Production and distribution of city club forums and ideastream.

Public media are made possible by PNC and the United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland, Inc.. Hello and welcome to the City Club of Cleveland, where we are devoted to creating conversations of consequence that help democracy thrive.

It's Tuesday, October 1st.

And I'm Mark Ross, retired managing partner of TWC and president of the City Club Board of Directors.

I am also a proud board member of college now Greater Cleveland and adjunct professor at Miami University and a city of Cleveland resident and voter, making today's conversation incredibly important to me personally.

We are here for the annual state of the schools presented by KeyBank and PNC with additional support from college.

Now the Good Community Foundation, Tri-C and Cleveland dot com and the Plain Dealer.

Thank you as well to our partners at Ideastream Public Media for their partnership in producing today's forum and to nordson for their continued support of the City Clubs, Education and Innovation Series.

Since 2011, the state of the schools has served as an important annual moment of reflection on the progress and opportunities of Cleveland Public Schools.

As our community continue to make transformational changes and investments, including the adoption of the Cleveland Plan and later say yes to education.

This year's moment of reflection is also one month ahead of Election Day, at which time important school levy, an important school levy will be on the ballot for voters in the city of Cleveland, which only increases the importance of today's conversation by Dr. Warren Morgan, CEO of CMS City, as he delivers his second annual address this afternoon.

Last year, Dr. Morgan joined us only a few short months after taking the helm as CEO.

In the summer of 2023, succeeding Eric Gordon.

He shared with us his learnings from his 100 day listening tour throughout Cleveland, which included 30 plus community engagement events and connecting face to face with a thousand plus scholars, teachers and parents in the district to improve communications, increased engagement with the community and students, better safety and, yes, tastier school lunches were all areas.

Dr. Morgan hoped to tackle from those sessions.

So today, we will get an important update from Dr. Morgan on how these and other initiatives are going.

And like a good student, I did my homework before joining you today.

What I learned was we just received some really positive news.

Chemistry has reached an unprecedented milestone, meeting state standards and earning a three star rating on the Ohio State report card.

For the first time in its history, while none of the other Ohio, eight urban districts in the state can say the same.

Yes, for those not familiar with the Ohio, we scored higher than Akron.

Can Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown.

In addition, I spoke with a neighbor who teaches at Garrett Morgan about how things were going now that COVID was in the rearview mirror.

He beamed with pride, talking about his students, their incredible level of engagement and the amazing atmosphere in his building.

We are truly making progress.

Before I move on, can I get a round of applause for all the chemistry students and teachers here today?

What an amazing turnout.

And we are proud of your efforts and accomplishments.

For those who may not yet be familiar.

Prior to joining CMC as its CEO, Dr. Morgan served as the chief academic officer of Indiana, Indianapolis Public Schools, and also how leadership roles at Teach for America and Chicago Public Schools.

No stranger to Cleveland, however, is from 2014 to 2016.

He served as a network leader for CMC.

Following that, Dr. Morgan served as a prestigious fellow in both the Obama and Trump administrations.

A Chicago native, Dr. Morgan is a graduate of Butler University, the University of Missouri, Saint Louis, and the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Now, before we begin, and to give us a sense of just how much has been accomplished this year, please enjoy this brief video prepared by our friends at CMC as we welcome Dr. Morgan to the stage.

Over a year ago, when I started my role as CEO, I had the opportunity to receive words of wisdom and advice from one of my mentors.

He served as the CEO of Chicago Public Schools and also as the former United State Secretary of Education under the Obama.

Administration, Mr. Ernie Duncan.

Now, a year later.

I had the opportunity to catch up with Ernie and.

Discuss the first year and reflect on.

Lessons learned.

Challenges, successes, progress made.

It was such a fruitful conversation.

But Ernie asked me one question that I would like to reflect a little bit more.

What gave you the most hope?

What inspired you the most?

Will Ernie?

That is a great question.

What gives me most hope and inspires me is our incredible CMC and Cleveland community because we have made so much progress.

And speaking of progress, others are hearing about our progress and they're celebrating with us.

Hey, theme of the is Congresswoman Cecil Brown.

I just got the good news.

I heard you guys have met the state standards on the district state report card.

Raising the bar to making that a three star district.

I am so proud of you as a proud of Cleveland public schools.

I am super excited that you have made this historic accomplish summit.

Keep up the amazing work and I cannot wait to see what you guys do next.

Congratulations.

Hey, everybody.

Chris Ronan, you're Cuyahoga County executive.

I want to congrats the CMS on achieving a new standard of excellence.

A three star never been achieved before in the state of Ohio for D before they did it.

And I'm so proud of you and see me as d. I want to say thank you to our principles, to our superintendent, to our teachers, mostly our students, because you're the ones who received that distinguished honor.

