Cleveland pastors held a joint press conference with Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb Thursday to announce their support for a far-reaching consolidation plan at Cleveland schools.
The plan calls for closing almost 30 schools in a bid to adjust to years of declining enrollment, address a deficit and improve course offerings and programs at buildings that remain. Bibb said efforts to address low enrollment and academically struggling students at the urban district were long overdue.
"I know change is hard, I know it's very hard, but our children are suffering as a result of us not having the political courage to make hard decisions about the future of this district," Bibb said.
The plan, if approved by the CMSD Board of Education, would cut the total number of public schools in Cleveland by almost a third starting next school year. It calls for 45 elementary schools, down from 61 schools at 62 buildings, and 14 high schools, down from 27 schools at 23 buildings. The goal is to have all students in new or recently updated buildings that have more course offerings, extracurriculars and career exploration programs.
Rev. C. Jay Matthews, pastor at Mt. Sinai-Friendship United, was the former co-chair of the Bond Accountability Commission. The commission, an independent nonprofit organization, provides oversight of big construction projects the district has taken on using bonds funded by local taxes.
He says the plan will provide a way for the district to address aging buildings that it could never afford to repair or replace, by mothballing them.
"Some will choose to fight it. Some will choose to be for it," Matthews said. " But while you're choosing whatever your side is, we choose to stand with our mayor, our CEO, and our children."
Bibb said the city and school district will announce a plan in the coming weeks for repurposing the closed schools. Ohio law requires districts to first offer buildings to charter schools if they either haven't been used for one year, or less than 60 percent of a building was used for “direct academic instruction” during the previous year.
Some, including Cleveland Councilmember Mike Polensek, have suggested families would rather send their students to charter schools or private schools if their neighborhood schools are closed.
When asked about potential layoffs as a result of the consolidation, CMSD CEO Warren Morgan said the district is still determining what staffing levels will look like next school year. He recommended parents make decisions as soon as they can once the district's "choice portal" opens so the district can plan for how to staff newly consolidated schools.
"We have, every year, attrition and we have current vacancies, right, and so between attrition, vacancies, and also determining the enrollment, we may end up where we need to be, but we won't know until families make a choice," he said.
Bibb said the support of the clergy will be key as the district and city go about communicating the plan.
"Having the clergy support is important because many members of our community belong to their churches and it's important that they join us in this coalition to make sure we are doing God's work to build a brighter future for our young people," he said.
