PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Tuesday, April 15, 2025; Board of Education Work Session, Garrett Morgan High School, 4600 Detroit Avenue: Prior to the vote to close Newton D. Baker School, CMSD Board of Education Member Jerry Billups asks about the levels of support that will be available to families moving to new schools.

PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Tuesday, April 15, 2025; Board of Education Work Session, Garrett Morgan High School, 4600 Detroit Avenue: CMSD Board of Education Member Caroline Peak asks, if Newton D. Baker closes, will the school be able to “carry its legacy to a new location.”

PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Tuesday, April 15, 2025; Board of Education Work Session, Garrett Morgan High School, 4600 Detroit Avenue: Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) Board of Education President Sara Elaqad shares her thoughts prior to the vote on the closure of Newton D. Baker School. She said, “Closing a school is a significant decision, which the Board does not take lightly.”

by Chuck Hoven

     The Cleveland Board of Education voted 7-0 at its April 15^th Work Session to close Newton D. Baker School at the end of this school year. According to Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) administrative staff, the building at 3690 W. 159^th Street in the West Park neighborhood is in a state of disrepair. The building’s roof is leaking, and this winter a fifty-foot crack added to the problem of water leaking inside the building. Mold spores discovered in the building resulted in the building being closed for safety reasons for a few days in March.

     Cleveland Metropolitan School Chief Executive Officer (CEO)Warren Morgan said the vote to close the school was held at the Board’s Work Session rather than the Board’s Business Meeting on April 29^th to give the faculty and staff at Newton D. Baker an opportunity to apply for open positions at other schools. CEO Morgan said that the period for staff members to apply for available positions is from April 16^th to May 14^th.

     Teachers, staff, and parents from the Newton D. Baker community attended the meeting with hopes of keeping their school community together. Unlike the regular Board Business Meeting, the Work Session does not allow a Public Comment period, so the Board of Education did not hear their concerns at the meeting.

     CEO Morgan did address some of the issues of concern and administration officials met early in April with the school staff and school community.

     Without the eighth-grade graduates, and with no new kindergarten students, Morgan said 286 Newton D. Baker students will need to go to a new school next school year. He said no school has enough empty seats to accommodate the entire school body. With open enrollment, students can choose to apply to any school. There also will be guaranteed enrollment at either Wilbur Wright (11005 Parkhurst Drive), which has 143 open seats, or at Clara E. Westropp (19101 Puritas Avenue), which has 104 open seats.

     Morgan suggested that students interested in the arts go to Wilbur Wright. He said Wilbur Wright has an auditorium like the one at Newton D. Baker. He said a new dance studio will be added, and the music and arts rooms will be refreshed.

     Morgan said the Special Needs students will be moved to Clara Westropp, which already has ten classrooms for Special Needs students and well equipped and well-trained teachers and principal to support the students.

     Morgan also promised that siblings could go to the same school.

     Morgan promised that all Newton D. Baker staff will have positions in the CMSD in the 2025-2026 school year. He noted there are some openings available in both Wilbur Wright (one assistant principal and eleven teachers) and Clara Westropp (1 assistant principal, 4 teachers, 4 paraprofessionals, and one school secretary).

     Morgan said the cost to keep or rebuild Newton D. Baker would be prohibitive. He said to renovate and repair the Newton D. Baker school building would be $30 million, and the cost to build a new building on the site would be $45 million.

     Morgan said the bond issue just passed by voters will provide $100 million over the next 35 years. However, the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) will not fund any new elementary schools beyond the three already planned or underway (Gallagher, Clark, and Seltzer). The OFCC provides a 2 to 1 match of local bond dollars to OFCC approved construction projects.

     The CMSD had 70,000 students in 2004 and has 34,000 students now, said Morgan. He noted that the district’s buildings have capacity for 50,000 students. He said the CMSD high schools are at 50% of capacity and the elementary schools are at 67% of capacity.

     Morgan said that since 2001, fifty-two school buildings have been rebuilt or renovated. Currently, 70% of CMSD students are in new or upgraded buildings.

     School Board Member Jerry Billups inquired about the conditions of CMSD’s school buildings. He asked what could be done to prevent any building from getting to a point where it would have to be closed.

     CEO Morgan responded that about 30% of CMSD’s buildings have not been upgraded. He said they range from being ok to being on life support.

     Morgan also referenced meetings now underway for the CMSD’s Building Brighter Futures planning that call for addressing the overcapacity of school buildings. He said the planning will require decisions across the school district, like this one to close Newton D. Baker.

     School Board President Sara Elaqad said decisions to close schools can’t be based on hope. They need to be based on real solid data, said Elaqad. She asked how often schools are inspected. Administration officials said custodians and school principals do a walk through each year.