Congrats on your three start.

Let's go to MSD.

Greetings.

I'm Ray Harte, the executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools.

I just want to take a moment to say congratulations to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District on your accomplishment of achieving three stars and meeting state standards for the first time in the district's history.

This is a testament to your school district, your leaders, your teachers, your administrators, and all of the staff across the district who have worked hard to improve outcomes for students.

Congratulations on the wonderful accomplishment and we know that you have bigger and better things coming in the future.

Congratulations to all of you and we wish you all the best.

Hey, Cleveland.

My name is Jen Cheatham.

I am a faculty member at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and co-chair of the Public Education Leadership Project at Harvard.

Major, congratulations to the CMS community on making such strong gains in student achievement.

Three stars, many more to come.

Thank you, Dr. Morgan.

Staff, school leaders, educators, parents, and especially students.

For all that you do to ensure Cleveland is a thriving community for all.

Congratulations.

Hi.

I'm Secretary Fudge.

Congratulations, Dr. Morgan.

To you and to all the entire team AC, MSD, your educators, your staff, your parents, your students, community partners on meeting state standards for the very first time.

So very proud of you all.

Keep up the great work.

As Van Johnson, CNN.

I just want to congratulate the Cleveland metropolitan area for meaning that school stands in the very first time.

The first time that the last time.

Cleveland Metropolitan School System congratulates.

No small feat.

Meeting state standards.

First time.

You know how many of the babies?

How many of the babies have an opportunity to really live into their dreams.

Thank you.

God bless.

Congratulations.

Hey, everybody.

It's Governor Westmore.

And I want to congratulate the Cleveland Metropolitan School District on your huge milestone in meeting state standards and earning three stars.

To the educators and school leaders who have contributed to Ohio's future.

You made history because of your hard work.

My friend, Dr. Morgan.

Your leadership is paving the way for a brighter future for Cleveland's children.

Thank you.

Keep up the great work and keep leading.

Everybody, It's mayor Justin Bibb, and I just want to congratulate the entire CMC community on their historic accomplishment of meeting state standards on the District's state report card.

Hats off to you for your hard work.

Let's keep the progress going.

Hey, this is Miguel Cardona hanging out with your CEO.

Congratulations on the standards.

Congratulations on the hard work.

I know you're going to have an amazing school year.

Keep grinding.

Keep up the great work.

Proud of you.

Hi, Cleveland family, This is Dr. Morgan, your CEO, and we got invited to the White House facing your progress.

Congratulations, TMZ, for getting three stars and making the standards, meeting state standards for the first time in history.

I'm so proud of you.

Congratulations to as family.

Oh, man.

CMC community echoed those sentiments in the video.

Give yourselves another round of applause for three stars.

Oh, man.

It feels great to be here seeing all your faces, our community, our parents, scholars, educators, partners, supporters, all of you who make this district What it is reminds me of the incredible collective effort it takes to create success that reflects a shared with former Secretary Arne Duncan and along with other words of support that you heard in the video.

Our testament to the heart and resilience of this district.

Now, also, if you look at your table, there's one other special congratulatory note now, due to time that we just met state standards a couple of weeks ago.

He was not able to do a video, but none other than our 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden, also sends the CMC community Congratulations on meeting state standards and making history for the first time.

Congratulations, Community.

And thank you.

President Joe Biden.

I'd like to begin by acknowledging some very special guests we have with us today.

Now, if you look up at the slide, we have some of our partners that have been longtime partners.

I know there are so many partners, not all of them are listed here, but we wanted to show our gratitude and thank them for being here.

But we also have the 58th mayor of our great city of Cleveland, the honorable Justin Embiid in the house.

He's accompanied by city officials, chiefs Michelle Pomerantz, chief son Sonya Prior Jones and as he chief pointing in the House as well.

Thank you for being here.

Council president Blaine Griffin I see is in the house and we want to thank all of the other city council members and other local and state elected leaders that are here.

Our CMC Board of Education, our chair, Sara Ellicott, Dr. Nicholas Schraeder, Diana Whelchel, Robert Briggs, Madhuri, LeBron and Charlene Jones.

Thank you for your continued guidance and leadership.

I know we had the Cleveland Teachers Union in the House, CTU President Cyril Bronski and also Quintin Davis.

I was about to say Dr. Quinn Davis mind those coming soon, who's also the leader of our Principals and School Leaders Association.

If Dr. or if Principal Davis is in the House, just give him a round of applause.

We also want to thank our hosts for today, the City Club and to Dan Walther.

Thank you for doing this year after year and to Ideastream, who is live streaming today's address.

We thank you for your partnership and then also to the consistent support from the consistent support of the Cleveland Gond and Martha, Martha Holden Jennings Foundations.

