- Cleveland Metropolitan School District
- Operations News
District to hold meetings on high school programs, facilities
CMSD NEWS BUREAU
9/12/2019
CMSD will resume meetings to plan the future of the District’s academic programs and facilities.
Meetings that begin Sept. 28 will focus on high schools. Meetings held in the spring covered K-8 schools.
The first five meetings in the new series will allow the District to share data and collect feedback on academic quality, enrollment trends and forecasts, and building use and conditions. The next five will include presentation of “emerging recommendations.” To see a schedule of meetings, go here.
The District is trying to efficiently use limited resources, which could mean consolidating some schools and closing some buildings. The goal is to keep the pledge, included in The Cleveland Plan, to make quality education available to every neighborhood.
CMSD has more than 100 schools, and enrollment in a majority of the schools is below capacity. As a result, programs and resources are stretched. The challenges are not limited to the District; charter and private schools are affected, too.
Recommendations presented to the Board of Education in May included closing four K-8 schools, relocating five schools and renovating or constructing five buildings for students from seven schools. After receiving additional input from the community, the District presented possible alternatives to some of the recommendations. The board delayed action until it could factor in the impact of high school planning.
The board and the Bond Accountability Commission had recommended that CMSD revisit a five-year-old building plan based on current neighborhood population and enrollment patterns, changes in academic programming and rising construction costs. The commission is an independent watchdog created to monitor an ongoing modernization program that the District is paying for with state funds and a local bond issue.
For more information on school planning, go to qualityschoolsforCLEkids.org.