At the June 27^th Cleveland Board of Education Meeting, Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) Chief Executive Officer Eric Gordon tried to choke back tears as Cleveland School Board Chair Anne Bingham spoke of some of Gordon’s many accomplishments as the school district’s leader and led the crowd in a standing ovation for Gordon. Other Board of Education members joined in the praise for Gordon at his last Board of Education meeting as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the CMSD. The meeting was held at Waverly School, 1805 W. 57^th Street in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood.

     At the next school board meeting, CMSD will have a new Chief Executive Officer in place, Dr. Warren Morgan.

     In addition to Gordon’s departure as CEO, two school board members will be leaving the Board of Education. Louise Dempsey ended her tenure on the Board of Education after 25 years of service as a board member. Kathleen Valdez also concluded her tenure on the Board of Education.

     Dempsey was unable to attend the June 27^th meeting. Valdez, a strong advocate for children during her tenure on the Board of Education, was in attendance. Valdez’s son, a fourth-grade student in the school district, spoke during the public comment period of the Board Meeting calling for more programs for students.

     At her last meeting as a School Board member, Valdez was the lone vote against a contract with the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. In the discussion before the vote, Valdez noted that the contract had penalties for students who misbehaved while riding the transit, but no sanctions for GCRTA if it failed to keep students safe while they traversed to school on buses and trains. In her comments, Valdez noted discussions by the Board of Education following testimony at a previous Board of Education meeting by students who had a traumatic experience on the rapid transit. In responding to Valdez, CEO Gordon said that while there were no safety provisions for students in the contract, a separate discussion with GCRTA and the CMSD security staff will result in students being better informed of a hotline number they can call to get assistance during a crisis on public transit.

     Mayor Justin Bibb made an appearance at the School Board Meeting to announce the reappointment of three school board members, the appointment of two new school board members and changes in the Chair and Vice Chair positions on the Board of Education.

     Sara Elaqad, Leah D. Hudnall and Denise Link were reappointed to the Board of Education. New appointees announced by Mayor Bibb are Robert Briggs and Diana Welch Howell.

     Mayor Bibb announced that the new Chair of the Board of Education will be Detroit Shoreway resident Sara Elaqad. The new Vice Chair of the Board of Education will be Leah D. Hudnall.

     A short description of each new and returning board member was provided by the Mayor’s communications office. The new Board of Education Chair Sara Elaqad has served for the past five years as Executive Director of Minds Matter Cleveland, a nonprofit organization that works to connect highly motivated low-income students with the resources and contacts they need to succeed in college. The new Vice Chair Leah D. Hudnall is currently an Assistant Professor of Practice at Cleveland State University’s College of Urban Affairs and Education. Returning Board Member Denise Link is a Senior Vice President for Retail Network Planning for PNC Bank.

     Newly appointed Board Member Robert Briggs is a Partner and Chairman Emeritus at Buckingham Law. He is also a co-founder of the Fund for Our Economic Future. Newly appointed Board Member Diana Welch Howell is currently Head of Hospitals Expansion for Key Bank’s Laurel Road brand.

     The five newly appointed and reappointed members of the Board of Education will serve four-year terms which began on July 1^st of this year and will end on June 30, 2027. An eleven-member panel nominates Board of Education candidates, and the Mayor of Cleveland makes the final appointment from the nominees presented by the panel.

     The Board of Education has nine members. Four other members – Anne Bingham, Robert Heard, Nigamanth Sridhar, and Lisa Thomas – are serving terms that have not yet expired.