• Friends of Cudell Park bring their concerns to the Board of Education

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVENSunday, March 3, 2024; Friends of Cudell Commons Park rally and candlelight vigil, Cudell Commons Park just east of Cudell Recreation Center at Detroit Avenue and West Boulevard: Nikki Hudson, a member of Friends of Cudell Commons Park, speaks of plans to continue advocacy to save the park from becoming a school…


  • Cudell family descendent urges Mayor Bibb to honor donor’s vision for Cudell Commons, keep green space forever

    To the editor: Open letter to Mayor Justin Bibb,    (Plain Press April 2024) My name is Gail Lundberg.  I am a direct descendent of the Cudell family. Please take the time to hear my message re: Cudell Commons.  LETTER    Frank Cudell was a leading architect in the late 19th century. He devoted his…


  • City of Cleveland breaks promises to Cleveland students

    by Chuck Hoven    (Plain Press April 2024) In a March 11, 2024 article in Signal Cleveland titled “Cash-strapped Cleveland schools miss out on millions from tax abatements”, reporter Nick Castele notes that over the past five years “Cleveland schools lost out on a total of $201.8 million in abated taxes, or an average of…


  • Dance Evert, CMSD debut innovative arts program

    PHOTO COURTESY OF EVERT EDUCATION Students demonstrate triangles, and are perfecting their polygons using stretchy body bands, during “Geometry in Motion” Program. by Jennifer Morrison-Garza      (Plain Press February 2024)Tom Evert of DANCE EVERT and Evert Education is partnering with Cleveland Municipal School District’s Clara E. Westropp School of the Arts, through an Artist in…


  • Open letter urges Mayor Bibb to save Cudell Commons

    To the Editor: (Plain Press February 2024) Dear Mayor Bibb and Area Leaders:      We are writing to you to voice our concerns about Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s plans to build a new Marion Seltzer Elementary School on what is now parkland at Cudell Commons Park, land that was gifted to the City of Cleveland…


  • School board meeting shows successes and failures

    by Chuck Hoven    (Plain Press January 2024) The December 12th Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD0 Board of Education meeting held at the Cleveland School of the Arts in the University Circle neighborhood was a study in contrasts. The meeting was a report by Principal Michelle Perez on the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine;…


  • Cleveland Metropolitan School District projects huge deficits beginning next school year

    by Chuck Hoven      (Plain Press December 2023) The Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s (CMSD)Five-Year Forecast projects huge deficits beginning in the 2024-25 Fiscal Year. Presented at the November 21st Board of Education meeting held at Max Hayes High School, the forecast indicates an unencumbered positive cash balance of $125.1 million at the end of this…


  • Civics 2.0 students plead for funding for their program

    by Chuck Hoven    (Plain Press, November 2023) Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) students that participate in the extracurricular Civics 2.0 program came out in force to testify at the September meeting of the Cleveland Municipal School District Board of Education. The students were advocating for restoration of funding for their extracurricular program. During the…


  • Cleveland School Board votes for a more restrictive public participation policy

    by Chuck Hoven      (Plain Press, November 2023) Many observers of the Cleveland Municipal School District Board of Education are wondering why, with all the important issues the Board needs to address, new School Board Chairperson Sara Elaqad has chosen to initiate a pilot program that increases the restrictions on Public Comment. Elaqad, recently appointed…


  • Teacher calls for funds to be restored to Comprehensive Extracurricular Activities Plan

    by Errol Savage    (Plain Press, November 2023) The Comprehensive Extracurricular Activities Plan (CEAP), funded by the citizens of Cleveland for the benefit of children, is being robbed. COMMENTARY    Back in the 1990s our football stadium was built by taxpayers; the private owners of the stadium received a lifetime exemption from paying property taxes…