CMSD launches "Building Brighter Futures" community process as district faces enrollment and budget gap

Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Warren Morgan told the board that the district’s Building Brighter Futures planning process will use community feedback and data to propose systemwide changes, including program replication, expanded college credit access and, if necessary, school closures, relocations or consolidations.

The plan, Morgan said during the board business meeting, is meant to ensure “education for all the Cleveland scholars” while placing the district on “a pathway to financial sustainability.” He told the board that over the past 20 years district enrollment has fallen by more than 50% while the number of buildings has remained roughly the same, and that CMSD currently operates facilities sized for about 50,000 students while serving about 34,000.

Morgan described a multi-step community engagement process that has included in-person and virtual meetings across the city and nearly 500 participants and 66 submitted surveys in the first round. He said the district will continue outreach through the summer and fall and that no recommendations…