The Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) Board of Education voted unanimously Dec. 9 to approve the district’s Building Brighter Futures plan recommended by CEO Dr. Warren G. Morgan. 

The stated goal of the plan is to “right-size” the district, advance equity between CMSD schools and ensure financial sustainability by closing 18 school buildings, ending leases and merging others in order to operate 29 fewer schools by next year.

“We no longer have the luxury or option of no change,” Morgan told the Board when presenting the plan on Nov. 5. “This is about equity, opportunity and sustainability. We must ensure that every scholar, regardless of where they live, has access to high-quality programs and learning environments. Building Brighter Futures is our chance to do this right—together.”

CMSD students, teachers and administrators interviewed share concern for the immediate impacts of the consolidation on students, including larger class sizes and worsened public image. Nonetheless, they acknowledge the financial necessity of the plan and optimistically await its potential long-term benefits. 

“The plan prioritizes cost savings because it has to, but it will save educational outcomes as well,” said Charles Ellenbogen, English teacher at John Adams College and Career Academy. “One thing’s for sure though and that’s that the consolidation has to happen.” 

For the past two decades, enrollment at CMSD has declined by more than 50%. Yet the district has continued to operate 90 school buildings, despite many needing repair and a looming $150 million deficit. 

CMSD leaders started drawing attention to the district’s budget deficit near the end of 2023, shortly after Morgan was appointed as CEO. The district was expected to enter a deficit in 2025, which would balloon to $514 million by 2028. 

In response, officials pushed the deficit back by cutting funding for extracurricular programs, decreasing summer learning opportunities and cutting some administrative positions. Voters also approved a tax increase, which raised an additional $49 million every year, further pushing the deficit off to 2028. 

However, having determined that the budget cuts and levies weren’t sufficient, Morgan and Mayor Justin Bibb began pushing for the Building Brighter Futures plan, which is designed to save the school district an additional $30 million each year. 

“Facts are the facts,” Bibb stated at the State of the Schools Address on Oct. 21. “If we don’t make these hard decisions now, we’re going to be facing a nearly $150 million deficit over the next couple of years—or state takeover. So it’s important that we continue to be the masters of our destiny and put the district on a better pathway towards financial stability.”

There are several reasons contributing to the deficits. For one, the funds allocated to CMSD during the COVID-19 pandemic used for wireless devices, extracurricular programs and other items were largely gone by 2024, creating a need to preserve funding. 

“There was never a plan on how to pay for those things on a go-forward basis,” Mayor Bibb said in 2024 concerning CMSD budget cuts. “And so now we have to make some hard choices to ensure that we have a long-term financial sustainability pathway for the district.” 

Furthermore, declining enrollment rates caused by falling birth rates and an increase in private and charter school enrollment has led to some CMSD schools being described as “half-empty.”  Since state funding for schools corresponds to student enrollment, state funding has been reduced even as operating costs rise, worsening the deficit. 

Additionally, Ohio has allocated increasing amounts of money towards private school voucher programs, using public funding to subsidize private education. In 2025 alone, Ohio spent $1.05 billion on private school voucher programs, which can be compared to $970 million in 2024 and $610 million in 2023. Despite these large increases in funding, there hasn’t been a large increase in new students enrolled in private schools. 

In 2025, non-public school enrollment increased by 8,088 students, a 4.6% rise from the previous year. At the same time, 100,930 students received EdChoice Expansion vouchers, which are available to families earning up to 450% of the federal poverty level, including some who were already sending their children to private schools without financial assistance.

Organizations like Policy Matters Ohio criticize lawmakers of siphoning funds for private schools and weakening public schools by passing legislation that prioritizes school choice. They also argue that this shift has contributed to budget deficits in districts across Ohio, including CMSD. 

While many teachers view the consolidation as fiscally necessary, some are worried about how the consolidation will impact students’ learning, especially for those enrolled in special education programs. 

“The push for inclusion [of special education students in typical classrooms] is something I get, but when classes get larger, students who need more help [are bound to get] neglected,” Ellenbogen said.  

While the CMSD website states the district’s commitment to continuing to provide inclusive and individualized support throughout the implementation of the consolidation plan, CMSD parents of disabled students have expressed concerns that special education students may not get adequate support at merged schools. 

Some teachers and administrators are also worried that the plan may aggravate tension between students from rival schools, as with the planned consolidation of Glenwood and Collinwood High Schools. 

“There was another consolidation during the mid-nineties where they closed John Adams, and students from John Adams ended up coming over to John F. Kennedy, and there were some issues with respect to neighborhood differences that people have,” said Dr. Terrance Menefee, former Principal at John F. Kennedy High School and current Assistant Principal of Kenneth Clement Boys Academy. 

“With respect to some potentially violent episodes, I’m praying that they’d front load resources there to help with the merger and keep the right staff members around the community to ensure peace. Then, I think we’ll be okay,” Menefee said. 

Furthermore, many CMSD community members are concerned about transportation under the Building Brighter Futures plan. While CMSD is responsible for providing transportation to 15,000 students, not all CMSD students receive bus services or take the Greater Cleveland RTA. 

