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This article orginally appeared in the January, 2010 issue of Catalyst. Click
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The Cleveland Board of Education last night approved the district’s transformation plan, which will close 16 buildings, relocate three programs and completely shut down 13. An additional 22 will be drastically overhauled.
The approval didn’t come without controversy. While more than 10 community organizations—including the Cleveland chapter of the NAACP and the Cleveland Scholarship Programs—stepped forward to endorse the plan, many parents, students and teachers didn’t seem sold.
Most were upset at having been shut out of the development phase of the plan. The audience in the packed auditorium was more passionate than normal, yelling out when they disagreed with a speaker—usually those in support of the plan—and erupting in applause when they agreed.
Cleveland Teachers Union President David Quolke said that while the union supports reform, “top-down approaches, however, to large-scale reform are never successful.” He thinks a continued lack of collaboration with both teachers and parents would hinder the plan’s success.
After more than an hour of community input, the board passed the plan with no changes. Eight of the nine members approved the plan; Rashidah Abdulhaqq voted “no,” echoing concerns voiced by the community and adding a few of her own.
“We do need a change, and I’m not arguing that, but this plan is leaving more questions than answers,” Abdulhaqq said.
She questioned the funding portion of the plan—the district is hoping to supplement its income through competitive federal grants like the Investing in Innovation Fund, which aren’t guaranteed funding streams.
Abdulhaqq also expressed concern over the future of the deaf education program at Alexander Graham Bell school, which is scheduled to be moved. She said the program has developed a unique relationship with the nearby community and that some area vendors have even learned sign language so they can communicate with the students.
None of the schools that were originally slated to close have been spared; the district previously amended the plan to allow two schools that were supposed to move, Ginn Academy and Tremont Montessori, to stay at their current location after their communities rallied on behalf of their programs.
Ward 8 Councilman Jeffrey D. Johnson spoke for the Glenville academic neighborhood, where there are more K-8 school closings than anywhere else in the district. That will negatively impact the surrounding community, he said.
“You can’t talk about transforming the schools without a bigger discussion of transforming the community,” Johnson said after the meeting. He’s worried about the safety of students who will have to walk further to get to school, and he’s concerned about the vague “safety ideas” that have been brought forth thus far. “We’re talking K-8, we’re talking kids 6, 7, 8-years old walking.”
Board members Patricia Crutchfield and Louise Dempsey also raised some concerns over the plan related to safety, transportation and special education.
Willetta Milam encouraged the other board members to support the plan so the district could move forward, saying that adjustments will have to be made as the process continues. Iris Rodriguez also recognized the challenges the district will face, but said the city has “to work together, pull together to address those challenges. Because right now, the city of Cleveland is going through a very tough time, and if we don’t act to make a change, people are going to continue to move out of the city.”
Catalyst Ohio is an editorially independent newsmagazine published by the Community Renewal Society
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