(Plain Press May 2026) Protests over the layoff of 300 Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) teachers and staff began Tuesday afternoon at Campus International School and continued that evening at the Board of Education meeting.

   Polly Karr, a parent and community activist, wrote about the Campus International protest and protests at the Board of education on her Substack blog.

   In an April 19^th post on her blog titled, “Power to the people, right on” Karr described the reaction of Campus International eighth grade students when they learned a beloved Algebra teacher received a layoff notice:

   There was sadness and crying for a few hours but then they kicked into gear. They collected the contact information for Dr. Morgan and the school board. They created a Google Doc and started compiling the information to share. They wrote out form letter examples. They made fliers and wallpapered our school with them

   If that was all they had done, it would have been awesome. However, they were not finished. Inspired by the high school student walkout protests earlier in the year over ICE, and from the Davis student protests last year, our 8th graders staged a walk out in protest of the teacher layoffs. They managed to, among themselves, choose leaders for their movement, create signs, get parental permission and rally their fellow students last Tuesday afternoon.

   That evening at the Board of Education Work Session, held at the East Professional Center, Karr continued her coverage of those protesting the layoffs. She said that students from Campus International were joined by students from other schools, parents, and a large turnout of members of the Cleveland Teachers Union.

   Karr reported that newly elected Cleveland Teachers Union President Errol Savage brought boxes of blue Cleveland Teachers Union t-shirts. Karr described what happened with the arrival of the t-shirts:

   Out in the lobby of the East Professional Center there were teachers. More teachers than I have seen at a board meeting in the past two years. They were all wearing blue in solidarity with the union colors. Some had union t-shirts. When the new union president, Errol Savage arrived, the many colors of blue changed into one unified blue as he brought with him boxes of union t-shirts.

   Teachers who had already taken seats in the auditorium came back out to get a t-shirt.

   The act of putting on the shirts seemed to activate the membership. The murmurs became a solid buzz.

   Karr noted that the sound system was not working properly. The students were holding up their signs and getting support from the crowd with people shouting, “Let them speak.” Board Chair Sara Elaqad noted that the Board of Education did not allow the public to speak at its Work Sesson. She tried unsuccessfully to quiet the crowd saying if there was not quiet the board would recess.

   Following the recess, Elaqad announced that because of the disruptive crowd there would be no explanation by Chief Executive Officer Dr. Warren Morgan of the reasons for the layoffs. The Board then voted unanimously for the layoffs without public discussion or a public explanation of why the layoffs were happening.

   In a letter to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District Community following the meeting, Board Chair Elaqad said, “Sustained disruptions, including prolonged chanting, made it impossible to conduct business, prevented Dr. Morgan from delivering his presentation and the Board from having the staffing conversation in public view. As a result, the board was forced to move directly through the agenda and vote without the benefit of that explanation.”