Community members press board on potential closures, urge equity and piloting K‑5/6‑8 model

Several community members told the Cleveland Municipal School District Board of Education on Sept. 23 that proposed consolidations and school closures risk destabilizing neighborhoods and that the district should pilot new grade configurations. Reverend Dr. Vincent E. Stokes II told the board that schools serve as neighborhood anchors and warned that closures would disproportionately affect Black neighborhoods such as Mount Pleasant, Glenville, Hough, Lee‑Harvard, Fairfax, Collinwood and Buckeye Woodland. “When schools close, neighborhoods destabilize,” Stokes said, and he urged the board to hold meetings across the city rather than repeatedly on the West Side. Andrea Dockery Murray, an art teacher at John Adams College and Career Academy, described classroom overcrowding and a non‑English‑speaking student who has been in her class since Aug. 18 without language services. She said multiple classes had more than 43 students and that many students in her classes have individualized education plans. Murray said staff and families need clarity about possible dissolutions or mergers and expressed concern about teacher workloads and building capacity. Elliot Kamen, a CMSD high‑school teacher, urged the district to pilot K‑5 and 6‑8 schools in East and West neighborhoods, arguing that separate elementary and middle configurations better address different age groups’ needs and could help the district regain enrollment. He cited district and national assessment data to argue that current K‑8 configurations may not prepare students adequately for high school. These remarks were made during the public participation period; they did not produce formal board action at the Sept. 23 meeting. Speakers asked the administration to prioritize equity, to consult communities across the city and to consider piloting new grade configurations as the district undertakes consolidation planning tied to budget shortfalls.