In December, the school board for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) unanimously approved a building consolidation plan as part of its Building Brighter Futures initiative, which aims to take “bold action to right-size, stabilize, and secure a brighter future for CMSD scholars.” The plan will close 18 buildings, end five leases, and merge dozens of existing schools. Beginning with the 2026–27 school year, the district will operate 29 fewer schools.
Closing and consolidating schools is never easy. It’s understandable that families and community members might have concerns. But district officials are correct when they point out that declining enrollment (CMSD serves roughly 34,000 students today, down from 70,000 in 2004), increasing expenses, the cost of ongoing repairs and building upgrades, and a “looming” $150 million deficit are issues that can’t be ignored.
The consolidation effort—a move that is both courageous and smart—should put CMSD on better financial footing, as it will save an estimated $30 million each year. District officials have also noted that students will benefit. Among those impacted, 96 percent will attend a school with an equal or higher star rating, and 95 percent will attend a school located in a building that’s in equal or better condition.
Putting kids first is always the right move, even when it's difficult. So in that spirit, here’s another idea Cleveland should consider: a unified enrollment system that offers information on all of the public schools available in Cleveland and allows parents to apply with just one application.
To be clear, CMSD already has a unified enrollment system for the schools it operates. Each year, it publishes choice books, one for K–8 schools and another for high schools. These resources outline a set of common data points: school hours, star rating, whether the school offers pre–K and before/after-school care, electives, athletics, and student activities and clubs. Families and students can also use the district’s online School Finder to search for buildings near their home address. Each spring—hopefully after they’ve had a chance to peruse these resources—parents submit their school choices in the district’s School Choice Portal. CMSD’s website notes that the district’s goal is to “assign students based on the school preference” of their parent or guardian.
What CMSD doesn’t have, though, is an enrollment system that includes all of Cleveland’s available public schools, namely charters. Cleveland is home to over 50 charter schools serving more than 15,000 students. It’s a portfolio district, which means it provides families with “the freedom to attend a quality neighborhood school or another school that is a better fit for their child.” CMSD works alongside charters in three ways: as a sponsor (it sponsors six schools), as a partner (it partners with five additional schools to share local tax dollars, data, and best practices), and through the District/Charter Compact.
And yet, none of Cleveland’s charter schools—not even those that are sponsored by the district or are considered partners—appear in the 2026–27 choice books provided to families. Charters aren’t listed in the School Finder, either. In fact, even families who live across the street from a charter school and enter their address into the search tool won’t see the building that’s directly in front of them identified as an option. Cleveland families might live in a portfolio district that allows them to find the best fit, but identifying non-district public schools requires a lot of extra work from parents.
Given how serious Cleveland leaders seem to be about wanting to do what’s best for kids, a unified enrollment system should be their next step. Charter schools should be given the choice to be included in the district’s information distribution efforts, like choice books and the School Finder. They should also have the opportunity to be listed as options in the School Choice Portal when families log in to make their selections each spring.
It’s too late to do all that for the 2026–27 school year. But now is the perfect time to start planning for a system that could launch in 2027. The district’s consolidation plan means that, over the next few years, thousands of students will enroll in a new building or attend a school that’s been merged with another. Hopefully, most families will find that their new school is a good fit. But if it isn’t—or even if it is—CMSD should be providing every family with information about all their options. The district is already doing an admirable job of ensuring that families are well-informed about district choices. Now it’s time to expand those efforts.
For anyone still on the fence, consider the following benefits of a unified enrollment system that includes charter schools:
- It provides disadvantaged students with expanded access to high-quality schools.
- It ensures that families have the opportunity to explore consistent, accurate resources that offer comparable data on all schools. For busy parents, having everything in one place is a huge time-saver.
- It eliminates the need for parents to apply to several different schools (which might have different timelines and requirements) and keep track of multiple deadlines. It also saves them the trouble of submitting the same documentation (proof of residence, emergency contact information, vaccination records) to multiple places.
- It could reduce student mobility. If families can apply to district-run and charter schools in one place and at one time, and if all placements are announced on the same date, the likelihood that students will un-enroll from a school because they were accepted elsewhere decreases.
- District and school leaders will have more precise and detailed information about parent and student preferences. These data can be used to help CSMD better allocate resources, plan for the future, and home in on points of pride and areas for growth.
Plenty of urban districts—including New Orleans, Denver, and Washington, D.C.—provide families with a unified enrollment system that includes all public schools. As part of its effort to better serve families, Cleveland should do the same. CMSD already has an established history of working alongside charters for the benefit of students. Unified enrollment is the next step.
