PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Tuesday, August 22, 2023; Cleveland Metropolitan School Board Meeting; East Professional Center, 1349 E. 79th; Faouzi Baddou, Nikki Hudson and James Pieknik, Friends of Cudell Commons Park, protesting the planned demolition of a historic cypress tree in the Cudell neighborhood.

by Chuck Hoven

   The Friends of Cudell Commons Park came to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) Board of Education to save the trees at Cudell Park. The group greeted Board meeting guests outside the East Professional Center at E. 79^th and Superior where the Board of Education held its August meeting with protest signs. CMSD plans to build a new Marion Seltzer School call for removing trees in the park to make way for the new building.

   Among the messages on the protesters’ signs were: “Save Cudell Park,” “Do not Cut Down Trees,” “We speak for the trees,” “Save the Bald Cypress”, “You’re going to need a better school to teach kids how to breathe CO2,” and “The Will did say Park for Ever, Not parking lot—The Cudells.”

   Many of those outside signed up to testify during the Public Comment period at the Board of Education meeting. The Board of Education Meeting was the first meeting attended by several newly appointed Board of Education members and newly appointed CMSD Chief Executive Officer Dr. Warren Morgan. It was also the first meeting led by newly appointed Board of Education Chair Sara Elaqad.

   The acoustics in the auditorium where the Board of Education meeting was held were terrible, so those in the audience had a difficult time hearing everything that was said. It appeared that Board of Education members up on the stage were able to hear what the Public Comment speakers were saying.

   Ward 15 City Council Representative Jenny Spencer said, “We are learning in an extraordinarily painful way for the community that the City of Cleveland’s Tree Preservation Ordinance falls short. The Cleveland Forester did not review plans for Seltzer until designs were final, providing little chance to preserve trees that the designers themselves did not seek to preserve.”

   Spencer said, “For too long we have simply assumed that mature trees can simply be replaced by planting new trees. This is not the case,” she said. She promised to revisit all trees that have been planted in Ward 15 due to construction programs, noting that many have not survived and that “we as a society do not provide appropriate stewardship for new trees.” Upon questioning from Board of Education member Denise Link, Spencer said that the failure to have the tree plan reviewed earlier in the planning process could impede the issuance of a building permit for the new school.

   Several of the members of Friends of Cudell Commons Park spoke of the role of green space as essential infrastructure that helps in improving air quality, reducing crime, preventing heat islands, and providing a more pleasant environment.

   Nikki Hudson of Friends of Cudell Commons Park spoke of the history of the park and how Frank Cudell had given the land to the City of Cleveland with the stipulation that it remain a park forever. She said plans for the new Marion Selttzer School would involve taking 44% of the park and taking down 40 trees including some legacy trees. She said it was inadequate for the school system to replace a tree like the Bald Cypress in the park with a tiny tree. She noted the Bald Cyprus has a canopy 100 feet wide.

   Hudson challenged the City of Cleveland and the CMSD to become a showcase for environmentally friendly development by trying to preserve old trees and incorporate them into development projects.

   Reverend Dean Van Farowe of Calvary Reformed Church on W. 65^th Street spoke of the lack of care given to trees planted around previous construction projects involving new schools in Ward 15. He noted that of the 39 trees planted at Waverly School, seven are already dead, and six more appear to be dying. At the Max Hayes school grounds, of 44 trees planted, only five are currently in good condition, said Reverend Van Farowe.

   Reverend Van Farowe spoke of the importance of trees to the health of our children and noted the importance of trees to members of his own family who have asthma. He urged the Board of Education to become environmental champions and start with a new plan for Marion Seltzer School.

   In addition to the testimony concerning Cudell Park, several other community members brought comments and concerns to the Board of Education and the new CEO Dr. Warren Morgan.

   Don Freeman welcomed the new CEO and said, “Dr. Morgan I look forward to consistently interacting with you relative to providing best quality education to students of the Cleveland Public School District.”

   Elizabeth Coles told the Board of Education said new policy that Board Chair Sara Elaqad had announced that starting in October the sign up for Public Comment would be moved online wasn’t a policy at all. Coles said that to implement a new policy the board must place a resolution on the agenda, give opportunity for public comment on that resolution, and vote to pass the resolution. She urged the board to follow the proper procedure for implementing any policy. Coles also noted that in the past citizens had the opportunity to interact with Board of Education Committees which have now been eliminated, and also chairs of various community committees had the opportunity to interact with the Board of Education without a time limit. She said if the goal is to improve communication she urged “more, not less.”

   Gene Tracy asked his friend Errol Savage to read a statement to the new CEO and Board of Education. As he has at almost every Board of Education meeting since 2010, Tracy called upon the Board of Education to stand up to the City of Cleveland Administration and the Cleveland Browns and demand that the Cleveland students receive $2 million dollars a year promised to CMSD’s Comprehensive Extracurricular Activities Program when the stadium was exempted from paying property tax. He noted that the Jackson administration had reduced the amount to annual payments of one million or less for more than a decade now. Tracy noted that the special taxes passed by Cleveland City Council in 1996 were to make sure the Cleveland schools were held harmless when the stadium was exempted from paying property taxes. Tracy called for the new CEO and the newly reconstituted Board of Education to address this matter.Editor’s note: Please visit the Plain Press’s website at https://plainpress.blog to view an article on the June 27^th Board of Education meeting titled “Cleveland School Board hosts its last meeting with Chief Executive Officer Eric Gordon at the helm.” The article is in the August 2023 Plain Press archives. The article describes the changes in the membership of the Board of Education and Mayor Justin Bibb’s appointments of new members and new leadership on the Board of Education. On August 18^th, former Board of Education Chair Anne Bingham resigned, creating a vacancy on the Board of Education. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s office is now soliciting nominations for anyone interested in filling that vacant position.