Summary
- The Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) Board of Education met for its Work Session. Officials explained the proposed changes to the school year calendar.
- Two teachers from Wilbur Wright Elementary School spoke during public comment opposing a proposed change in start time for their school.
- CMSD CEO Warren Morgan provided updates on the district’s goal of improving school safety and well-being, highlighting that they had made progress on some goals and were behind in other areas.
Follow up questions
- Why was the district not tracking safety and security incidents by severity prior to 2025, and what led to the change in its tracking system?
- How many Muslim students attend CMSD schools, and does the district accommodate students who need to pray during the day?
- What do students think of Winning Against Violent Environments (W.A.V.E) and Not On Our Watch (N.O.W)?
A look at the proposed school calendar changes
The meeting was called to order by Board Chair Sara Elaqad at 6:35 p.m. with all nine members present.
Elaqad said that the board would not vote on the 2026-2027 CMSD proposed calendar until its Feb. 24 meeting. The calendar was previously discussed at the board’s Dec. 9, 2025, business meeting, where the district voted unanimously on the school merger proposal.
CEO Warren Morgan presented a slideshow of the most significant proposed changes. He said that the district will take feedback on the calendar before the February vote through an online form. Morgan said the district has provided a proposed calendar for 2026-2027, much further in advance compared to past years, which was based on feedback from families and CMSD staff.
Some major proposed changes are as follows:
- The school year start date moved back a week.
- An additional professional development day at the beginning of the year.
- Open house and parent-teacher conference days decreased from two days to one to limit the impact on student attendance.
- Change in spring break to coincide with Good Friday.
Morgan said that after two schools merged and one school closed for emergency reasons in 2025, the district asked parents which school start and end times they preferred.
During the 2026-2027 school year, the district recommends a three-tier system. Thirteen Pre-K to 8th grade schools and five high schools would have adjusted start times. Morgan said studies show that earlier school start times have a negative impact on student attendance, so the district defaults to later start times.
Elaqad opened public comment on the calendar year specifically, noting that public comment would function differently than it had in the past and that speakers did not need to sign up in advance.
Two teachers from Wilbur Wright Elementary School spoke together, expressing concerns about their school’s proposed new start time of 8:35 a.m. Many of their students are Muslim, they said. The current school day — 7:35 a.m. to 2:05 p.m.— allows these students to pray after school at nearby mosques, which means students don’t miss instruction time. The school also lacks the space for “equitable and dignified prayer accommodations,” a teacher said. The two teachers also said that the proposed start time would threaten their current partnership with Cleveland Playhouse and could lead to enrollment declines.
One teacher said that students from Newton D. Baker came to Wilbur Wright after their school closed last year and those students experienced an adjusted start time when they started at Wilbur Wright. Now, they and their parents would have to readjust all over again.
After public comment concluded, Elaqad said that information about electronic sign-ups for public comment at the next Board Business Meeting on Jan. 27 will be shared before the meeting.
Elaqad asked Morgan what accommodations the district currently offers to Muslim and other students who need time to pray during the school day. Morgan said CMSD works with families on accommodations on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with state law, but that there is not a district-wide policy for religious accommodations. Elaqad asked him to share more at the next board meeting.
Morgan gave updates on the district’s Goals and Guardrails, focusing specifically on the Safety & Wellbeing Guardrail CEO Measure 4.1: “Reduce the % of serious safety incidents reported by CMSD schools from a baseline of 3% (SY2024-2025) to 2.7% (SY2025-2026) by the end of the school year.”
Morgan said that in 2025, CMSD started measuring safety incidents based on severity and introduced a new data dashboard for safety and security. The district now uses an ARMS Database, which records all safety situations involving students and non-students (car break-ins are also reported).
Morgan said that full school-year serious safety incident rates have declined in recent years, but the percent change in incident rate year-over-year by Nov. 30 was flat, which is not meeting the district’s goals.
Morgan said that there are new student-led anti-bullying and anti-violence initiatives, Not On Our Watch (N.O.W.) and Winning Against Violent Environments (W.A.V.E). The district is continuing to train educators and maintain regular meetings with Humanware program managers and behavioral specialists to prevent serious safety situations.
Additionally, he said that there is an enhanced partnership with Cleveland Police on car break-ins and that there is an increased security officer exterior presence, especially at specific times of day.
Morgan then shared indicators of progress and challenges:
- Bullying and serious student fight reports were reduced with help from W.A.V.E.
- Student-on-teacher assaults increased.
- Vandalism of private property remained flat.
Morgan said that the quality of this data has improved but that it requires more review, which will be ensured through Building Brighter Futures. Going forward, he said, the district will begin tracking use of the W.A.V.E program, the safety and security team will complete an evaluation of all external partnerships by Jan. 30, and security officers will be re-deployed for the 2026-27 school year. The next monitoring session on goal 4.1 is scheduled for May 12.
Elaqad entertained a motion for the board to enter into executive session at 7:18 p.m. One member made the motion and another seconded. All board members approved; the motion passed. Executive session began at 7:18 p.m. and ended at 8:11 p.m.
Elaqad said this meeting’s consent agenda included approving the board meeting minutes from Dec. 9, 2025, approving the board meeting schedule for 2026, and five legal resolutions (agenda items 13.02-15.05).
Elaqad entered a motion to approve the consent agenda, which was set forth in the meeting agenda. All board members approved; the motion passed with eight votes (Nigamanth Sridhar was present at the start of the meeting but was absent for this vote). The minutes were approved and the resolutions were adopted.
Elaqad wished Board Member Charlene Jones a happy birthday; CEO Morgan wished Elaqad a happy birthday and said that January is Board Member Appreciation Month.
The next Board Business Meeting will be on Jan. 27. The meeting was adjourned at 8:13 p.m.
These notes are by Documenter Ava Carubia.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalcleveland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
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