Dublin City Schools Welcomes Staff Back to All 25 Schools, Students Return August 20

Thursday's return of K–12 students to Dublin City Schools is more than the start of a new year. It is the first opportunity for families to see whether the district delivered on its summer construction and safety commitments.

The district serves 16,259 students across 25 schools: one preschool, 15 elementary schools, five middle schools, three high schools and a specialty secondary campus. K–12 students begin Aug. 20 across 24 schools, while the district's preschool opens Aug. 26. Dublin City Schools covers about 42 to 47 square miles across Franklin, Delaware and Union counties in Ohio.

The opening also comes under new leadership. Dr. Jennifer Schwanke became superintendent Aug. 1 after Dr. John Marschhausen resigned July 31. Her first start of a school year follows months of building work and emergency-preparedness training intended to ensure schools and staff are ready when children walk through the doors.

Teachers, administrators and other employees returned for work and professional-development days Aug. 17 through Aug. 19. The district brought staff from all 25 schools together for Convocation 2026, themed "All In for Our Students," and has highlighted that event and its summer construction program on its homepage. Dublin City Schools employs 2,333 staff members. Its back-to-school training included LEADublin 2026, described as a full day of peer-led professional development, inspiration and collaboration for more than 600 employees.

At its Aug. 10 Board of Education meeting, the district said work on five roofs, six HVAC systems, four elevators and three fire alarm systems was either complete or far enough along for schools to open for the 2026–27 year. The projects included a roof replacement at Deer Run Elementary School, the first phase of a roof replacement at Davis Middle School and an elevator replacement at Scottish Corners Elementary School.

The largest capacity project is the addition at Dublin Scioto High School — an academic wing of roughly 56,000 to 60,000 square feet, along with a 6,250-square-foot expansion of the dining commons, planned for completion around August. The expansion includes a larger dining area with indoor and outdoor seating and a new connection between the academic wing and cafeteria, designed to add capacity for 500 to 600 students. That space is already tied to a broader enrollment plan: In late June, the board approved new high school boundaries that will move some neighborhoods into Scioto's attendance zone for the 2027–28 school year.

Alongside the construction work, the district spent the summer preparing for the emergency no parent wants to face: a crisis requiring students to be returned to their families. Dublin City Schools conducted a full-scale reunification drill at Dublin Scioto High School on Tuesday, Aug. 18, to practice reuniting students with parents during an emergency. Ohio districts are required to conduct that kind of drill every three years. The drill assigned staff specific roles and involved mock parents, bused-in students, identity-verification checkpoints and assistance from Dublin Police, with a scenario centered on a threat at one building that prompted a closure and required student reunification.

"The goal is that the plan is never used, but that the district needs a standard method it can rely on in an emergency," said Matt Sachtleben, Assistant Principal at Emerald Campus and one of the organizers of the Aug. 18 reunification drill. "Keeping students safe and returning them home safely is the number one job of building principals," Sachtleben said.

The district says its other security measures include video surveillance, shatter-resistant glass at every school, bus cameras and School Threat Assessment Teams. Student handbooks also require fire, tornado and lockdown drills at points throughout the school year.

Families will soon have another opportunity to press the district on whether its summer promises translated into operational improvements. The Board of Education is scheduled to meet Monday, Aug. 24, at the Emerald Campus Union in Dublin, two days before preschool begins.