Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Governance Goals topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Cleveland school board advances draft student‑outcomes goals, holds community listening session on guardrails
Summary
Board presented three draft five‑year goals — early literacy, Algebra I proficiency and college/career readiness — and three “CEO shall not” guardrails. The board is soliciting community feedback and will work with the CEO to set interim performance measures.
The Cleveland Board of Education continued community engagement on a set of districtwide goals and guardrails the board has drafted to center governance on measurable student outcomes.
Chair Ellicott opened the work session by summarizing the student‑outcomes focused governance shift the board began in 2023 and introduced a facilitated listening session led by board member Welch Howell to gather public feedback on the draft goals and guardrails.
The board presented three draft goals. The first is an early‑literacy target: the percentage of third‑grade students proficient in English language arts, which the board said was 35 percent in August 2024, is to rise to 60 percent by August 2030. The second is a math proficiency target tied to Algebra I for first‑time test takers with a target date of August 2030; the transcript did not specify the baseline percentage. The third is a college and career readiness goal: increase the share of the four‑year graduation cohort meeting at least one college‑ready indicator; a baseline was not specified in the presentation.
Ellicott said the goals are priorities, not strategies, and stressed the board will work with the CEO to set interim goals and the operational strategies staff will propose to reach them. "The goals must only measure what students know and are able to do," Ellicott said during the presentation, repeating a framework point that the board used to focus its oversight.
The board also proposed three guardrails—framed as prohibitions the CEO must not violate as the district pursues the goals. The safety guardrail states the CEO "shall not fail to promote safety within CMSD facilities, along with physical and mental well‑being for all students." The opportunity guardrail states the CEO "shall not implement an academic program that fails to provide access to artistic, athletic, and career preparation opportunities for all students," a protection board members said is intended to prevent defunding of arts or extracurriculars in pursuit of core academic targets. A third guardrail centers community inclusion and prohibits significant operational changes without appropriate community involvement.
Board members and staff said the draft goals and guardrails were informed by district performance data and prior engagement efforts, including the CEO's listening tour, the board's CEO search community engagement, and the mayor's community listening tour. Ellicott said after adoption the board will place interim goals and academic data at the forefront of regular board meeting agendas to monitor progress.
The board invited participants to a facilitated circle for community input and reminded attendees that an online survey (clevelandmetroschools.org/goals-guardrails) remained open through the end of the day for additional comment. Chair Ellicott said the board will collect the public input, may ask clarifying questions during the listening session, and will not be answering questions from the floor during that segment other than procedural clarifications.
The board did not take final action on the goals or guardrails at the meeting; Ellicott said the process will continue and that the board and CEO will agree on interim performance indicators once the goals are adopted.