According to CMSD, K–7 students can receive bus service if they already qualify and their new school is more than one mile from home. Those who choose a school over three miles away will not get transportation at their merged school. 

Transportation is only guaranteed for students attending their assigned new school; students who choose another school are eligible only if they live one to three miles away. 

Students at districtwide specialty schools will receive transportation if they live more than a mile from the school, and transportation will continue for students with transportation-related IEPs. High school students will still receive transportation through the RTA if they live over a mile from school.

However, parents are still concerned about transportation to new merged-schools. For some families, attending their new merged-school requires them to travel to an entirely different community. For students who take the RTA, this can be especially concerning due to fears regarding safety on the RTA. 

“I was supposed to go to John Hay but it’s too far from where I live, and the RTA can be unsafe,”  said Alia’Richae Miller, valedictorian at John Adams College and Career Academy. “It’s scary to be in an unsafe area on the RTA without your family.”

Beyond transportation concerns, the consolidation has sparked discussion on the district’s broader direction. 

Teachers who’ve attended CMSD believe that the consolidation represents a shift toward CMSD’s old public education model, prior to the introduction of specialized public schools by former CMSD CEO Eugene Sanders in 2006. In constructing the “Transformation Plan,” which sought to create “charter-like” conditions in public schools, Sanders wished for CMSD to become a “district of choice,” featuring competitive programs that would attract and retain ambitious students. 

“[Students could go to school] wherever [they] wanted to,” said Lisa Rand, social studies teacher at John Adams College and Career Academy. “If you lived on the east side, you could be bussed to schools on the west side. You could go wherever you want to. There were no disparities between the schools. You might have gotten a different program within a one school, but it was all the same. There was no difference.” 

Rand believes that the model further segregated CMSD and introduced disparities by creating schools that require test scores for admittance, such as John Hay High School, and by intentionally implementing programs at other schools that steer students towards a vocational rather than a college preparatory track. 

“[The specialized education model] creates a natural segregation,” continued Rand. “Calling it equity doesn’t make it real—when lower-performing schools are steered toward certain programs, like placing cosmetology at John Adams instead of offering options like those at John Hay, it reflects assumptions about their students and communities that end up reinforcing segregation and limiting opportunity.”

The disparity Rand describes has been noticed by CMSD students as well. 

“My schools growing up didn’t have a lot of programs,” Miller said. “Schools like JFK have so many more programs. I didn’t have a biology teacher for the longest time. Resources are clearly lacking. All the students are capable of being smart and doing well, so they should all have access to the resources to do so.”

Rand also believes that the specialized education model has deteriorated public perception of certain CMSD public schools while elevating others. 

“They’re trying to return to the old model, but the effects of that’s going to be that parents are going to flee because they won’t be willing to bring their kids to a school that has a reputation of a certain clientele, a certain student that brings in a certain characteristic that they don’t want their child to be around,” Rand said.

However, Rand has faith that the consolidation will eventually change public perception of CMSD and hopefully encourage people to enroll their children at CMSD. However, she believes that this progress won’t be linear, and isn’t likely to occur within the next five years.  

“You will not see a major success within the first five years,” Rand said. “A lot of parents will flee into charter and private schools. Enrollment will likely decrease, but once people see a better outcome from our public schools—within 10 to 15 years—you will see an influx of parents bringing their kids back to CMSD and the program will work.” 

Other educators share an optimistic outlook on the consolidation, and contend that the upcoming changes are necessary to ensure a future for CMSD. 

“There will be an opportunity to have those programs [that were initially cut to alleviate the deficit to] come back to the schools,” Menefee said. “They may even offer more foreign languages and computer classes, and the level of sports participation will increase at all schools. Right now, some high schools can’t field a team in football or basketball because they don’t have enough students to participate.” 

Students hope the consolidation improves CMSD. 

“I hope the consolidation [will remedy the disparity] and give students more opportunities to have input in the school district,” Miller said. “I feel like the administration doesn’t take my voice seriously as a teenager, but I’m happy that they’ve started asking students what it is they want from their high school experience recently.” 

Nevertheless, despite increased class sizes, possible changes in setting, and changes in student body size, CMSD teachers refuse to allow the consolidation to impact their quality of teaching. 

“You can either get frustrated and give up and say the system is terrible, or you can try to find allies and find support within the system and provide a quality experience for the kids,” Ellenbogen said. “It requires persistence–a resilience that can be exhausting.” 

CMSD educators are united in their hopes that the school district remembers to remain focused on students while making cost-efficient changes. 

“I hope that they don’t lose focus on every student that has a future. I hope they remain sensitive about the importance of these schools to students,” Menefee said. 

“I used to tell my students when I taught at the grad level that the high schools are the citadels of all communities,” he added. “People make connections based on their hometowns and high schools in college, so it’s important we remember that closing or merging some schools doesn’t mean that their histories need to be erased. School administrators and teachers have to be mindful of that with their students.”