Columbus City Schools, formerly known as Columbus Public Schools, is the official school district for the city of Columbus, Ohio, and serves most of the city (portions of the city are served by suburban school districts). The district has 46,686 students enrolled, making it the largest school district in the state of Ohio as of June 2021. At its peak during the 1971 school year the district served 110,725 students.
The first school built in the area which is now part of Columbus was a log cabin school-house built in Franklinton, in 1806. It was not until 1845 that the state of Ohio Legislature entrusted the management of Columbus schools to a Board of Education. Two years later the school board elected Dr. Asa Lord as the district's first superintendent. Dr. Gene T. Harris served as the 19th superintendent of Columbus City Schools and was succeeded by Dr. Dan Good. For most of its history, the district has been referred to as "Columbus Public Schools". In August 2007, the district decided to begin using its official name of "Columbus City Schools."
1977 desegregation
Although technically the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case made segregation in schools illegal, some schools were still segregated by the neighborhoods they served. In March 1977 Federal District Court Judge Robert M. Duncan ruled in Penick v. Columbus Board of Education that the school boundary methods used by Columbus Public Schools promoted segregation by sending black students to predominantly black schools and white students to predominantly white schools. The result was desegregation busing to desegregate all schools in the Columbus Public School district.
Before the 1978-1979 school year the Columbus Public School district petitioned Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist for a stay on the forced busing, and the petition was granted. However, in April 1979 the Supreme Court made their decision and upheld the original Duncan decision.
Before this landmark decision was handed down, the district had a peak of 110,725 students enrolled in 1971 and operated 20 high schools. Many parents moved their children out of the Columbus district to the suburbs to avoid the desegregation. As a result, district enrollment significantly declined, forcing two high schools, Central High School (In 1982) and North High School (In 1979) to be closed, as well as several elementary and middle schools.
School enrollment
Asa Dearborn Lord, first superintendent
Enrollment figures in the school district have significantly increased in the past and recently decreased. Following is a list of school enrollments over the years.
District Enrollment
Year
Enrollment
1920
32,442
1947
40,000 (estimate)
1962
93,000 (estimate)
1971
110,725 (all-time peak)
1976
95,571
1980
72,698
1995
62,812
1996
63,610
2007
55,235
2012
50,784
2019
48,982
2023
46,345
Board of education
There are seven members on the Board of Education. Current members are listed below:
Ecole Kenwood French Immersion School at Kenwood Elementary School
Indianola Informal K-8
Starling PreK-8 School (merger of Dana Elementary and Starling Middle in 2013). Starling Middle School once occupied the original West High School building, at 120 S. Central Avenue.
Calumet School - closed as a Columbus City School, however is now a private Christian school
Central High School (1924-1982) - Current site of COSI. The original Central High School was built in 1862 and located at 303 East Broad Street. It was the first school in Columbus built specifically only as a high school. Its name was changed in 1911 to the High School of Commerce. It closed as a school in 1924, but was used for office space until 1928 when it was demolished.
Everett Middle School - Dennison and Fourth, starting in 1924. It was the original North High School before that. Thereafter, it was home to Arts Impact Middle School for 17 years before Columbus Gifted Academy took over.
Franklin Alternative Middle School. 1390 Franklin (now Bryden) Road. Formerly Franklin Junior High School, starting in 1923. It was the original East High School before that.
Franklinton Elementary School - Built in 1888 at 666 West Broad Street. It was built on the site of the old Franklin County Courthouse, which had been built in 1809. It was demolished in 1959 to make way for the freeway.
Gladstone School
Glenmont School
Hamilton School
Hudson Elementary School
Indianola Junior High School, later known as Indianola Alternative Elementary School, and the first junior high school in the US.
The Ohio Department of Education adopted a new 5-star rating system for the 21-22 Ohio School Report Card system. After a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts received scores for the first time since the 2018-2019 school year. Although Columbus City Schools' "Graduation" ("the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate and the five-year adjusted cohort graduation rate") and "Early Literacy" ("measure of reading improvement and proficiency for students in kindergarten through third grade") were rated at 1/5 stars, the district's "Progress" ("growth all students are making based on their past performances") and "Gap Closing" ("the reduction in educational gaps for student subgroups") were rated at 3/5 stars. The district also scored 2/5 stars in "Achievement" ("whether student performance on state tests met established thresholds and how well students performed on tests overall"), with all selectable grade level data falling short of those similar districts and the state of Ohio. Looking at "Gap Closing" data, the most growth occurred in English Language Arts.
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City of Columbus, Ohio
