Just weeks before the City of Cleveland decided Cudell Park was just a “surplus property” and CMSD’s Board of Education agreed to build their new school on it, Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone and CMSD CEO Eric Gordon mailed this letter to Ward 15 residents. In it, they make no mention of their plan or any need for feedback from the community about “determining their site plan” at Cudell Commons. They had plans, however, to gather feedback about their Watterson-Lake site.
The city wanted feedback from the Gordon Square Watterson-Lake neighborhood but were fine with taking away our park in Cudell weeks later or not telling the neighborhood about their scheme. One neighborhood gets special treatment while the other gets told what to accept.
But wait, not so fast!
Its 2024! Watterson Lake gets a new residential development built partially funded by millions of direct and indirect public dollars. A development? Is that what the community feedback said? No, they said their top choice was “access to parks and greenspace” and “sustainability” while wanting more “density” came in last and next to last. See link below.
What did our community want? Parks and greenspace. What did we get? More density and its park’s greenspace destroyed.
We have been lied to and continue to be deceived by our public officials. These two projects must be stopped.
It is alarming that the District is insisting on lockstep instruction. Teachers who used to teach whole novels like Elie Weisel's Night are no longer permitted to teach whole books, only excerpts. It is even more alarming that teachers are going to be monitored by central administration and will be written up if they are found to be using alternative curricular materials. The District is essentially demanding that teachers act in ways that are culturally destructive, harmful to Black and Brown students, and will be punished if they stand up for kids and use materials that speak to their students lived experiences.
Polly has a FB page too:
Last Saturday I started a public discussion group on Facebook called, Publicly Cleveland Conversations. We already have 270’ish members and it has been nice to show some of this blog information to a wider audience.
If you haven’t already, I invite you to join the Facebook group, or just read it from time to time, anonymously. I always accept private messages there, or DMs on TwitterX, and email messages. If you comment on this blog, please be aware that it is public, and everyone can see your name and comments.
Thanks to community - Cudell's trees and much green space has been preserved. Attention here^^^ connecting the dots with Choby and Matt Zone - and the work of activist Polly Karr helped too.
It looks like Choby went from CMSD to working with Michele Pomerantze at City of Cleveland - I have a public request on the contract details and requested to know how much she is being paid. STAY TUNED.
Neighborhood tree activists question CMSD Board about building plans
This story has been updated since its original publication date.
CMSD NEWS BUREAU
09/06/23
Nearly a dozen Northeast Ohio residents rallied at CMSD’s first Board Meeting of the 2023-24 school year on August 22nd to register their concerns regarding the District’s plan to build a school on land it owns in Cleveland’s Cudell neighborhood.
A new Marion C. Seltzer School is slated to be built next to the current Marion C. Seltzer School, an outdated facility that opened in 1972. The District underwent an extensive review process with the city of Cleveland that included three rounds of neighborhood input before the Cleveland Landmarks Commission granted permission to build this past May 1st. Construction on the new school site is slated to begin in the fall.
At the August Board Meeting, neighborhood residents said their concerns about the removal of several dozen trees is what led to their belated call for changes to the school building project.
Patti Choby, a consultant for the District, said CMSD has taken a number of highly proactive steps to address concerns raised by the tree advocates and neighborhood residents.
“As part of the Tree Preservation Plan, the District will go beyond a one-for-one tree replacement plan. The District will protect 31 remaining trees throughout construction. It will also contract with an ISA-Certified Arborist to supervise soil mitigation after construction (replacing bad soil/debris with quality soil and organic matter), select and supervise the planting of new trees, and monitor a three-year tree maintenance plan,” said Choby.
“Additional work will also be done with the city of Cleveland and community partners to research and recommend best practices for promoting healthy tree populations on school grounds to inform a longer-term investment in tree maintenance across the District,” she added.
In November 2014, Cleveland voters passed Issue 4 that provided $200 million for school renovations and new construction. The projects are part of a modernization program that began after the roof at the former East High School, now the East Professional Center, collapsed in 2000. Marion C. Seltzer PreK-8 is one of the schools slated to be built.