We just thank you for being a partner.

I also have some very special guests with me today.

My parents are here from Chicago.

So Warren and Rosemary Morgan, thank you so much.

My big sister, who's a fierce attorney, I wouldn't stand up against her in the court of law.

My sister, April Morgan, is also in the house.

My younger sister, Autumn, could not be here today, but I know she's watching.

My dear friend Natalie is here with me.

So thank you so much for your constant support.

And then my cousin Fred, who is a C MSD alum.

And of course, I want to thank all of you, the entire Kim SD family, our scholars, staff, parents and partners.

Your dedication is what fuels our continued progress and growth.

Stepping into this role reinforced why I do this work.

I know firsthand the power of education to transform lives because I was once in the shoes of many of our scholars.

This work is personal for me.

At our convocation this year.

I had the opportunity to share with our staff my personal story.

I shared how our family had a house fire.

We were homeless for a year, and then when I entered into college, I faced discrimination, felt out of place, struggled academically, and was even stopped by the campus police.

More than once because they thought I did not belong.

But if it weren't for a small community of adults who believed in and supported me, I would not be where I am today.

More specifically, my senior year of college, I do not have the tuition money to return to school to finish.

But our dean of students, Dr. Irene, Student Stephens, who was completely different from me.

She is white.

She is older than me.

But she saw beyond.

The struggling young black man.

I was there and invested in my potential, my future, and she wrote the check for me to finish school.

I paid.

Yes.

Let's give Irene Dr. Stevens a hand.

I paid Irene back many years ago.

But I will never forget how she and others in my village invested in me.

Not because of who I was then, but believed in all that I could be.

That's what drives me every day.

Believe the belief that we can and must invest in every child's potential.

We are all here for the same reason to ensure that CMT Scholars have access to a quality education that opens doors and creates opportunities.

But this work isn't done by one person.

It's a collective effort.

Today, as I share the current state of chemistry, I will share lessons learned, progress made, and the path forward for our school system.

But above all, I want to discuss how the work of educating Cleveland's children truly takes all of us coming together on purpose, because together we are building a future that our scholars deserve.

Now, this past year has been one of both reflection and renewal for me.

I started last year with a listening and learning tool and had the opportunity to visit all of our city schools and programs.

You heard me say that listening and learning is not a moment, but it is a way of leading.

Not only did I listen and learn, but by working with each of you, our team has responded.

The number one issue that we heard from family scholars and educators was safety.

By working with our Cleveland Teachers Union and safety and security team.

We responded by ensuring that this year all CNN city schools are cell phone free learning environments.

I know our scholars may not be clapping over there, but we're working on it.

We'll get there.

Schools like George Washington Carver, which implemented this policy last year, have already seen remarkable improvements in reducing behavior issues tied to phone distractions.

By eliminating this barrier to focus and discipline, we are fostering classrooms where students are more engaged and learning outcomes.

Consider our safety and security team have also partnered with the City of Cleveland to provide safe routes to school.

We are also in the process of implementing a new badging system that will start in 2025 for all of our high schools so that we can better keep track of those who are entering in our buildings.

Now, this time last year, I was asked about our district's plan to provide more nutritious foods in our schools.

And today I'm really excited to share the strikes we've made to provide high quality meals in our schools this school year.

The number of Kominski schools having a fresh fruit and vegetable bar increased from eight schools to 21 schools.

This is also the first year that we have partnered with people of color own farms like village family farms that are producing locally sourced produce to directly to our students.

This partnership is currently in seven of our schools and we are expanding to more.

Now, last year there were several times that we received critical feedback on decisions that were made.

We'll just name the ones that we've heard.

We all heard about the Get More Mackenzie Scott funds and the Marion Seltzer rebuild.

But by intently hearing the concerns of scholars, educators, community members, not only did we bring back the get more Mackenzie Scott opportunity, but we also improved it.

So now that every school, now every school in our district has access to these funds, as we move forward with the long overdue construction of the new Marion Seltzer School.

We are committed to listening closely to the Caddell Park and Marion Seltzer community to ensure that together we provide our schools, our scholars with a school that is both conducive to 21st century learning and preserves greenspace.

And let's not underestimate the parents of Cleveland's children.

They are stepping up in ways that are driving real change.

Let's give them a hand.

Due to their relentless advocacy for the first time in chemistry history.

We've launched a virtual grade book giving parents real time insights to their child's academic progress.

No longer do parents have to wait until the end of the quarter to know how their child is doing.

They can work with their child early and often and their teacher early and often to ensure our scholars are on track.

Now, last year we also encountered challenges that tested us.

Perhaps the most daunting challenge was our district being under fiscal watch with the state.

Our budget forecast showed negative reserves of nearly $200 million, and if we did not act, we face the possibility of state takeover.

