- Columbus City Schools and Columbus City Council announced a new joint committee Tuesday aimed at addressing district challenges ranging from youth safety to land use, with leaders framing it as a direct response to the district’s financial pressure.
- Columbus Education Association President John Coneglio said the union has been warned that as many as 445 teacher and staff positions could be cut as the district works to close its deficit.
- Council President Pro Tem Rob Dorans said the committee will audit every Columbus City Schools-owned parcel to identify opportunities for affordable housing development on district land.
Columbus City Schools and Columbus City Council announced a joint leadership committee Tuesday morning at a news conference held at Northland High School on the city’s North Side, formalizing a partnership between the CCS Board of Education and City Council as Ohio’s largest school district confronts a two-year budget shortfall that district officials have pegged at $100 million.
CCS Board President Antoinette Miranda, Board Vice President Sarah Ingles, Council President Shannon Hardin, and Council President Pro Tem Rob Dorans gathered at the school on Northland Drive to announce the initiative and outline its scope. The committee has no formal vote authority but is positioned to align policy and resource decisions between the two bodies before the district’s fiscal year 2027 budget takes effect July 1, 2026.
Joint Committee Targets Land Use, Youth Safety, and Community Campus Model
The partnership is built around a “community campus” model that CCS Superintendent Angela Chapman said is modeled after an initiative Cincinnati Public Schools launched 20 years ago. District and city leaders visited Cincinnati to study the approach firsthand before bringing it to Columbus.
“What we learned from them is that they have been able to garner partnerships and relationships from the community and all of the services, supports and resources that the students need are provided at the school,” Chapman said.
The committee’s potential scope spans after-school and summer programs, youth safety, housing, economic development, and the reuse of vacant school properties. Council President Pro Tem Dorans drew a direct line between district property and the city’s housing shortage. “One of the things that we need to do is link arms with our land use policies and identify ways that the city of Columbus can better support this district as they think about their built environment, their future, and think about creative ways for us to work with the district to create more affordable housing for Columbus City Schools families,” Dorans said.
Council members also announced a grant to fund a pilot program at Northland High School designed to bring additional resources to the building without increasing strain on the district’s operating budget. Northland High School, located near the intersection of Karl Road and Morse Road, serves students across the North Linden and Northland neighborhoods two areas heavily represented in the district’s enrollment.
Superintendent Chapman framed the moment as an opportunity rather than a retreat. “It’s a pivotal moment for us in Columbus City Schools and a great time for us to be stacking hands with our city council and our community to be thinking about how can we truly leverage all of the assets and resources that we have at our disposal,” Chapman said.
District Carries $100M Two-Year Shortfall, Up to 445 Positions at Risk
The committee announcement arrives against the backdrop of the deepest financial strain Columbus City Schools has faced in years. District Treasurer Ryan Cook told the CCS board last year that if the district continued at its then-current rate of spending, it would reach an actual cash deficit of $54.4 million by fiscal year 2029. “We can’t place ourselves in that position,” Cook said at the time.
The CCS Board of Education voted unanimously last August to cut $50 million from the district’s budget beginning in fiscal year 2027, which starts July 1, 2026. Board President Michael Cole acknowledged the weight of the vote. “Throughout the entire year, you’ve heard us talk about cuts,” Cole said. “You’ve heard us talk about where we are in terms of state appropriation, where there are threats of federal appropriations to Columbus City Schools and many other school districts like us.”
The $50 million in cuts included up to 61 administrative positions, $25.9 million in reductions to general staff potentially affecting up to 200 positions, and plans to close four additional schools: Duxberry Park Arts Elementary, Como Elementary, Everett Middle School, and Fairwood Alternative Elementary, which is set to close by May 31, 2026.
Columbus Education Association President John Coneglio told reporters Tuesday the union has been warned that the figure could reach 445 total teacher and staff positions. Despite the scale of what may be coming, Coneglio said he supports the joint committee. “Talking to one another is always like the cheapest thing you can do, right? It’s good. It creates dialogue,” Coneglio said. “You can’t have a world-class city, an opportunity city, without having world-class public schools.”
Hardin Frames Committee as Defense Against State Pressure on Public Schools
Council President Shannon Hardin used Tuesday’s announcement to sharpen a political argument he has been building for months — that Columbus city government must intervene where Ohio state government has stepped back or actively worked against public school districts.
“This committee is how the city council and the school board can come together regularly, align priorities and make smarter, more coordinated decisions on behalf of our students and our families,” Hardin said. “It’s important now more than ever, because we live in an environment where the state government is going on offense against public schools.”
Hardin also framed the committee as a commitment that Columbus City Schools would not face its financial crisis in isolation. “We want to make sure that our district is not on an island when they face these big financial challenges. We as a city will stand side by side with them,” Hardin said.
The announcement came on the same day Hardin was publicly defending his handling of the McCoy Park controversy surrounding the NWSL franchise deal — a pairing that placed two of the city’s most contested resource allocation debates on the same Tuesday calendar.
Community pressure on the district has been building for months. In February, dozens of parents, teachers, and residents attended a community-organized town hall titled “The People’s State of Our Schools,” focused on school closures and calling for greater community involvement in district decisions. A teacher at Northland High School who serves as a community campus coordinator told attendees at that meeting that the community campus model should be expanded districtwide — the same model now formally backed by the joint committee.
The joint committee is expected to hold its first public hearing at Columbus City Hall in the coming months, with no specific date yet announced.
Source
Columbus City Schools / Columbus City Council, Joint Press Conference, Northland High School, April 21, 2026
Author
Staff Reporter | ColumbusFrontline.com Reporter covering Columbus City Schools, Columbus City Council, and Franklin County education policy since 2017.
Last Updated: April 22, 2026 at 11:30 ET
This report is based on information available at time of publication. Details may change as the investigation continues. ColumbusFrontline.com will update this article as new information is confirmed.