School board officials in the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood recently voted 4-1 to convert Lincoln Elementary school into a centralized early learning center, and re-direct all pre-kindergarten children from their neighborhood schools to there - a small but seismic change that advocates say will effectively sacrifice district's identity as a "walking school district" where virtually every student can access the classroom on foot.
"We've already lived through the painful impact of past closures, consolidations and modernizations, disruptions that left deep scars on our families, students and staff," she said. "Please, do not reassign our students again. Do not implement these boundary changes."