District enrollment is declining due to reduced birth rates, while costs are increasing. We must make some tough but necessary decisions to protect programs and keep the district financially strong. The Building Brighter Futures (BBF) plan addresses these problems while improving opportunities for all students across all schools.

In January 2025, the Board of Education directed the district to conduct a long-term facilities planning process. The Building Brighter Futures recommendations were developed through many months of careful planning, data review, and community input.

We reviewed data such as enrollment trends, building conditions, academic and athletic offerings, staffing, and transportation. Thousands of ideas from families, staff, and students were gathered through regional community meetings (spring and fall), presentations at every school’s staff meeting and Open House, and Parent and Student Advisory Council meetings.

The final recommendations ensure more equitable access to strong programs while reducing the district’s budget deficit.

The Board of Education is expected to vote on December 9, 2025. If approved, changes begin at the start of the 2026–27 school year.

With stronger enrollment, schools can offer more.

• K-8: additional classes beyond art, music, and PE, expanded sports, and more clubs and extracurricular activities.
• High School: career pathways, college credit, and honors diploma options at every school, and hundreds more students with on-campus Senate League sports.
• All schools will retain their focus areas, traditions, and community partnerships. Every school will have steady or increased staffing for safety, nursing, counseling, and career services. CMSD remains committed to students of all abilities, including special education, multilingual learners, and Pre-K.

We are recommending mergers rather than closures to keep more students and staff together. Each transitioning school has a paired welcoming school, and students will have reserved seats there for 2026–27.

We know the critical importance of providing students with safe and reliable transportation. Building Brighter Futures will allow us to continue to offer transportation to all students who meet the district’s eligibility requirements. This includes students who:

• Live within 1–3 miles of their K-8 school
• Attend and live more than 1 mile from a K-8 specialty school that currently offers district-wide transportation (Campus International, Dike School of the Arts, Douglas MacArthur Girls’ Leadership, Kenneth Clement Boys’ Leadership, Stonebrook-White Montessori, Tremont Montessori, Valley View Boys’ Leadership, Warner Girls’ Leadership, and William Rainey Harper)
• Live more than 1 mile from their high school (RTA transportation)
• Have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that requires transportation

Most K-8 students affected by mergers live within 3 miles of their new school; those farther away will receive extended transportation.

Students currently attending an impacted K-8 school within 3 miles of home will be eligible for extended transportation to their welcoming school through school year 2027–28, if the welcoming school is more than 3 miles from home.

• They must continue living within 3 miles of their current school to qualify.
• Standard eligibility requirements will resume for all students in school year 28-29.

The standard transportation policy will apply to any students who choose not to accept a reserved seat at their welcoming school. As noted above, students who attend and live more than 1 mile from a K-8 specialty school that currently offers district-wide transportation will continue to receive transportation.

Families can still explore all options through School Choice, including those families at transitioning schools who would like to explore options beyond their paired welcoming school. CMSD will offer College and Career Pathway fairs, District-wide School Choice fairs, a new online CMSD School Finder Tool, and an expanded CMSD School Choice Book. Special consideration will be given to students most directly impacted by the Building Brighter Futures recommendations in the School Choice process.

• A School Choice Navigator will be assigned to provide individualized support to each student whose current school is moving or merging.
• Current students in grades K-7 and 9-11 at transitioning schools have a reserved seat at their paired welcoming school. Students who do not make a choice will be automatically assigned to their welcoming school, but we encourage all families to proactively accept their student’s reserved seat through the School Choice process so CMSD can plan staffing for next year.
• Current students in grades K-7 and 9-11 at transitioning schools will also receive first priority for available seats at all schools they are eligible to attend, and they can work with their Choice Navigator to apply for those schools during the School Choice process.
• To receive this priority, families must submit a School Choice application between January 5 and February 27, 2026, with results shared with families during the week of March 30th. If students do not receive a seat at the school(s) they apply to in the School Choice process, they will be placed at their paired welcoming school.

Just like in years prior, all current 8th graders will make a high school choice through the School Choice process, which will run from January 5 to February 27, 2026. Results will be shared with families the week of March 30th.

Starting in December, CMSD will launch College and Career Pathway fairs to highlight the expanded career pathways and college credit opportunities at every high school. District-wide School Choice fairs, a new online CMSD School Finder Tool, and an expanded CMSD School Choice Book will also help families of students planning for high school next year make informed school choices.

All students across all high schools will have expanded access to career pathways, college credit courses, electives, sports, and the option to pursue an honors diploma in Fall 2026. The specialized focus areas, school traditions, and community partnerships at our current high schools will continue.

Current high school students in merging schools will continue to be supported in their goal of graduating ready for college and career. Pathway completion options will be shared with students for graduation planning, and counselors and school transition teams will ensure additional support is provided. For specific questions about college and career pathways, please contact Pathways@clevelendmetroschools.org.

CMSD will continue providing inclusive, individualized support in the least restrictive environment. Building Brighter Futures will expand support for students with special education needs and provide more opportunities, like additional enrichment classes, extracurriculars, and sports, for all students.

Some students require support in special education single classrooms (e.g., classrooms for students with intensive academic support needs). Special education single classrooms will still be offered across regions and in multiple schools. Every special education single classroom has been considered to ensure there is space and a plan for all students. Starting in fall 2026, more schools will offer a full K–8 continuum of classrooms so more students can stay in one school longer, with fewer moves and more stability.

Families with students in special education single classrooms will receive individual communication from the Office of Student Services.

Multilingual students will continue to receive language development and academic support at all schools, with expanded access to enrichment and extracurricular opportunities.

CMSD remains committed to providing high-quality Pre-K across our district, for learners of all needs and abilities. Building Brighter Futures includes plans for Pre-K classrooms at all but two of our K–8 schools in SY 26-27 (currently, four K-8 schools do not offer Pre-K).

Enrollment steps have not changed. Families with Pre-K students can visit clevelandmetroschools.org/Preschool for more information.

Start and end times for each school in SY 2026-27 will be shared later in December, as part of the School Choice materials available to families, and before families must finalize their school choices for next year.

Our class size limits remain unchanged and reflect the current agreement in place with our teachers’ union. By bringing more schools to a healthy enrollment level that supports multiple classes per grade, Building Brighter Futures will help reduce uneven class sizes across grades and schools, lowering the likelihood of unusually large classes.

As part of Building Brighter Futures, we are maintaining or increasing safety and security staff at every school, improving the allocation of safety and security resources, and strengthening safety and security plans. CMSD will continue to work with the city and community partners on student safety, including Safe Passages routes.

We will do everything we can to keep as many of our valued employees as possible. School staff teams will be merged in accordance with employee contract rules and in support of the needs of the merged student community.

Principals for the 2026-27 school year will be appointed in December. Other staff assignments will be confirmed in Spring 2026 after families choose their school during School Choice. The district will offer dedicated support and clear information to all staff to help them through this process.

Each school has identified a Transition Team to support students, families, and staff. The Transition Teams will create opportunities for students and families to ask questions and process the impact of change together, organize student and family meet & greets, field days, and other relationship-building opportunities to begin to cultivate a unified school community with the welcoming school, and plan ways to honor the legacy of closing buildings.

We will secure all buildings immediately at the end of this school year and are actively planning to operate some district support services out of vacated buildings. We are also working with the City and community partners on long-term reuse plans that benefit neighborhoods. It is important to note that all plans for CMSD-owned school buildings must comply with Ohio state laws, which can extend the time required to implement reuse plans.