Latest news with #WarrenMorgan
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Cleveland Ends Year-Round Schooling Citing No Meaningful Gains After 15 Years
The Cleveland school district is ending its15-year attempt to use year-round classes to improve student learning in some schools, deciding last week to drop what the district and some experts once viewed as the best way for students to avoid the so-called 'summer slide.' Year-round schooling, which gained popularity in the 1970s, avoids long summer vacations in which students can forget much of what they learned during the school year. Under the plan, students attend classes as part of a normal grading period most of the summer. Their school years aren't much longer than with a traditional schedule, just spread out differently, with their lost summer vacation days added to other breaks during the school year. Cleveland's move comes as some states like South Carolina and Florida have recently embraced or are trying out the approach, along with districts hoping to address pandemic learning loss. The number of schools using year-round schedules nationally fell from about 6% in the 1970s to under 3% before the pandemic, researchers report. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter In Cleveland, previous district leaders once considered year-round school a promising way to turn around the struggling district. But it caught on in just six of Cleveland's high schools, and new school leaders now want all district schools on the same calendar and curriculum so students aren't lost if they change schools. Leaders also aren't convinced year-round school is helping. A district study this year with researchers from Cleveland State University and the American Institutes for Research showed the city's year-round schools often have higher math and English scores than other high schools, but mostly because the schools have more gifted students and students who would do well with any schedule. Research nationally is also mixed. Related Your Child's Education, Explained: What the Heck Is 'Summer Slide' Anyway? District CEO Warren Morgan decided gains were not enough to justify the additional $2.6 million in teacher salaries year-round classes cost. 'There was no evidence that there was substantial, meaningful difference in the academic outcomes in our different calendar types,' Morgan said before the school board vote last week. 'We also recognize and value the excellence of our many different schools …but there's also other variables…that make them great.' David Hornak, executive director of the National Association for Year Round Education, said the pandemic renewed interest in year-round school as a possible way to tackle COVID learning loss, as well as increasing interest in related strategies, like adding summer learning programs or extra school days to the start or end of the school year. Hornak estimates about 4% of schools now have a year-round schedule, but the association has scaled back over the years and has no staff to track it. He said students are less likely to forget lessons over a shorter summer vacation. Longer breaks during the year, often about three weeks long, give schools a chance to give struggling students targeted help catching up, rather than waiting until July for a summer school that feels like a punishment. 'I would love school leaders to consider summer as just another academic block of time,' he said. Paul Von Hippel, a professor of public affairs at the University of Texas and prominent skeptic of year-round school, said he sees no difference in learning from just scheduling the same number of school days in different ways. 'Instead of having one long break where students forget a lot, you have a bunch of short breaks where students forget a little,' Von Hippel said. 'The amount of forgetting adds up to be about the same.' He added that though the pandemic prompted districts to consider year-round classes, he sees no evidence that they have caught on in a meaningful way. Teachers, parents and students of Cleveland's six year-round schools, however, fought the district CEO and implored the district school board at two hearings to keep a schedule they say made their schools unique and offered students chances they wouldn't have with a standard school year. Students from one year-round school even protested the change outside district headquarters last month. Xavier Avery, a junior at Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School who organized the protest, reminded the school board right before its vote April 29 that his school has received state awards and has better test scores than the district average. He also said that students spend part of school days in warmer months on boats and planes, both learning to operate them and studying Lake Erie as part of the school's specialized focus. 'Our year-round calendar plays a huge role in this success,' he said. 