Dream it up, Plan it out: Master Plan to lay out future for neighborhood schools

The Cleveland Metropolitan School District has been working steadily, if a bit quietly to draft a new facilities Master Plan. This plan, whose release has been delayed since February, will help determine how building funds from the State of Ohio and local bond campaign will be invested to build, renovate, and otherwise adjust the distribution of school options around the city.

CMSD leaders say the draft plan will be released in mid-April. It will be available online at www.clevelandmetroschools.org and will likely get ample coverage in The Plain Dealer by education beat reporter Patrick O’Donnell. Once the plan is out, we will have one last opportunity to be heard about plans, especially for such aging neighborhood schools as Collinwood High School and OH Perry.

New schools, along with nimble and innovative programs in Collinwood and around the region, are out-competing these schools right now, leading to declining enrollment. What will the Master Plan offer to attract Collinwood kids to these and other neighborhood schools, to keep families happy in place?

The facilities master plan will also have some connection to the Cleveland Plan, which is changing the way schools do business, and how state and levy dollars are invested in day-to-day operations.     

Cleveland schools CEO Eric Gordon has said that his greatest fear after Issue 107 passed was that the coalition of families and community supporters that got it passed would disband and go home, thinking their work was done. He welcomes advocates in neighborhoods like ours to come out and be heard on the path forward for public education here. Be on the lookout, this month, for the Master Plan, and take a few minutes to consider whether it matches your vision for schools here. Then come out and be heard.

The double-edged sword of public education is that public schools are typically only as accountable as the people that make up their 'public' are paying attention. As an active CMSD parent, I firmly believe CEO Gordon has the best interest of our children in mind as he executes needed reforms; but it's up to us to help him calibrate those reforms to match the dreams, needs and expectations that our community has for itself.    

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Volume 6, Issue 3, Posted 2:31 PM, 04.07.2014