It's back-to-school time for Cleveland Metropolitan School District students, and that means big decisions for the district on consolidation are looming closer than ever.
Specifically, officials have said a decision is coming sometime this school year on which schools will be closed and combined, though there will be more opportunities this fall for community input on that plan, which the district calls "Building Brighter Futures."
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, CMSD CEO Warren Morgan and others toured Max S. Hayes High School and other schools Monday morning, on the first day of school.
Bibb checked out classrooms devoted to welding and construction trades at Max Hayes. He said the district’s "Building Brighter Futures" plan could mean more students accessing amenities like these.
"The residents I talked to on the East Side really want to see a version of Max Hayes in that part of the community, so that all of our kids have equal access, and so we're excited about that," Bibb said.
The district says it needs to close schools to focus resources on the schools that remain, citing a need to cut at least $150 million dollars after years of enrollment decline. Many schools at CMSD have low enrollment, with almost a third of its schools having fewer than 60% of seats full, Ideastream Public Media has previously reported.
Bibb, who joins the school board in hiring the district's CEO and has final say on hiring board members, said he understands not everyone will be happy when the district moves to close buildings.
"We have some hard choices to make, but these hard choices are going to give us the resources that we need to ensure we have high quality options in every part of our city," Bibb said.
Cleveland Teachers Union President Shari Obrenski said the career that technical education students get varies widely from building to building across the district. East Tech High School has a culinary program with facilities to match, for example, while John Marshall High School has an IT program. She said closings buildings will allow the district to take a more holistic approach
"I think we have a real opportunity... with the upcoming changes to reevaluate the career programs that we have in the district, to make sure that we're offering career programs that are going to provide opportunities for our students now and in the future," she said.
Ashley Rodriguez, a 10th grader at Max S. Hayes High School, said the school’s welding and trades classes give her options to explore what she could do in her future career, even if she's not that excited about some of those trades.
"I don't feel like doing no construction-type stuff. But I could try it out, at least," she said.