'It's what makes our programs, internships and hands-on learning possible.' Cleveland also cut other non-traditional schedules as part of its push to put all schools on the same schedule. Morgan and the school board also axed extended school years, which added extra days at 17 other schools, as well as extended days, running 30 minutes longer each day at six schools. Those cuts drew more fire from parents, who said that being able to choose schools that offer extra time keeps them in the district, rather than selling their homes and moving to suburban districts. Year-round schools started gaining national attention in the 1970s, experts say, for two major reasons. In some cases, most notably fast-growing California where schools were too small to handle exploding enrollment, schools spread classes out over the whole year so they could stagger student schedules to accommodate all of them. The other major draw, the one that appealed to Cleveland, was limiting 'summer learning loss' or 'summer slide,' where students forget much of what they learned during long vacations. A 2019 summary of year-round schooling studies found mixed results, with Black, Hispanic and low-income students more likely to see gains and the staggered schedules in California more likely to show losses. California stopped using that strategy after building new schools for all its students. The total also fell as cities like Salt Lake City and Chicago dropped the approach several years ago after not seeing big academic gains. Post-pandemic data was not readily available. Educators still see promise in the approach. A quarter of South Carolina schools and three school districts in Florida are now testing year-round classes for several years. Other school districts in Dallas and Philadelphia are trying a related, though different, approach: simply adding voluntary days to the year to reduce summer slide and to help students who are behind catch up, whether from the pandemic or just needing more class time. Richmond, Virginia, has also added extra mandatory days to the school year at a few struggling schools, though parent complaints squashed attempts to do that for the whole district. Related After COVID, a Need for 'Year-Round' School to Catch Kids Up? Cleveland's experiment with year-round school started in 2009 at a specialized STEM school created as a magnet for the city's top students. Former Cleveland school district CEO Eric Gordon soon after considered moving the entire district to year-round schedules. In launching a district turnaround plan in 2012, he jokingly dismissed the traditional school year as an 'agrarian calendar we currently use so that all of my students are free to bring in the harvest every summer.' Gordon said the district could close half the gap between his students and higher-performing suburban students by eliminating the accumulation of 12 years of summer slides before graduation. But attempts to use a year-round calendar at one large neighborhood high school failed after parents objected to students losing summer breaks and its effect on family vacations, summer jobs and school schedules of siblings on regular schedules. A lack of air conditioning in some old schools and parent objections to a much-smaller change — starting the school year earlier in August than before — put plans to use the schedule at more schools on hold. The year-round schedule ended up at no neighborhood schools and just six schools the district created with alternative class styles — a school based in a hospital or one focused on learning through digital art projects — that families could pick, but not be assigned to.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Yahoo
Two in custody after firearms were found in stolen New York vehicle
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Two men were arrested Friday night after a vehicle stolen from New York was located in Hartford with four firearms inside, said police. Hartford police officers with the street crimes unit observed the stolen New York vehicle in the area of Airport Road and Locust Street at 10:48 p.m. Officers stopped the vehicle and took the driver, Warren Morgan, 41, of Brooklyn, NY, and passenger, Andre Samuels, 31, of Ocala, FL, into custody. Investigation into the stolen vehicle found a .223 caliber assault rifle, a Glock pistol converted into a fully automatic firing weapon with an 'obliterated' serial number, a Glock pistol stolen out of Southington, and a revolver. Two high-capacity magazines were also found. Morgan's charges include: Theft of a motor vehicle. Larceny in the 2nd degree. Possession of a pistol without a permit. Weapons in a motor vehicle. Possession of an assault weapon. Theft of a firearm. Obliterated serial number. Possession of a high-capacity magazine. Samuels' charges include: Possession of a pistol without a permit Weapons in a motor vehicle. Possession of an assault weapon. Theft of a firearm. Obliterated serial number. Possession of a high-capacity magazine. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Yahoo
Two out-of-state men arrested after police find stolen firearms inside stolen vehicle in Hartford
Two out-of-state men have been arrested in Hartford after police allegedly found stolen firearms and high-capacity magazines inside a stolen vehicle, police said. Warren Morgan, 42, of Brooklyn, New York has been charged with theft of a motor vehicle, second-degree larceny, possession of a pistol without a permit, weapons in a motor vehicle, possession of an assault weapon, theft of a firearm, obliterated serial number and possession of a high-capacity magazine, according to the Hartford Police Department. Andre Samuels, 32, of Ocala, Florida has been charged with possession of a pistol without a permit, weapons in a motor vehicle, possession of an assault weapon, theft of a firearm, obliterated serial number and possession of a high-capacity magazine. Officers assigned to a nighttime street crimes unit observed a stolen vehicle out of New York City in the area of Airport Road and Locust Street around 10:48 p.m. on Friday. Officers were able to stop the vehicle and take the two men into custody, police said. According to police, Morgan was behind the wheel and Samuels was in the passenger seat. As police searched the stolen vehicle, they allegedly found four firearms, including a .223 caliber assault rifle and a Glock pistol that had its serial number obliterated and been converted into a fully automatic firing weapon. Police also allegedly found an additional Glock pistol stolen out of Southington, a revolver and two high-capacity magazines, according to police. The investigation remains ongoing, police said. Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