Much of our budget deficit was due to the expiration of federal COVID relief dollars that supported learning recovery following the global pandemic.

This forced us to make difficult but necessary choices that included reducing positions at central office and making deep budget cuts across the district.

These decisions were not made lightly.

Yet, through collective will, disciplined choices and unwavering focus on our scholars in the instructional core, we weathered the storm and got our district out.

A fiscal watch with the state.

Not only did we improve our financial outlook, we maintained school based budget funds.

We negotiated new labor agreements giving teachers, custodians, bus drivers and other staff members a much needed and one of the highest cost of living raises they have seen.

We froze executive level salaries and put spending controls on administrative expenses.

In fact, I cut my CEO budget by 40% this year.

And my budget last year was 39% less than the CEO budget.

Prior to me starting, though, there is more work to be done to put our district on a path to financial sustainability.

And I will speak to this momentarily.

Last year revealed the depth of our resilience and the strength.

Of our commitment.

Now, as I reflect, as we reflect on this past year, we have much to celebrate.

But let's be clear, our achievements are not the result of one person's effort or a single initiative.

They are the product of a collective community that has come together to lift our children higher.

I'm so proud to announce that our state report card showed that attendance is up and chronic absenteeism is down.

And thanks to our partners in the community like the Cleveland Browns and their commitment to the stay in the Game school attendance initiative.

Together, we are building a culture where attendance is not just expected.

It's celebrated.

We closed out September, launching the Step up for Cleveland Kids Rally and walk with over 700 registrations of individuals committed to the future of CMT.

We've seen remarkable progress in other areas.

Our collaborations with CBS and college now has led to an 8% increase in college applications.

FAFSA completions are up and graduation rates have increased.

One of Christie's core values is care and well-being.

So we've partnered with Cleveland based health care centers to ensure wellness clinics are in our schools, providing over 48,000 services last year alone, including primary care, behavioral health, vision and dental services.

We also celebrated several wins in our schools.

We saw the back to back state championships in football and cheerleading and state placement in track at Glenville.

I see you, Councilman Cartwheel students completed their first solo flight at Davis.

Our John Marshall Band was invited for the first time to participate in the National Independence Day Parade in Washington.

Yeah, our robotics teams were state champions, and four of our yes, four of our robotics teams competed out of state, including the east tech Scripps that represented our district in Rochester, New York.

Oh, yeah.

Councilman Scott, ego.

Our wins are collective from our scholars to our educators like Cleveland teachers Mayling Escoto and Bridget McCarthy being awarded the Fund for Teaching Fellowship to travel to Italy and Thailand to bring back innovative experiences to their classrooms.

See, MSD is also proud to have 26 state of the art STEM, innovative and digital fabrication labs across our district, where our scholars are putting their design skills to use.

As a matter of fact, the gifts that you'll receive today and the centerpieces, the flower centerpieces you see at your table, they were all designed by our students.

So let's give our scholars a round of applause.

And in case you want to take the centerpiece home, I believe that at each table there's one seat that has a sticker either to the left or the right that you can look at to see if you are the winner of taking that centerpiece on.

But these achievements reflect more than individual successes.

They demonstrate the power of education when driven by collaboration.

So I have highlighted the success of programs and partnerships that have supported our schools over the past year.

But you've already heard it, and I would be remiss if I did not take the moment to celebrate the true reason why we're here, which is student achievement in academics, and we must celebrate again, see them as these academic progress on the state report card showing that for the first time in history, chemistry achieved three stars and is meeting state standards.

I'm proud to report that Team SD received the highest rating of all urban districts in the state of Ohio, and we are the only urban districts in our state meeting state standards.

We achieved significant gains in English language arts and math proficiency last year.

Our gap closing and in progress efforts have been remarkable, with eight out of nine subgroups exceeding growth expectations in math, in seven out of nine exceeding them in English language arts.

Now, while there is still work to be done in K-3 literacy and graduation rates, both of these measures are higher than what they were the year prior.

This progress is just the beginning, and our report card shows us that we are on the right track.

We have increased the number of CMS DD schools and partner charter schools that are meeting state standards.

In fact, we have several four and five star schools within our district where they serve.

Yes.

As a model for what's possible.

Now, when people ask what I attribute our three star rating to, I share that it is twofold.

First, our state report proves that the collective work and years of this community investing in the Cleveland Plan is working.

Second, at last year's state of the school, I introduced our district's new core values strategic priorities and core measures.

What I shared last year was not just lip service.

It's our plan and it's the way we're leading at MSD.

Our team has been persistent and intentional in the alignment between the coherent strategies and goals at the central office to the great work that is happen And we are making sure that we improve and enhance the instructional core.

