Cleveland Metropolitan School District leaders are resuming their campaign to explain their plan to close some schools next year. The effort continues tonight at the K-8 schools and in community meetings planned for the coming weeks.
At a school board meeting Tuesday night, CEO Warren Morgan shared some of what district officials heard at in-person and virtual community meetings held in the spring and attended by nearly 500 people. He also announced meetings across the city in the coming weeks tied in with promotions for the Building Brighter Futures plan, which aims to make sure students in schools across the district have similar academic and extracurricular options.
The district has a looming budget gap to close, but the feedback the district got focused on details like class sizes, whether schools would merge or close, and what would happen to district-owned buildings that are vacated.
Due to expected reductions in state and federal funding, CMSD needs to cut spending by about $150 million by 2028. The district aims to save $30 million each year through Building Brighter Futures.
CMSD maintains more school buildings than other districts of similar size. Cincinnati Public Schools, for example, has 61 schools for its 34,761 students, according to state data. CMSD has about 90 schools for 34,598 students.
The district is also trying to ensure that all students across the district have the same opportunities. Disparities in enrollment have made that difficult, Morgan told Signal in an interview in March.
“Schools that are thriving, schools that have all the different programs, the enrollment is going to go there, and the dollars go there,” Morgan said. “So you have these other schools that are really on life support. And for the past several years, as a district, we’ve been footing the bill just for them to make the bottom line.”
Concerns: overcrowding, transportation, safety
At the Sept. 9 school board meeting, Morgan talked about the criteria the district will use to determine which schools to close (in fall of 2026 at the earliest) and where those students will go instead. The most important data categories are student enrollment, enrollment trends, the building’s condition, and its capacity.
The district will also consider a range of factors specific to each school, including student demographics, special programming offered there, transportation options, and the cost to upgrade and maintain the building.
Morgan previously said that he would make closure recommendations to the school board this fall. A district spokesperson said the exact timetable won’t be set until after the upcoming community meetings, but emphasized that no schools would be closed before the 2026-27 academic year.
Morgan’s presentation also shared some of what district officials heard from students and staff members in meetings.
Students asked questions about safety, transportation, school programming and meals. They also “enthusiastically shared the benefits of their own school while also advocating for more course offerings, sports, and social interaction with friends.”
Staff concerns included job losses, new assignments, class sizes and overcrowded buildings. Several staff also recommended considering a shift from K-8 to K-5/6-8 school models.
After this week’s school open houses, there will be another round of community meetings:
• Wednesday, Sept. 24, 6 p.m. at Joseph Gallagher, 6601 Franklin Blvd.
• Tuesday, Sept. 30, 6 p.m. at Clark, 5550 Clark Ave.
• Wednesday, Oct. 1, 6 p.m. at John Adams CCA, 3817 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
• Thursday, Oct. 2, 6 p.m. at John Marshall HS, 3952 W. 140th St.
• Tuesday, Oct. 7, 6 p.m. at Arnold Pinkney EPC, 1349 E. 79th St.
• Thursday, Oct. 9, 6 p.m. at East Tech HS, 2439 E. 55th St.
There will also be two virtual meetings:
• Monday, Sept. 29, 1 to 2:30 p.m. (registration link)
• Wednesday, Oct. 8, 10 to 11:30 a.m. (registration link)
The district also plans to hold more meetings with staff and student and parent advisory committees and to make information available on its website. Morgan will talk about the plan at his annual State of Schools address on Oct. 21.