I-Team: Hard questions for Cleveland Schools CEO
CLEVELAND (WJW) — The CEO of Cleveland schools finally faced questions from the FOX 8 I-Team about big spending on travel. We recently revealed how much of your money was spent on travel, even as the Cleveland Metropolitan School District asked taxpayers for more money. Police: Toddler shot in Akron, appears unintentional The District also plans more cuts that will affect kids. For months, Dr. Warren Morgan avoided the I-Team, but he agreed to sit down with us for 15 minutes. We found him defiant as he scolded us, 'You talk about fair and factual reporting. Report the facts.' We reminded him, 'These are the facts,' and asked, 'Shouldn't you be watching every penny?' To that, Dr. Morgan replied, 'And, we are.' Dropped doughnut contributes to 3-car crash on Rock Creek Road in Thompson: OSHP In 2024, voters approved a new levy for Cleveland schools. Yet records show in the year leading up to the vote on the levy, the School District spent more than $800,000 on travel. Teachers, administrators and even secretaries flew around the country to conferences and fact, more than 100 people went to one conference. The I-Team reminded Dr. Morgan, 'In June, more than a hundred people went to the Model Schools Conference, and November was the levy. Just making sure I have that right.' He responded, 'Yeah, 0.06 of the budget, and that was also last year's budget. And, we continue to make restrictions on that.' We followed up with, 'When the District is saying it has no money, didn't somebody say, 'Well, maybe we shouldn't send 100 some people to one conference?'' Monument planned to honor Superman as Cleveland's own The CEO said, 'Mr. Gallek, I want to first talk about our need for professional development.' Dr. Morgan defends travel for employees to go and learn. But, he also says, now, travel has been cut in half. At the same time, the district is still struggling with money. Considering saving more money by cutting a half-hour out of every school day for a couple of dozen schools. Polly Karr, a mother and school district watchdog, spoke about the cuts in school days saying,'I'm very disappointed. He will save less than one penny for every dollar the school district spends, and he's taking away instructional time for it.' We asked, 'Why are we shortening that? Parents are concerned there's less time.' GOP lawmakers' push for fluoride ban in Ohio getting pushback The CEO responded, '30 minutes in 24 schools. It costs us over $4 million. That is what we have to look at.' We also took a look at the latest spending on travel. Those records show a lot less travel than before. Yet, we still saw a couple of more trips for secretaries and one for the CEO. On that we asked, 'Why are there six hotel rooms under your name for that conference if you're watching every penny?' Dr. Morgan said, 'We're watching every penny. You want to know how many people went the year before that in prior years?' The District faces more hard decisions on spending your money. You decide how much you agree with the CEO claiming, 'I think a lot has been done since the moment I've taken office.' Dr. Morgan told us, simply passing the levy last November is not enough. So, we keep watching for what cuts might be next. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cleveland Metropolitan Schools considering major changes to academic calendar
CLEVELAND (WJW) – Cleveland Metropolitan School District students and parents could see a significant shift in the school calendar next year. The district is considering major changes that could streamline schedules and lead to substantial cost savings. CMSD is currently evaluating two potential plans. One option would place nearly all schools on a traditional academic calendar, featuring a long summer break and standard school hours. Browns say city 'misguiding' Clevelanders on stadium: Court The other option would keep some schools on an extended year schedule, incorporating additional learning time. According to CMSD CEO Dr. Warren Morgan, the majority of schools already follow a traditional schedule. 'Right now, 71 of our schools are on the traditional calendar,' he said. 'We have 21 schools that would transition from one of the five other calendars to the traditional one.' While the proposed changes impact classroom schedules, financial concerns are a major factor in CMSD's decision-making process. The district currently spends approximately $4.5 million annually to maintain extended school times—an investment that, according to Morgan, has not significantly improved student test scores. 'It costs us around $4.5 million to run these extra times, and it's only about 30 extra minutes,' he said. Fight over DEI in schools rages at Ohio Statehouse The cost savings from these calendar adjustments would be redirected toward CMSD's 'Building Brighter Futures' plan, an initiative aimed at saving approximately $150 million over the next three years. The district's goal is to improve financial stability and make strategic investments in long-term educational success. While district leaders see this as a necessary step, not everyone is on board. 'Most of our stakeholders want to stay where we are. I know we will continue to hear that,' Morgan said. CMSD is actively gathering input from parents, teachers and students before making a final decision. The district will present a formal recommendation to the board of education on Tuesday, with a final vote expected by the end of April. If approved, any changes would take effect at the start of the next school year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