And the instructional core is all about what is happening with the student, the teacher and the instructional content that child is being taught.

One critical step in this direction is the rollout of our new high quality English language arts curriculum.

Now, I know there is more work to be done to ensure adequate training and resources for this curriculum and more content areas that they're available in all of our schools and we have work to do there.

However, this initiative is a promise that we are ensuring high quality to every scholar, every school, every neighborhood.

Another example of this work taking place is Principal Amanda Amanda Rodriguez, his middle school math team at Clarke School, led by Dana Crain and Daniel Bitterness, their intentional instructional practice and focus on student proficiency led to 66.7% proficiency for seventh grade and 70.6% proficiency for eighth grade.

In science, Sheila Chamberlain's eighth grade students achieved 82.4% proficiency on their exam.

These proficiency rates at Clark outperformed the state, and Clark received four stars on the state report card.

This is not just an aspiration.

This is real progress and achievement that is happening right here in our district.

And we are committed to expanding these successes across our district so that every neighborhood has a school that is meeting or exceeding state standards.

Now, given this progress, what is our collective work ahead?

As we look to the future.

We must confront a difficult truth, and that is that we have pockets of excellence in our school system.

But we do not have excellence at scale to ensure every scholar, every school, every neighborhood.

We must ask ourselves what kind of student experience are we currently providing our children?

And which one do we want to provide?

Listen to these statistics.

Currently, only three of 63 CMS elementary schools offer algebra one to eighth grade students.

Only five of 63 elementary schools offer foreign language school a foreign language to middle school students.

Only five of 63 in ten of 29 high schools offer band as a course.

Less than 50% of seriously high schools offer cheerleading and football as a competitive sport, and 65% of high schools offer track and basketball.

Now, I acknowledge that not all students will want to participate in these activities, and I value the diversity of choice offerings within our school system.

However, if we are not offering the basics Algebra one, foreign language, the ability to learn an instrument or play a core sport, we are robbing our children of the student experience.

They deserve.

So let me be clear.

Our work is clear.

We must enhance the CMC student experience while ensuring that our district has a path to financial sustainability.

It's both and to ensure financial sustainability, we must look at our district's buildings, our programs and our models so that we are investing in and maintaining progress in the system.

We have already started to do this work with our board and also some of our long time chemistry partners.

And in 2025, we'll be going to the broader see them as the community to ask for input on chemistry's future.

You have already heard today about the history making progress of our district.

So we are also asking the community to invest in the district's continued success so that we can provide the education and learning facilities our scholars need and deserve.

If we do not make these investments, it's clear we cannot maintain progress.

We will not be able to provide the student experience our scholars deserve in the cuts we will be forced to make would be drastic and unimaginable.

But we have the opportunity to choose hope because our scholars today are Cleveland's leaders.

Tomorrow.

I close by telling you about the power a CMC education can have on a generation long after they graduate.

This summer I had the distinct honor of attending a CMC class reunion that left a profound mark on me.

I was invited to the William Dean Howells Middle School class reunions.

They ranged from the class of 1968 to the early 1980s.

Now some of you may not know, but William Dean Howells Middle School was a then Cleveland Public middle School on the near west side of the city, in a park where the echoes of a beloved school still whisper through the trees.

I witnessed a reunion where a former teacher and his students came together, bound not by brick and mortar, but by the unbreakable bonds of shared memories and lessons that have shaped their lives.

Though their school no longer exists, the spirit of learning and the power of education live in each of them.

The former students spoke about the great education that they received and one of them said about their teacher.

I may not remember all of the content he taught me, but I will never forget how he made us feel.

I would like to introduce you to Eduardo Romero, William Dean Howells, middle school graduate, class of 1974, who now works for the city of Cleveland, and his science teacher, Dr. Steven Soroka, who's retired.

But Dr. Soroka speaks across the country, and he may be the only Cleveland teacher inducted into the National Teacher Hall of Fame.

After meeting the checklist, that was crazy risky.

But thank you, Dr. Soroka, meeting Ed Ward, all the fellow William Dean, House alum and Dr. Soroka reaffirmed what we already know.

Education is not confined to the walls of a classroom.

It is carried on in the hearts and minds of those who experience it.

A fulfilling student experience is a collective effort.

It's more than academics.

It's about nurturing the whole child, ensuring they can grow, explore and thrive with the support of their community.

As you can see, the state of the schools is strong progress and the future of chemistry depends on us embracing a bold vision centered on equity, access, quality and focus.

But I cannot do this work alone.

This work requires all of us to be solutions oriented, to bring our best selves to the table and to be relentless in our pursuit of excellence.

Let us move forward together, rooted in our shared commitment to the future of MSD because together we will continue to make chemistry a place where every child can thrive.

Thank you.