To learn more about the extensive planning that went into planning of the new Marion C. Seltzer School, please visit CMSD’s Segment 8 website for more information:
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Update from Save Cudell Park team
How much is Choby paid to promote the CMSD Levy?
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/08/22/science-of-reading-curriculum-is-now-being-taught-in-all-ohio-school-districts/
Bibb held an invite only event this past week....all the usual suspects including Patti Choby.
CMSD New school year has kicked off: READ Polly Karr https://publiclycleveland.substack.com/p/the-cleveland-plan-refreshed
It is alarming that the District is insisting on lockstep instruction. Teachers who used to teach whole novels like Elie Weisel's Night are no longer permitted to teach whole books, only excerpts. It is even more alarming that teachers are going to be monitored by central administration and will be written up if they are found to be using alternative curricular materials. The District is essentially demanding that teachers act in ways that are culturally destructive, harmful to Black and Brown students, and will be punished if they stand up for kids and use materials that speak to their students lived experiences.
Polly has a FB page too:
Last Saturday I started a public discussion group on Facebook called, Publicly Cleveland Conversations. We already have 270’ish members and it has been nice to show some of this blog information to a wider audience.
If you haven’t already, I invite you to join the Facebook group, or just read it from time to time, anonymously. I always accept private messages there, or DMs on TwitterX, and email messages. If you comment on this blog, please be aware that it is public, and everyone can see your name and comments.
Cudell saved -now what?
https://www.ideastream.org/education/2024-09-19/cmsd-unveils-new-greener-site-plan-for-marion-c-seltzer-school-after-re-engaging-community
Thanks to community - Cudell's trees and much green space has been preserved. Attention here^^^ connecting the dots with Choby and Matt Zone - and the work of activist Polly Karr helped too.
Follow Polly's articles: https://publiclycleveland.substack.com/ and at FB at Publicly Cleveland Conversations
It looks like Choby went from CMSD to working with Michele Pomerantze at City of Cleveland - I have a public request on the contract details and requested to know how much she is being paid. STAY TUNED.
Choby WAS working for CMSD in 2023
Neighborhood tree activists question CMSD Board about building plans
This story has been updated since its original publication date.
CMSD NEWS BUREAU
09/06/23
Nearly a dozen Northeast Ohio residents rallied at CMSD’s first Board Meeting of the 2023-24 school year on August 22nd to register their concerns regarding the District’s plan to build a school on land it owns in Cleveland’s Cudell neighborhood.
A new Marion C. Seltzer School is slated to be built next to the current Marion C. Seltzer School, an outdated facility that opened in 1972. The District underwent an extensive review process with the city of Cleveland that included three rounds of neighborhood input before the Cleveland Landmarks Commission granted permission to build this past May 1st. Construction on the new school site is slated to begin in the fall.
At the August Board Meeting, neighborhood residents said their concerns about the removal of several dozen trees is what led to their belated call for changes to the school building project.
Patti Choby, a consultant for the District, said CMSD has taken a number of highly proactive steps to address concerns raised by the tree advocates and neighborhood residents.
“As part of the Tree Preservation Plan, the District will go beyond a one-for-one tree replacement plan. The District will protect 31 remaining trees throughout construction. It will also contract with an ISA-Certified Arborist to supervise soil mitigation after construction (replacing bad soil/debris with quality soil and organic matter), select and supervise the planting of new trees, and monitor a three-year tree maintenance plan,” said Choby.
“Additional work will also be done with the city of Cleveland and community partners to research and recommend best practices for promoting healthy tree populations on school grounds to inform a longer-term investment in tree maintenance across the District,” she added.
In November 2014, Cleveland voters passed Issue 4 that provided $200 million for school renovations and new construction. The projects are part of a modernization program that began after the roof at the former East High School, now the East Professional Center, collapsed in 2000. Marion C. Seltzer PreK-8 is one of the schools slated to be built.
To learn more about the extensive planning that went into planning of the new Marion C. Seltzer School, please visit CMSD’s Segment 8 website for more information:
https://tinyurl.com/bdecvp2m