Mentor schools weighs closing 3 elementary schools, moving eighth graders to high school

MENTOR, Ohio — Mentor school officials are considering a sweeping reorganization that could close three elementary school buildings and move eighth graders to Mentor High School as the district works to cut millions of dollars in spending following the failure of its operating levy in May.

The proposal, outlined during a special Board of Education work session Tuesday, would reduce the district from seven elementary schools to four. Those schools would serve preschool through third grade, while Memorial and Shore Middle Schools would be reconfigured to serve grades four through seven. Mentor High School would expand to include grades eight through 12.

District officials repeatedly emphasized that no decisions have been made. The proposal remains under review, with additional public discussion planned before the board considers a recommendation as early as September.

Superintendent Craig Heath said the district has already approved about $6.6 million in spending reductions for the 2026-27 school year but still must cut another $3.3 million to $3.5 million annually beginning in 2027-28.

“We need another $3.3 to $3.5 million in reductions for the 27-28 school year and beyond,” Heath told the board.

The consolidation proposal comes after Mentor voters rejected larger operating levy requests in 2023 and again in May. Last week, the school board approved placing a smaller 3.5-mill operating levy on the Nov. 3 ballot after district officials said they reduced the request in response to residents who wanted deeper spending cuts before another tax ask.

Rather than making broad staffing cuts across every school, Heath said consolidating buildings would allow the district to preserve programs and keep class sizes relatively stable.

“When we started talking consolidation a little bit, I think what that does is it allows us to do this $3.3 to $3.5 cost reduction in a much more strategic way,” Heath said. “I would really recommend this would be the direction that we go as opposed to just simply cutting positions. Let’s do it in a strategic way that allows us to be consistent over time.”

Administrators said they developed the proposal after evaluating enrollment projections, transportation, building capacity, classroom space and grade-level transitions.

The plan seeks to avoid redrawing school boundaries districtwide, improve transportation efficiency and limit students to two school transitions instead of three. Officials also said it would better align school buildings with projected enrollment, which continues to decline.

A key piece of the proposal would move eighth graders to Mentor High School, where Heath said the district has unused capacity. Doing so would free space at Memorial and Shore, allowing those buildings to serve grades four through seven and making elementary consolidation possible.

“If we can move those eighth graders to the high school level, that opens up the entire rest of the district for us as far as a lot more flexibility and being able to consolidate to the level that we need to consolidate to,” Heath said.

Heath acknowledged concerns about placing eighth graders on the high school campus but said neighboring districts, including Riverside and Chardon, have similar grade configurations. He said Mentor’s high school layout would allow younger students to be separated from older students in dedicated areas while still giving them access to expanded academic opportunities.

Enrollment projections presented Tuesday show the proposed configuration would leave four elementary schools with enrollments generally between 400 and 500 students, while Memorial and Shore would each remain below their estimated capacities. District officials said no decisions have been made about which elementary schools would close.

Heath said the proposal also would substantially reduce the number of staffing cuts needed to meet the district’s financial goals.

Instead of eliminating about 30 certified positions throughout the district and increasing class sizes, the consolidation plan would reduce about nine certified teaching positions while keeping class sizes “relatively the same,” he said. Four administrative positions would also be eliminated because fewer buildings would remain open.

District officials have said they have identified about $10 million in reductions over the next two fiscal years. If voters reject the November levy, the district has warned it could face another $14.4 million in cuts affecting staffing, class sizes, student services and academic programs.

Board President Maggie Cook said she wants more information before the board makes any decisions, including projected savings, enrollment impacts and what would happen to any buildings no longer used as schools.

“I’d like to see for the next time we talk about this some of those projections,” Cook said. “What options do we have when we close buildings? Are we looking at selling? What kind of potential money could we get from that or are we repurposing them?”

Heath said the district is considering several possibilities, including selling buildings or repurposing them for shared services, special education programs or other district needs, but said no decisions have been made.

Following Tuesday’s meeting, Vice President Lauren Marchaza posted a video on Facebook reiterating that no decisions had been made and said the board expects to continue discussing the proposal during its August meetings before potentially making a decision in September. She also said the district plans to hold town hall meetings and other community discussions to gather public feedback.

In a message sent to families and staff Wednesday morning, Heath emphasized that the consolidation proposal is part of the district’s long-term financial plan and is not contingent on the outcome of the operating levy that will appear on the November ballot. The district said the proposed reductions would move forward regardless of whether voters approve the levy.

District officials said they expect to spend the coming weeks refining the proposal, studying individual buildings and gathering public input before presenting a more detailed consolidation plan, including which schools would remain open and which could close.

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