We are about to begin the audience Q&A for our live stream audience or those just joining us, we are joined by Dr. Warren Morgan, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District for the 2024 State of the Schools Address.

As many of you know, direct questions from the audience have been a hallmark of City Club Forum since its inception in 1912.

As discussed by Dan, before the program began, the City Club invited all of you to submit questions in advance of today's forum.

Questions for today's forum were selected by City Club staff members with the intention of capturing a cross-section of student voices.

Community represents representation and interest.

And please note that Dr. Morgan has not seen the questions in advance.

Now, let us have our first question.

Good morning, Dr. Morgan.

I'm just going to be the sophomore student council president at John Hayes, Science and Medicine.

I've heard come I think I've heard complaints from my student body.

And I'm here to share their concerns with the new with the new Sabas English curriculum.

Why don't high school students get as much time to review as cater eight students?

Eight students gets a week for teaching, but we don't.

How can we have time built into our schedule to review what we have and learn?

Finally, how can we keep up with benchmark unit test and other assessments if we don't fully understand the material?

Oh, great question.

Oh, and it's great seeing you again.

Remind me of your name again, Yasmina.

Jasmine.

Thank you.

It's great seeing you.

And thank you for that question.

As you know, we're we're just starting this and implementing it and there's work that it needs to be done.

We've heard a lot of feedback, even just with the rollout for the last couple of months around training that teachers need even just more time on the block.

So as we're doing this, it it gives us opportunities to think about change and progress.

I know our academics, teams, we've been going in to actually just see how it's being implemented, to see where those areas are for improvement.

It is high quality, it is fast pace.

But one of the things we're working on in the pacing is to give flexibility for more time because it is a lot of content to cover.

But that is great feedback.

And yeah, I would love to get in to see what that looks like for the reviewing and the teaching, but keep up the great work.

You guys are already showing the great progress that you have had.

And so with this high quality curriculum, I'll take you to the next level and it provides us an opportunity to improve what we need to do to provide you as the education you need.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, Dr. Morgan.

My name is Anima Dunkel, and I work with Open Doors Academy.

We ran out of school time program and we partner with some of the Cleveland schools.

We know out-of-school time program is very important.

You didn't mention about how attendance increases.

We also Nido school time program does that for our scholars.

So I just wanted to know what are some of the strategies that you are going to put in place to provide resources for partners in the out-of-school time?

Well, you know, this is a great question.

The question was really about our out-of-school time partners, and that was one of the areas it was challenged when we got our dollars, we were able to put in $17 million to partner with so many of our community partners around the school to provide services in our district.

And with the cuts we had to make, those dollars went away last year, and we're still providing afterschool programs, but there are still missed base ones and not our partner ones.

One of the things that we've been working on is working directly with organizations to find out, you know, how they are tapping into their funding sources.

Many of you were partners with the district before we received ARP Esser dollars, and one is just understanding how did you receive funds before?

How were you able to provide support before and seeing where we can partner with that?

Also, we're not opposed to getting outside resources and funds to support these programs.

It should never be in the district's best interest that we're paying directly to partners to provide those afterschool programs.

We should be funding the ones that we actually provide.

But we do want to think about those partnerships and think about the work that is taking place.

So it is work that we have to be done.

I know we are not there yet.

I know when talking with Chief Prior, Jones is the area that's really important for her as we think about the extension of the continuation of our partnerships and programs through out-of-school time.

So we'll continue to look forward to seeing what we can do and hopefully for funding.

I know as I'm looking out here, we have so many of our long time partners hearing the needs and just thinking about the sustainability of the programs.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Penina and I'm with my friend Anita.

Anita.

Jeannine.

I'm sorry.

Okay, so students need more opportunities for afterschool activities.

What are your plans to increase these opportunities and help with transportation problems?

Yeah, Jeannine, that's a great question.

I see that right.

And I ask because I know you could correct me if I say it wrong, but as you heard, you heard the statistics that we mentioned, even for some of the programs that we're providing, we're not at scale.

And are you as both in high school or school?

Middle school.

So right now for band five of 63 schools offer Band is of course.

And even just thinking about cheerleading, which I think when I looked at the middle school state statistics for cheerleading, maybe 50 51% of our schools offer it 0% offer football.

So I'm saying this to say that we have work to do, and it's not just on funding, it's also about how do we create these experiences.

But when I've done this work before, when thinking how do we provide more experiences in schools, we have to think about the scaling of our schools.

Some of our schools are so small and this is why, you know, I think currently right now every kid, if you go to a CMT school, you have the opportunity to possibly play for a sport or a play on another team.

But how do we scale it where schools can offer those programs right in their own at their own school for students to offer that?

And then even thinking about the middle grades, we have some eights that are really small.

We have some kids that are a little larger.

