A community group representing Clifton residents has taken issue with a survey sent out by Cincinnati Public Schools that could influence the fate of the embattled Clifton Cultural Arts Center.
CityBeat reported last week on the battle over the Clifton School Building, which is currently occupied by the CCAC. The arts organization has leased the building on Clifton Avenue from CPS since 2008, though CPS recently told the arts center that it is considering terminating its lease and taking the building back.
As part of its outreach to neighborhood residents ahead of the decision about the building, which could come as early as the end of this month, CPS sent out a survey to 11,817 Clifton residents to gauge the neighborhood’s interest in the school. The district also sent out a similar version of the survey to 860 families in Clifton Heights, University Heights and Fairview (CUF) and Spring Grove Village, which would also be using the proposed school.
But in a May 9 letter addressed to the CPS Board of Education members and CPS Superintendent Mary Ronan, CTM President Eric Urbas writes that the organization believes the survey asks confusing and biased questions.
“We warned the Administration that the survey was flawed, but it was sent out anyway,” the letter reads. “Now we are alerting you that if the survey results are used, they will only lead to bad decisions.”
Results are due back by May 15, according to CPS spokeswoman Janet Walsh. The survey’s results will factor into CPS’s decision on whether to create a new school in the current home of the CCAC, which the arts center currently leases from CPS for $1 in rent per year along with the cost of the building’s pricey upkeep. The arts group has also poured more than $2 million into the building for upgrades and renovations.
Walsh says CPS had discussions with Clifton Town Meeting about the survey, which was written by the CPS Board of Education and CPS staff members, but says community input goes beyond Clifton residents.
“We don’t have time to have the world sign on to it,” Walsh says. “We’re just trying to get information in a timely manner.”
Malcolm Montgomery, the vice president of Clifton Town Meeting, says CTM’s concerns with CPS go beyond just the survey. It would like to see the district host more community meetings and discussions before it goes forward with any plan to build a new school.
“For any school to succeed, it’s got to have strong parent backing, and you don’t get that from a survey,” Montgomery says. “You don’t get that from press releases. You get that from honest engagement from the community.”
The CCAC, CTM and the Fairview-Clifton German Language School are set to meet for an hour at CPS’s Burnet Avenue headquarters on May 12 to discuss options for the new school and CCAC’s future.
This article appears in May 4-11, 2016.
