Karen Dorsey, Verizon tech coach at Almira PreK-8 Academy, tells the board about the school’s tech lab.
Karen Dorsey, Verizon tech coach at Almira PreK-8 Academy, tells the board about the school’s tech lab. Credit: Cleveland Metropolitan School District YouTube

Covered by Documenters Kellie MorrisGiorgiana Lascu and Charlestine Pride

What happened: Current and past students from Almira PreK-8 Academy spoke about their positive experience with the school’s tech team. Almira has a 5G Tech Lab sponsored by Verizon. It offers students the chance to experiment with coding and 3D printing. The team presented Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) CEO Eric Gordon with a tech team t-shirt.

Grant for enhanced safety: A $2.4 million grant from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission is on the table. It would be put toward safety and security in the form of parking-lot lighting, new metal detectors, new cameras and more. The board is set to hold a vote on the grant at a future meeting.

And also: Gordon is set to step down as CEO at the end of the school year. Board Chair Anne Bingham referenced a newly launched page on CMSD’s website where community members can track updates on the search for a new CEO and take a survey about the search. It also has details on how to attend community meetings in person or virtually. There is a meeting scheduled for Jan. 17, Jan. 18, and Jan. 19. Visit this page to register to attend virtually.

Read the live-tweet thread from Documenter Giorgiana Lascu:

Get a history lesson on CMSD’s mayor-appointed school board with this timeline from Signal Cleveland’s Paul Rochford.

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