TL;DR: Ohio's 2026-27 EdChoice designated list names 67 open public buildings in the five Cleveland-area counties, in 13 districts from Lorain to Warrensville Heights. A child zoned to any of them can take a traditional EdChoice voucher worth $6,166 (K-8) or $8,408 (9-12) with no income test. No Cleveland Metropolitan School District building is on the list, because city children have the Cleveland Scholarship.
Which districts around Cleveland have EdChoice-designated buildings for 2026-27?
Thirteen districts in Cuyahoga, Lorain and Lake counties have at least one. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce's spreadsheet, "2026-2027 EdChoice Scholarship Designated School List with Criteria," shows the following open buildings marked designated:
| District | County | Designated | Open buildings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lorain City | Lorain | 15 | 15 |
| Elyria City | Lorain | 8 | 9 |
| Bedford City | Cuyahoga | 7 | 7 |
| Euclid City | Cuyahoga | 7 | 8 |
| East Cleveland City | Cuyahoga | 5 | 5 |
| Garfield Heights City | Cuyahoga | 5 | 5 |
| Maple Heights City | Cuyahoga | 5 | 5 |
| Cleveland Heights-University Heights | Cuyahoga | 4 | 10 |
| Painesville City | Lake | 3 | 5 |
| Warrensville Heights City | Cuyahoga | 3 | 3 |
| Richmond Heights Local | Cuyahoga | 2 | 3 |
| Clearview Local | Lorain | 2 | 3 |
| Fairport Harbor Exempted Village | Lake | 1 | 2 |
By county, that is 38 buildings in Cuyahoga, 25 in Lorain and 4 in Lake. Geauga and Medina counties have none. Six districts have every open building designated: Lorain, Bedford, East Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights and Warrensville Heights. Our designated buildings page lists every building by name and grade span.
Why is no Cleveland Metropolitan School District building on the list?
Because the city already has its own voucher. Children who live inside the CMSD boundary use the Cleveland Scholarship, which requires neither a designated building nor an income check. DEW's EdChoice fact sheet also describes EdChoice Expansion as the program for students who do not qualify for the Cleveland Scholarship. The designated list is therefore a suburban and Lorain County tool.
The boundary matters at the edges. East Cleveland, Garfield Heights and Maple Heights border the city, and a family that moves a few blocks across a district line can move from one program to the other.
Traditional EdChoice vs EdChoice Expansion: which pays a designated-building family more?
Traditional EdChoice pays more, or the same, in every case. It pays the full award at any income, while Expansion pays the full award only up to 450% of the federal poverty guideline ($148,500 for a family of four in 2026-27) and shrinks above it.
Take two Elyria parents with two children and $200,000 of adjusted gross income, about 606% of poverty for a household of four. Under Expansion, each K-8 child would receive roughly $2,100 under DEW's formula. If the children would be assigned to one of Elyria's eight designated buildings, traditional EdChoice pays each of them $6,166 instead. For a family under 450% of poverty, both programs pay the full amount, but traditional EdChoice is still worth checking first because it has no income paperwork for eligibility.
Two other groups also qualify for traditional EdChoice without a designated building: siblings of students who held a traditional scholarship in 2025-26, and children in foster care, kinship care or certain other placements.
How does DEW decide which buildings are designated?
DEW combines academic and poverty measures. A building qualifies through one of two routes in the spreadsheet: an academic-distress designation, or a ranking in the bottom 20% of Ohio buildings on the performance index in two of the three prior years together with a district Title I poverty share of at least 20% across three years. The workbook shows which test each building met.
That second route explains why the list changes from year to year. Cleveland Heights-University Heights, for example, has four designated buildings this year, including Cleveland Heights High School, and six that are not. Check your child's assigned building each spring, not just once.
What do families in designated districts need to do now?
First, find out which building your child would attend next year through your district's school locator or enrollment office. Eligibility follows the assigned building, not the school the child attends today, so a child already in private school can still qualify.
Second, pick a chartered private school and ask its office to check traditional eligibility before it files anything. The school submits the application, and requests filed after October 14, 2026 are prorated for the months left in 2026-27. The window closes June 30, 2027.
Third, plan for moves. A traditional scholarship renews only if your new address is also zoned to a designated building. A family moving from Lorain to Avon Lake would usually switch to Expansion, and a family moving into Cleveland would switch to the Cleveland Scholarship.
All of this sits under the EdChoice appeal now headed to the Ohio Supreme Court. The appeals court stayed its ruling, so traditional EdChoice is paying normally this year.
Frequently asked questions
Which districts around Cleveland have EdChoice-designated buildings for 2026-27?
Thirteen: Lorain City, Elyria, Bedford, Euclid, East Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights, Cleveland Heights-University Heights, Painesville City, Warrensville Heights, Richmond Heights, Clearview and Fairport Harbor, with 67 designated buildings in all.
Why is no Cleveland Metropolitan School District building on the list?
City children use the Cleveland Scholarship, which needs no designated building and no income test, so the EdChoice designated list applies to families outside the CMSD boundary.
Traditional EdChoice vs EdChoice Expansion: which pays a designated-building family more?
Traditional EdChoice, whenever household income is above 450% of poverty, because it pays the full $6,166 or $8,408 at any income; below that line both pay the same.
What do families in designated districts need to do now?
Confirm the assigned building for next year, ask a chartered school to check traditional eligibility before filing, apply before June 30, 2027, and remember that awards filed after October 14, 2026 are prorated.
Related questions
- Every designated building, by name
- Who else qualifies for traditional EdChoice?
- What would Expansion pay us instead?
- Private schools in Lorain and Elyria