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Parents, teachers urge council to preserve extended school day amid CMSD calendar debate
Summary
Several residents and parents told Cleveland City Council that a proposed unified school calendar for Cleveland Metropolitan School District could dismantle successful extended-day programs and harm student outcomes in neighborhoods across the city.
Parents and educators urged Cleveland City Council on April 7 to oppose a proposal that would move all district schools to a single calendar, saying the change would end extended-day schedules that they credit with improved outcomes at certain schools.
Several speakers told the council that Cleveland Metropolitan School District's extended-calendar schools provide additional instructional time and wraparound supports that keep families in the city and boost student success. "The Extended School Day makes that possible," said Janice Pohl, who identified herself as a former Campus International School parent and an educator. "Every child deserves this. Pulling back now would cost far more than minutes."
The comments came during the public-comment period. Janice Pohl said she and other parents across wards backed the extended calendar for its role in the International Baccalaureate model and in retaining families who otherwise might leave the city. "Forcing a single unified calendar would dismantle a program that is thriving and keeping families in this city," she said. Another resident, Stacy Stagette of Collinwood, urged the mayor and council to "leave the calendar as it is for one more year and assess which extended calendar schools are effective," providing budget and equity-based reasons to delay any change.
Speakers offered statistics and comparisons they said show the extended calendar serves predominantly Black students: "63.6% of students served by CMSD are Black and 66% of the students served in the extended calendar programs are Black," Stagette said, and she compared outcomes at different criteria schools to argue the proposal could deepen inequities.
Council members did not debate the school calendar during the public-comment segment; the district's calendar proposal and possible board action remain matters for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Citizens framed their remarks as appeals to the mayor and council to publicly support schools that use extended days and to press the district to study effectiveness before changing calendars.
The speakers also said they had asked the school board to preserve effective extended calendar programs for 2026-27 and to restructure struggling programs rather than end them. They urged council members to "encourage the school board to vote no on the CEO's proposed calendars for next school year," in the words of Stagette.
The transcript shows these remarks occurred during public comment and did not include any motion, direction to staff, or a council vote on the school calendar. Council members acknowledged the comments and proceeded with other agenda items.
The issue is likely to continue at upcoming school-board and city meetings; the council did not take formal action on the CMSD calendars during this session.
