in question did it on his own accord and what was written doesn’t reflect the views of the Board. Meanwhile, the dude who wrote it (mind you he is a 22 year old, which is an apt metaphor as to how the district is where it is) decided to get in front of the cameras (instead of keeping his mouth shut) and made the remark that “the reason why you saw the document is because another board member (who he called out by name) was given it, and she shared it with the teachers’ union.”

He said that other people helped in writing it; but it’s reasonable to presume that the Board member who he called out for sharing it with the teachers’ union (who specifically campaigned on “let’s have a better relationship with the teachers’ union”) is not one of the collaborators behind the document.

— — —

So, the Board Member he called out as the leaker is, uh, pretty popular with the white libs in Clintonville, Beechwold and GV as well as generally popular to the teachers’ union. Who is also on the same term cycle as him, too.

I don’t really know what sort of thinking goes into “let’s prop and give preference to the lesser School Employees Union, so that they can help us beat the teachers’ union that is giving us a hard time on how we’re doing our business… and let’s use the race factor as a cudgel to put us over the goal line” and god knows the thinking that goes into publishing it into print (I get that he’s 22 lol.) I’m also not sure what goes into saying on camera “yeah that memo said what it said, and that white lady is to blame for you knowing about its existence” or for that matter anything on camera that isn’t “I’m ashamed and I’m resigning.”

Because… the only people who are guaranteed to get hurt in the end regardless of whatever shakes out, however it does, is your own people. And that before all of this extra BS came, before the idea got concocted; before you’re throwing hand grenades across the Board in front of the TV Stations. It’s not as if there was a chance you can lessen the blow on your people at some general expense of other people (you can’t spread it evenly, and it wasn’t even in the recommendations where it was possible.) If ya’ angry, you’re angry; if ya’ mad, you’re mad. It’s OK to feel what you feel, but you’re called to be responsible by the people who put you there. To be a responsible steward for their school district. And the only thing that came out is the District is mired in even more needless controversy, where the trouble trickles down to your neighbors in the end.

…oh, and if it isn’t clear, the way things are looking now this timeline to close schools (or at least close them in the most fair manner) by ‘24-25 isn’t looking great and this dude is going to be on the board by the time the teachers’ union contract expires. It’s gonna be a cruel Summer, and a rough next couple of years for the Big Red Apple

Befitting of the dumpster fire that it is.

 

[aztecjim]

My question is-Does Columbus have too many high schools to begin with?

 

[The Insider]

My question is-Does Columbus have too many high schools to begin with?

Yes

 

[CoachCatBWHS]

Yes

My question is-Does Columbus have too many high schools to begin with?

100%

 

[TCSoup]

And to many Teachers , Principles, and over paid Administrators who no matter how many schools they close won't lose their jobs.

 

[carnholio]

Someone’s about to get a big fat red “F” in the state sunshine laws.