As a matter of fact, when I did looked at the data, we have only one of our kids that have three teachers per grade level where you can do even more work and offer more programs.

So there's work we have to do in looking at our our buildings, thinking about enrollment, thinking about programs so that we can offer you the student experience that you need and deserve.

And this is not just about funding.

It's also about the work that we're doing to extend the work of the Cleveland Plan and also thinking about that next iteration of the work.

So thank you for that question.

Near and dear to my heart, I've often said afterschool programs is what saved my life, and I know that we need to be doing that for our kids as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That's called an equity move, right?

So great seeing you.

Marsha Maccabee, president of the Urban League of Greater Cleveland.

And congratulations on the success and thank you for articulating a continuous improvement model to keep us moving forward.

Thank you so much.

Yeah.

And here's my question.

So we know that is important to make sure that our young people are prepared for career pathways beyond high school no matter what direction they take.

So I'd like to hear your strategies for how we are in CMC, making sure that we're engaging with partners such as industries, providers and the like, to make sure that our young people really get the hands on experience that they need and opportunities for internships and all of those kinds of things.

Thank you so much for that question and it's a great one in work that we're really engaged in.

So over time, we have high schools now that have programs.

We have STEM programs.

You guys heard about our aviation programs, our medical you to some of our medical programs, both at Lincoln West, Mental Health and then also at our School of Science and Medicine.

So there are opportunities for programs.

What we're finding is none of our now lead to a credential.

And so there's work that we need to do to ensure that when students actually finish or very few of them are actually leading to a credential, then we're actually looking at how many of the students are getting SEALs are leaving high school with actually a next step, a plan, a credential of what they can do.

A big part of that work is work based learning opportunities and internships.

I'm really excited about the work and commitment that Mayor Bibb has made to think about what does it look like for every 11th grader in our district to have some type of work based learning experience?

And that work based learning experience can be tied to their pathway in their field of study.

It can lead to a credential.

And once again, that's not just lip service, that's work that is being done in other districts.

I learned some of that work when I was in Indianapolis.

We started with only 74 work based learning opportunities, and in five years time that increased to 12,000.

And so I know that that's work that we can do here.

We already have the makings of it.

And I know many people are really interested in and I've talked to Dr. Bastian at Tri-C, I've talked with Dr. Bloomberg at Cleveland State University.

And so it's just a matter of us connecting the dots and getting this work done.

It's not hard for us to do.

We just have to put the collaboration together.

Count on your Urban League to help.

How are you doing today?

My name is Elijah Brown.

I'm a sophomore again academy.

My question for you today is we often hear as students that there is a favoritism between Westside schools rather than Eastside schools when it comes to programs and funding.

Would you sit at the CEO?

Would you say this is true?

If so, what can be done about it?

Hmm.

That's a great question.

That's a that's a great question.

So I'll answer this in a couple of ways.

Sometimes when we look at people will say West Side schools have newer buildings in the East Side schools.

Actually, when we started the segment planning about 20 years ago, our Eastside schools were first.

So actually many of our Eastside schools got rebuilt first, and many of our West Side schools still haven't gotten to rebuild.

I know, like Newton de Baker and many other West Side schools are still do not.

But what I will say there are a lot of programs are being offered on our West Side schools.

And when I think about our Eastside schools, even our high schools, many programs either were once they are and they're no longer or the programs are not thriving, our enrollment is less.

We are actually just looking at some of our enrollment data, Our enrollment is less than the east side.

So we need to ask ourselves the question out.

I'll say for myself, there was not a favoritism from the Eastside to the West, but I.

Must own.

And we all must own.

Why is it that our East Side schools are lacking in enrollment or the programs that we have?

What are the types of experiences that you and your families want us to provide on the East Side and also on the west side, too?

But we have to think about that and ask ourselves the questions because many of our West Side schools are growing in enrollment.

Many of our elementary schools on the west Side are actually already full and many of our East Side schools are struggling.

So that's work we have to do together.

And I appreciate your question and the push for all of us to really hold ourselves accountable.

So thank you.

Thank you.

We know that wellness, both for students and teachers, is a key factor to supporting post-pandemic learning, recovery and acceleration.

So what is your assessment of the state of teacher wellness in CMT?

What are the bright spots and the greatest opportunities for growth?

Yeah, all of these questions.

Thank you so much for that, Jennifer.

All of these questions are around the same theme really around mental health.

And I will share some of the strategies we've been doing, but I want to couch it in.

I know it's not enough when I just hear about mental health, not only within our system, but just in our world today.

I know it's challenging.

Our teachers have done so much work to provide a safe environment for kids protecting their mental health.

And sometimes we haven't asked the question, how are you doing?

Our teachers doing with all the demands, with everything that is going on, and also just with life.

