• A Message from Board of Education Chair, Denise W. Link

    Denise Link As Chair of the Board of Education of the Cleveland Municipal School District, and on behalf of the entire Board, I want to express our thanks to the voters of our School District who on November 6, 2012, passed Issue 107, our School District’s 4 year 15 mill operating levy. Our community’s support in passing our School District’s first operating levy in 16 years is a testament to Cleveland’s commitment to our children’s future.

    Over the past year our School District laid the groundwork for improving the education of all of our children. In February 2012, Mayor Frank Jackson unveiled the Cleveland Plan for Transforming Schools, with the goal of ensuring that every Cleveland child attends a high quality school, and every Cleveland neighborhood has a multitude of high quality schools from which families can choose.

    With the strong backing of Cleveland's community, business, labor and political leaders, Mayor Jackson asked for the necessary State legislation to allow Cleveland to address its lowest performing schools, modernize work rules, and hold all of its public schools, both District and charter schools, to a higher level of accountability. Last summer the Ohio Legislature passed, and Governor John Kasich signed, House Bill 525, which now gives Cleveland the necessary tools to effectively reform our schools, and increase the quality of our children’s education.

    It is only with the continued support and active engagement of all segments of our community that the vision of the Cleveland plan will become areality. With this in mind our School District Chief Executive Officer Eric Gordon has presented to the community for its input, a draft Four Year Implementation Strategy for the Cleveland Plan.

    As Board of Education Chair, I am fortunate to work with a dedicated, volunteer Board, made up of Board Vice Chair Louise Dempsey, other veteran members Willetta Milam, Robert Heard, Shaletha Mitchell and Lisa Thomas. Working closely with Mayor Jackson and School District CEO Eric Gordon, we are committed to the goal of providing high-performing schools for every child. We appreciate the continued and engaged support of all students, parents, teachers, staff and community members. We all need towork together to help our students achieve academic success.

    The Board is always interested in hearing comments and concerns from the public. You may call the Board Office at 216-838-0030 with your input.

    Thank you for your help in making this year, and every school year, a success for our students.