Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Warren Morgan said Tuesday a decision might not come until early next year, or beyond, on which schools the district will move to close and consolidate with others as the district faces major pressures around enrollment and finances.
The district will also be hosting additional public meetings this fall around its "Building Brighter Futures" plan, which leaders have pitched as a way for the district to consolidate resources and improve students' experiences across the board by closing schools and focusing on the ones that remain. The district has said any decisions won't take effect until the 2026-2027 school year.
Morgan provided an update to the CMSD Board of Education on the plan Tuesday. After the public engagement meetings in September and October, the district will begin to formulate recommendations on which buildings will be closed. Morgan's presentation indicated that "impacted schools" will be notified in fall 2025, however he said after the meeting that that's a loose goal.
"We don't know yet. We just know that the engagement will start in the fall. It can go into as early as the top of the year as well... like January, February," Morgan said.
A total of 476 people showed up to the in-person and virtual meetings in the spring where the district collected input on consolidation. That number doesn't include individual meetings with student advisory groups and boards of community groups. Morgan said several themes emerged from commenters.
- Concerns about staff cuts
- Preserving academic programming parents and students had come to rely on
- Safety at new buildings
- Preserving programs for specific student populations like immigrants
- How buildings will be reused once they're closed
- Transportation to new buildings
Next opportunities to offer input
There will be parent open houses at all high schools on Wednesday and all other schools Thursday, along with the following "regional" meetings:
- Near West Side: Joseph M. Gallagher Sept. 24, 6:00 p.m.
- Virtual meetings on Sept. 29 at 1:00 pm and Oct. 8 at 10 a.m.
- West Side: Clark School, Sept. 30, 6 p.m.
- Southeast Side: John Adams High School, Oct. 1, 6 p.m.
- Southwest Side: John Marshall High School, Oct. 2, 6 p.m.
- Northeast Side: Arnold Pinkney East Professional Center, Oct. 7, 6 p.m.
- East Side: East Tech High School, Oct. 9, 6 p.m.