It's a lot.

But some of the things that we've worked on, we have through our our department, we have Bounce Back, which is a asynchronous platform.

We also have eyes at work.

We've worked in partnership with the Cleveland Teachers Union, also with Oswald, to make sure that this information is getting out to our staff for resources.

I would even say for central office this year, it's we've seen sometimes even the spike in some of these things as well that we've needed to really make sure we're providing for our staff.

And so these are some of the measures we're doing.

But I would also love to know what are some of those other strategies we can be doing.

Some things other systems are doing are looking at the workday and thinking about, you know, how can we restructure, work in a way that still gets the job done, but then also is more conducive to flexible work?

There's also things that other districts that are doing in terms of thinking about the teacher, how do we do teen teaching?

How do we more teachers to get the work done, do collective lesson planning.

I just was on with one other district where they were talking about how do you utilize a modern technology like AI to help with the lesson planning process?

All of these things, I think our innovative strategies, and as I've said before, the work that we're trying to do to create coherent centralized systems at central office is to take the work off of our teachers so that they can actually just focus on students and not be as stressed.

I'm a senior at John F Kennedy High School, JFK and my question for you today is if the school board is connected to extracurricular funding and if so, how does the funding process work?

Well, great question.

Great question.

Remind me of your name again.

Designing.

Yep.

Okay.

Thank you so much for that question.

And, you know, I will probably need to phone a friend, my chief financial officer, to come up and give you more on how funding works.

But I I'm going to simplify it so the to simplify it.

Funding in schools is based on enrollment.

That's one one input in terms of how we get we get funds.

We also get funds through local property tax.

We get it through state funding and then sometimes federal funds.

So these are these are ways that we get funds in our schools.

But in a simple term, the more students you have in your school, the more funding funds that you had about.

I would say because when I was in the district before we were just rolling this out, we launched student based budgeting and student budgeting is you are awarded dollars based on how many students you have.

It's a strategy that many districts use.

And at the time it was really helpful because it gave schools the flexibilities based on how many students I have to actually now educate the kids, provide, you know, academic programs, afterschool programs.

I could do it based on enrollment.

But there's some things we're learning over time.

And I say we're because it's not just see them as D, it's districts across the country.

Some things that we're learning, schools that have struggled over time struggle to keep enrollment.

And what you do and I know this because as a school, I was a school leader of a of a school in Chicago that year after year, from my challenging school, many students start to go to other schools in my enrollment decrease, decrease, decrease, which means less funding, less funding, less funding.

And if there's less funding for a school that's already struggling, how do you help it?

How do you provide the programs?

How do you get the teaching staff that you need?

And so we have found ourselves in a challenge because actually over the past several years for schools that have struggled, we've actually been giving extra funding to just so that they can provide the teachers that they need.

But this isn't sustainable.

It's work that we need to do moving forward.

And this is some of the work that we're engaged in to look at that longer term planning to think about our financial sustainability.

I don't know if that was it.

It took a complicated topic to give it to you, really sort of.

But those are that's work that we're trying to do moving forward.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Timothy Kanter from Guin Academy.

I am a senior.

Be the last question, by the way.

My question is, as a student, who as a student who attends a school that doesn't offer fourth year math, science and or honors AP sources, what can be done about this to better help us to be prepared for college?

Oh, man.

Timothy, thanks for that question.

Thank you for that question.

In my heart aches.

It truly does know for you fourth year math, no AP courses.

It is an example because this is getting academy, our state winning, you know, football champions, great school but no fourth year math AP dual enrollment.

Thanks for that question.

We got work to do, my friend.

We have work to do.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Morgan.

And thanks to all of you for joining us for the annual State of the Schools address presented by KeyBank and PNC with additional support from my amazing friends at college now, as well as the Good Community Foundation, Tri-C and Cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer.

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You can view a full list in our digital program.

Thank you for ensuring our scholars could participate in the conversation this afternoon.

Today's forum is also part of our Education Innovation series in partnership with Nordson.

And a big thanks to our friends at Ideastream Public Media for their production support.

Coming up soon at the City Club on Tuesday, October 8th, Dr. Kate Anderson Foley will join us to discuss her book, Radically Excellent School Improvement Keeping students at the center of it all, where she will outline how to close achievement gaps and improve learning experiences for every student.

Also, on October 18, Ted Carter, President of the Ohio State University, will join us for a Friday forum.

You can purchase tickets to these forums and learn more about others at City Club dot org.

And that brings us to the end of our today's forum.

For our visiting CMT Scholars, please remain seated.

City Club Education engagement manager Arianna Smith will take the podium shortly to exit you to your busses.

Thank you once again, Dr. Warren Morgan and to our members and friends of the City Club.

I'm Mark Ross and this forum is now adjourned.

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