Thousands of Cleveland students learned this week which school they’ll attend in the fall after the district released school assignments on March 30.
This year nearly 4,000 students will be switching schools due to building closings and mergers. Since not all students who needed to choose a new school did, the district may open a second window for families to select a school. Of the students who did make a choice, 93% were assigned to their top pick. That includes rising 9th graders and preschoolers who are current students. In addition, the district said it had more than 1,500 new students choose CMSD.
Now, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) is turning its attention to preparing for what will be a year of transition for students, teachers, parents and staff.
At a school board meeting on March 31, the district shared progress on key promises of the “Building Brighter Futures” school plan — including new electives and new college credit and career classes. CMSD CEO Warren Morgan also presented district plans for logistical decisions like ordering textbooks, finalizing student schedules and assigning special education students.
Morgan also said the mergers and the district’s ongoing woes will result in layoffs for some district staff – though he did not share any estimated numbers. Those decisions, which will be made this spring, will include central office staff as well as teaching and other school-based employees.
“Our question is always, how can we find savings, while at the same time minimizing harm to the instructional core, and also that’s the work that’s underway,” Morgan said. “There’s no easy solution, there’s no magic wand in terms of this work, it’s just hard work.”
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CMSD is working on the logistics and culture for new schools next year
District leaders said transition teams have started meeting at schools that will be merged.
The teams include teachers and administrators. At around half of the schools, the teams have already hosted or plan to host school culture building activities, such as a welcome carnival, community art show and family pizza nights. The district also plans to host a summer “bridge” program for rising 9th graders.
Officials also said they are on track for all schools to have the textbooks and instructional materials they need next fall. Last year, CMSD had issues with getting textbooks into classrooms by the time school started. Ahead of a year that will also include moving hundreds of classrooms, the district wants all textbooks to be ready by Aug. 7. The board voted at the meeting to approve nearly $7 million of orders for the textbooks and plans to have all the orders placed by April 30.
Ongoing budget challenges will require a reduction in employees across CMSD next year
Morgan reiterated that the district continues to face budget challenges as operating costs rise and revenues from the state and other sources have dipped. Other districts around the state are facing similar financial challenges, and many have recently announced cuts to staff as well as programming.
Every year, CMSD submits its financial projections to the state and must show that its budget is balanced for the current fiscal year and the following two years. Right now, the district projects that by 2029 it will have a nearly $50 million deficit. That would put the district in fiscal precaution or fiscal watch by the state.
The district has reduced costs by including cutting the central office budget in 2024 along with closing 18 buildings and five leased spaces for the next school year. Morgan said since nearly 80% of the district’s budget pays for staff and benefits, that is where additional cuts will be made, including about $15 million in central cuts as well as a soon-to-be determined number of cuts at the school building level.
“Of course when you’re reducing your footprint, there are impacts that come along with it. The question always is at what scale and what impact,” Morgan said. “And that’s the part we’re working really hard, we always want to minimize harm.”
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Adding more electives and college credit and career readiness classes
A big promise the school district and board made when voting on the Building Brighter Futures plan last year that it would mean students across the district would have more academic opportunities. That includes adding electives, like band, choir and ceramics to all elementary schools and college credit and career classes to all high schools.
Morgan updated the board on the electives that will be added to K-8 schools. He listed the electives currently offered across the district plans as compared to next year’s offerings. For example, currently 15% of elementary schools offer band, next year the goal is for half of all elementary schools to offer band.
It’s a goal for the district to offer Algebra to all 8th graders but that won’t be the case next year because some students aren’t ready yet, Morgan said. Instead some schools will offer an advanced math course to some seventh grade students to help them get ready.
At the high school level, Morgan added that the district has been making plans to provide professional development to teachers who will teach new college credit or career education classes next year. It also plans to add classes to help high school students get ready to take more advanced college credit classes.
The district plans to have schedules ready by April 9 for all schools and have high school students choose classes by April 24.
Progress made on matching special education students with new schools
Late last year, parents and teachers of special education students were concerned that the district wasn’t taking their students into account as it developed its plan to merge and close schools. There was frustration that students with disabilities in single classroom settings, where one or two students work with a teacher in a classroom, might have to transition to a different welcoming school than their peers.
The district shared its progress on assigning those 585 students impacted by the mergers of those students to their schools for the fall. So far,156 have applied for other schools, 160 confirmed their seats at their welcoming school and 269 didn’t request an assignment and will be automatically assigned to a school that fits their needs. It’s not clear yet whether those students will attend those schools or leave the district.
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As Cleveland schools cut 410 jobs, educators warn layoffs will increase class sizes and strain student support ahead of school mergers.
