CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Metropolitan School District will move nearly all of its schools to a universal calendar beginning next school year. 

What You Need To Know

  • The CMSD Board of Education voted unanimously to move schools in the district to a single and traditional calendar

  • The move will save the district $9.3 million per year and $27 million over the next three years

  • The decision received pushback from parents, students and teachers in the district

CMSD needs to cut $150 million over the next three years to avoid running out of money. District leaders said moving to a traditional unified calendar gets them closer to that goal. 

The proposal passed unanimously by a 9-0 vote at Tuesday's school board meeting and will move each CMSD school to the same traditional calendar. The move will save the district nearly $9.3 million per year and $27 million over the next three years. The Downtown Education Center and the School of One are the only two in the district who currently operate on alternative calendars that will not be impacted by the cuts. 

“We must think about how we can continue to find a path forward for finding that high-quality education that we talked about in the Brighter Futures for all kids while at the same time putting the district on a path to financial sustainability," CMSD CEO Warren Morgan said. 

CMSD has been operating with five different school calendars allowing several schools to offer specialized programs for students and extra training and planning days for teachers. District officials said teachers could still find ways to offer these programs under the new calendar, but several students and parents in the district are concerned about the effects it could have on their education. 

“So many students have been able to experience the opportunities that Davis has and a lot of them take those skills with them after high school," Xavier Avery said. 

Avery is a junior at Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School in the district. His school currently operates on a year-round school calendar to allow students to be trained on how to fly planes or operate boats in the summer time. 

"I just hope that at the end of it all, we don’t lose out on the programs due to the switch in calendars because we are going to be losing out on the months of June through August, which is the most vital for us because it's the best time to work on either a boat or a plane," Avery said. 

Avery has led a student movement to protest these potential cuts to extended year calendars. Davis students protested outside of the CMSD office downtown last week. Avery spoke at Cleveland City Council on Monday and the school board meeting on Tuesday to voice his concerns about what moving the schools to a unified calendar could mean for students. 

Despite the concerns, Morgan said speciailized programs can still be offered to students despite the move to a single calendar. The only difference being that the activities would have to take place outisde of a normal school day and schools offering them would need to find extra money to fund the programs. 

The universal calendar will be in effect for the 2025-26 school year. Still, the district will need to cut $123 million from its budget over the next three years to maintain a positive cash flow meaning more changes could be on the horizon.