Columbus City Schools stakeholders are once again tasked with recommending which school buildings should close in the years ahead.

Why it matters: Closures would help the district reduce expenses as it faces dwindling enrollment and a surplus of aging facilities in need of costly repairs.

Yes, but: Past discussions have proven unpopular — and unproductive — among community and school board members.

• Officials say this time will be different, with new leadership in place.

Flashback: In 2018, amid public backlash, board members rejected recommendations to close four schools and turn Linden-McKinley High School into a middle school.

• The same occurred in 2016 with different suggestions.

Of note: CCS last consolidated in 2014, shutting down Brookhaven High School, Monroe and Everett middle schools and Arlington Park and Maybury elementary schools, director of capital improvements Alex Trevino tells Axios.

What they're saying: "This is always a tough decision. But this is certainly a decision we need to consider and need to move forward with," first-year superintendent Angela Chapman said during a meeting Tuesday.

Between the lines: For nearly half of CCS buildings, it's been over 50 years since they were built or received a major renovation.

• The district nevertheless spends more on maintenance per school than comparable districts nationwide and across Ohio, Chapman noted.

The latest: Board members unanimously approved members for a facilities task force, a move required by board policy when closures are considered.

• The list of 28 participants.

What's next: The task force's first meeting will be next Tuesday and a website is coming soon.

• It will meet twice monthly and is expected to outline recommendations in a report by June.
• Closures would occur during the 2025-26 school year at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the district spent over $500,000 in December to hire a project management firm to assess facility conditions, with a report expected by early 2025.

Go deeper

Here's a visual illustrating why CCS doesn't need as many facilities as it once did.

By the numbers: The district's enrollment today is less than half of its peak in the late '60s and early '70s, when it had about 110,000 students.

• That means many schools are operating below capacity.

The big picture: In recent years, lower birth rates, increased access to charter and online schools, and parents' frustrations with COVID-19 restrictions have contributed to public school enrollment dropping nationwide, Axios' Erica Pandey reports.

Between the lines: Columbus' decline in the '70s, however, coincided with nationwide "white flight," accelerated by a 1971 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that federal courts could use busing to achieve racial balance in schools — something the district began doing in 1979.

Ohio has scrapped plans to restrict gender-affirming health care for adults following backlash over a proposal issued last month. (Axios)

🏒 The Blue Jackets will play an outdoor game at the Horseshoe in 2025. (The Hockey News)

🍕 Downtown Tavern closed after one year and has been replaced by Hydeout Kitchen & Bar, offering weekend brunch and late-night eats just south of Capitol Square. (614 Magazine)

🏦 Linden's Chase Bank branch is one of three nationwide targeted for expansion into a "community center" offering financial literacy workshops, training and other resources. (Columbus Business First 🔒)

🐈 Columbus Humane CEO Rachel Finney is leaving after 16 years, and a search has started for her replacement. (Humane)

👋 Tyler here. Before coming to Axios, I spent several years as a Statehouse correspondent for the Ohio Capital Journal.

• Reporting on policy was fun. Listening to monotonous, mundane monologuing was not.

Yes, but: Little did I know reporters in 1939 had a great trick to stop the speechifying.

Flashback: Lawmakers were nearly three hours into a debate on an unemployment compensation bill when Rep. Ralph G. Marshall rose to make an announcement.

• "I am informed that the gentlemen of the press have quit taking notes on our speeches," he told colleagues. "So I hereby move that debate be closed."
• It apparently worked! The AP reported the discussion abruptly ended.

The intrigue: Newspapers offered saucy headlines in telling the anecdote: Here's One Way To End Speeches … Publicity Lovers … Reporters Apathetic So Lawmakers Shut Up.

• And my personal favorite, from the Washington Court House Record-Herald: So, The Secret Gets Out.

h/t to John Kohlstrand for finding this news clipping.

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It took millions of dollars and years of delays, but three permanent downtown bathrooms are finally set to open today.

Catch up quick: Columbus spent more than $2 million in pandemic relief funds on the project and hired the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District to administer it.

• But the effort was "clogged up by a host of regulatory and operational problems," as the Dispatch put it.

Eye-popping stat: A total of 1,005 days passed between the first allocation of money in May 2021 and today's grand opening.

• That means the installation of three bathrooms lasted longer than …

🏗 The construction of Nationwide Arena, Huntington Park or Lower.com Field.

📘 Columbus Metropolitan Library's main branch renovations.

🎨 The creation of the giant "Gavel" sculpture.

🏫 Kristina Johnson's OSU presidency.

👶 The combined pregnancies for Tyler and Alissa's kids — even if Alissa goes past her Feb. 25 due date.