Columbus City Schools to close one of their buildings

by Wali Warsame 

Trending Editor 

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Course. 

Columbus City School officials will soon decide which school building will be closed. Photo by Rodin Eckenroth for Getty Images

In late Dec. 2023, the Columbus City Schools (CCS) board held a meeting at the Marion-Franklin High School to discuss the closing of one of their buildings. The superintendent, Angela Chapman, said that the district will need to assess the school buildings in the school district. A task force of students, parents, community organizations, and more will assemble to decide which of the 113 buildings shall close in Aug. 2025. 

“Over half of our buildings are over 50 years or older, are considered legacy buildings and have not been through major renovations,” Chapman stated during the meeting. 

Although major renovations haven’t been made, in 2016, Issue 51 launched “Operation: Fix It” – a five year plan to make upgrades to the district's legacy buildings built in the 1960s. Funds totaling $125 million were used on these buildings for roofing, HVAC, security and electric system, plumbing, and more.

The South-Carolina based company, Sightlines LLC, was assigned to assess the conditions of these school buildings to determine which need upgrading. Nana Watson, President of the Columbus NAACP, shares her disagreement with the decision of hiring an out-of-state firm that does not have people of color nor minorities in a leadership role. 

“It shows this community that the Board of Education has no thought about tax payer dollars [...] They think it is okay to engage with a company in South Carolina to the tune of half a million dollars. It’s disgusting,” Watson said. 

Chapman responded by stating that the board has a process of consulting with team members and conducting research in order to determine which firm to hire. 

Hilliard City Schools (HCS) has relatively newer buildings in comparison to CCS buildings. While CCS buildings are more widespread, HCS is located on the outskirts of central Columbus. With buildings such as Bradley opening to students in late 2009, HSC seats only a third of the number of students CCS schools do, according to niche.com.

When discussing this topic with a current Bradley senior, Siman Musse, who shared that attending a school with a smaller size of students in comparison to CCS schools doesn’t make her feel “overwhelmed.” However, she would find it interesting attending a school with a larger student population, as it would give her a chance to meet more students during her high school experience. 

“I think [attending a CCS building within central Columbus] would be a new experience I’d enjoy as long as it didn’t leave me overwhelmed as most student dense schools tend to do,” Musse stated.

The closing of a CCS legacy building leaves the question of what the future of CCS may look like and whether newer buildings, such as Bradley, will appear in CCS. The CCS board as well as the assembled task force are currently working on improving the academic environment of their students as the semester progresses.