This morning, CEA President John Coneglio sent the following open letter to Superintendent Dr. Angela Chapman and members of the Superintendent’s Community Facilities Task Force:
Dear Superintendent Dr. Angela Chapman, Members of the Columbus City Schools Board of Education, and members of the Superintendent’s Community Facilities Task Force;
I write this open letter today to inform you that, effective immediately, I am resigning from the Superintendent’s Community Facilities Task Force.
I accepted an appointment to this task force in good faith on behalf of 4,500 Columbus City Schools educators, with a commitment to ensuring that the physical resources of our District are prepared to meet the needs of our city’s fast-growing population. I anticipated that our discussions would include transformation and growth of our District to meet these needs. Instead, through the course of six full meetings, it has become apparent that the focus of the committee is solely on the mass closure of neighborhood schools and the further managed decline of our District.
Since February, during carefully managed task force meetings, I have learned:
- The totality of community input has consisted of a short, multiple choice, online survey which did not even have the option of providing comments.
- Members of the task force have been instructed not to submit questions for upcoming meetings.
- Data provided to the task force was incomplete and failed to account for factors such as state caseload requirements, and building use by community partners.
- There have been no discussions regarding the City of Columbus’ recently announced plan to add tens-of-thousands of new housing units within the city’s urban core.
- There have been no discussions regarding two years of increasing enrollment in Columbus City Schools, or any plans to restore trust with families who have left the District.
- There have been no discussions about the litany of research showing the disproportionate impact of school closures on disadvantaged neighborhoods and communities of color, in direct contrast to the District’s publicly stated equity goals.
The 4,500 members of the Columbus Education Association are dedicated to fighting for the schools Columbus students deserve. We support planning for a District that provides safe, properly maintained, and fully resourced buildings in every neighborhood. Having recently passed a levy with the support and assistance of our Union and community, our Board of Education now has a unique opportunity to work with the community and build the District of the future, not return to the same failed policies of the past. It has become clear to me that the current Task Force is another iteration of previous failed attempts. CEA will not support misguided attempts to shrink to success.
As always, we stand ready to work with Columbus City Schools leadership and our community to achieve the schools our students deserve.
Sincerely,
John Coneglio, CEA President