CMSD Adopts Building Brighter Futures Plan

By Managing Editor: Joshua Brown

In November 2025, Dr. Warren Morgan, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), announced the Building Brighter Futures initiative, calling for the merger of dozens of elementary and high schools. The recommendation responds to the declining enrollment and increasing budget deficit of the district. 

   Cleveland has had a declining population since the 1960’s and likewise, enrollment in CMSD schools has declined steadily. CMSD now serves half the number of students that it did twenty years ago. The district also faces a potential budget deficit which was projected in the November 2023 5-year forecast to reach above $150 million in 2026 following the expiration of American Rescue Plan funding.  

   CMSD has framed the Building Brighter Futures plan as “right-sizing.” The proposal will decrease the number of K-8 schools from 61 to 45 and decrease the number of high schools from 27 to 14. Generally, lower performing schools will be closed, and students will be moved into higher performing schools. 

   High schools that are currently sharing a building will be merged into singular schools. For example, the John Hay campus, located in University Circle, housed three separate schools: Cleveland Early College High School, Cleveland School of Science & Medicine, and Cleveland School of Architecture & Design. These three schools will now be consolidated into John Hay High School. Campus International High School, which has a partnership with Cleveland State University, is also set to merge with John Hay High School. 

   The current method of housing multiple schools in the same building allows the schools to embrace specialization and unique curriculums. It also creates a clear message for parents to understand how each school differs. The example of John Hay shows how consolidation may roll back these advantages.  

   The three schools at John Hay were among the best performing high schools in the district, each getting 4.5 out of five stars in their school report cards from the state of Ohio. The three schools at John Hay have a reputation among Cleveland residence of being good schools, and their naming reflects their priorities. Cleveland Early College strongly prioritized college readiness and post-secondary opportunities; Cleveland School of Science & Medicine exposed students to medical careers through the Pathway program; and Cleveland School of Architecture & Design offers unique classes in engineering. The merger into John Hay High School risks diluting those goals or, at the very least, making those goals less visible to parents and the public. 

   Some schools, like the PreK-8 Tremont Montessori, are not merging with another school but are changing location. In that case, Tremont Montessori is moving out of Tremont and into the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. Even if the Building Brighter Futures plan achieves its goal of producing better academic outcomes, it will also have the effect of removing representation of certain neighborhoods and increasing the transportation needs of students. Tremont, one of the most popular neighborhoods in the city, will not have a public elementary school in the neighborhood. 

   As a graduate of CMSD schools, I am hopeful that the changes will lead to greater fiscal stability and improved academic outcomes for students. Still, I remain cautious of whether the benefits will outweigh the sacrifices. 

   Full details of the Building Brighter Futures plan can be found at clevelandmetroschools.org.