While the Plan has been underway for months on end, Ward 7 Councilman T.J. Dow was never given the courtesy of an invite to any of the planning meetings (nor were many other City officials). They've indicated the Plan has no solution to how nor where the students will be educated once the school is closed.
It's no secret that the economy plays a part in some or most of these students and their families' downfalls (these students come to school famished and simply cannot concentrate). Some are victims of circumstance; others are doing the absolute best they can. Whatever the case, the parents would be faced with getting their children to school in a district further away, while bus fare has been increased yet again and bus lines have been cut!
Some of the reasons cited for the closings are:
*Teacher call-offs * Culture * Gang activity
In a recent press conference, it was stated that 'problem students' are sent to East High School; the school scored 19 out of 100 on the Academic indicator.
East is one of the newest high school buildings in the district. The new gym was built in 2003. The school received statewide acclaim for being a recipient/participant in the Bill & Melinda Gates / Knowledgeworks Small Schools Initiative, which broke the school into four smaller academies (grant-funded), affording the students to concentrate on areas of interest along with general studies. East currently operates under the Small Schools concept. The "Plan" indicates it wants the district to operate its high schools under that same concept.
Also notable is that East received grants and teamed up with the Western Reserve Historical Society and the History Channel to do an archaeological dig at the school, garnering some very interesting finds, that are now on display in a museum inside the school along with historical artifacts, newspapers and other items.
In 2008, a senior at East played the starring role in the CMSD's All-City musical at PlayhouseSquare (Dreamgirls' Effie White).
There have been a lot of good things happening at East in the last decade. You probably only hear about the fights.
This Plan calls for East to close, but for the recently opened Ginn Academy to be "re-purposed", in that it will move into Glenville High School. The Plan gives indicators and measures defining the methods for which the schools were selected for closure, re purposing, etc... On page 56 of the Plan, those results are shown. East scored higher than Glenville in academics by more than double, but received a 'zero' in the Performance Drivers portion (Teacher and Student Attendance, Major Safety Incidents, and the Conditions for Learning Survey). All the schools in the Glenville district are in academic emergency (per the district's Plan). Not all the schools in East's district are. They're in academic watch. The other two indicators on the chart for East & Glenville were about even (Building Condition & Facility Demand). Yet, East is slated to close, and Glenville is getting an addition: Ginn Academy (which is Glenville's former football coach's academy, and we all know the keyword there). Their data wasn't available (3/4 of it anyway) at the time of the Plan survey.
John Adams, the newest high school building in the district, scored lower than East in the Performance Drivers portion as well.
There was actually a lot of time and thought put into the Plan overall, and we're certain that since Dr. Sanders took the time to spearhead the community meeting on January 9th at East High School, that he is in fact interested in hearing what the community leaders, the parents, the students and Alumni have to say (we are curious; is there a reason the meeting wasn't a planning meeting or a kitchen table type meeting, since the topic of closing the school drew almost 1,000 attendees; rather than an after-the-fact meeting?).
We're grateful and appreciative to Councilman Dow, Councilwoman Cleveland and the rest of the Council members who stepped up on the behalf of the students, parents and communities you serve. We will join Councilman T.J. Dow and the City officials as they spearhead the efforts to gather facts and gain answers to all of our questions.We look to join and assist them in this quest.
We thank Dr. Sanders, who has since his arrival in Cleveland, been a supporter of the EHSAA as well as other Alumni Associations.. please provide truth and transparency in your responses and your actions.
Blue Bombers, SOUND OFF!!
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