Six takeaways from interviews with Cleveland schools CEO finalists

Two finalist candidates for CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) were interviewed by a panel of students and parents live-streamed on Monday.

Last week, the school district released six takeaways from these interviews and biographical information on finalists Warren Morgan and Ricardo “Rocky” Torres. You can also watch interviews with each candidate and provide feedback to the school district about each candidate on the district’s website.

Morgan, now chief academic officer of Indianapolis Public Schools, grew up on the south side of Chicago. From 2014 until he was in 2016, he served as Superintendent and Administrator at CMSD Schools. Prior to that, he was a Chicago public school principal for about four years, according to his LinkedIn page.

He also served as Executive Director of Teach for America in St. Louis for three years and, most notably, was a White House Fellow to President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump.

“Strong teachers, quality educational programs, and family support changed the trajectory of his life,” Morgan said in his bio. “That’s why he’s dedicated his life to how a student’s race, identity, economic status, and zip code determine the outcome of their lives.”

Torres, currently the Associate Superintendent of Student Services for Seattle Public Schools, grew up on the west side of Cleveland between the Ohio City and West Park neighborhoods. He started his career as a bilingual special education teacher in New York City (he is bilingual in English and Spanish). He then returned to CMSD where from 2014 he worked as an administrator and principal until 2019.

“Dr. Torres has mentored educators and delivered numerous professional development sessions focused on curriculum, equity, mindset, restorative practices, mentoring and community voices.” He has demonstrated his ability to work with diverse learners and achieve goals, especially in order to consistently improve the performance of the most traditionally marginalized students.”

Torres referenced his Cleveland roots in interviews, explaining that his father was a retired Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority bus driver, learned to swim in the Michael Zone Recreation Center pool, and trained at the Carnegie Chapter in Cleveland. I remember spending time learning how to read. public library.

There were multiple highlights for Torres regarding his experience as a principal at Cleveland’s Luis Munoz Marin Dual Language Academy. When he first started working there, he said, the students at the school struggled academically. it was high.

Torres said the plan the team put together, with extensive input from parents, students, teachers and union leaders, has resulted in significant system-level improvements in all these areas for the school,3 80% of students progressed from grade 3 to, say, 100% from grade 4.

“One of the things we’ve done is work on the culture, work on the culture between students and teachers, between students and students, between teachers and teachers, and work on restorative practices to do different things, a whole model of change. It was,” said Torres. .

Mr. Morgan has family in Cleveland, and during his two years in the city he became close friends with a brotherhood (he is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity) and members of his church.

“This morning, I was running like I did in the morning,” he said.

Morgan says that while supervising schools in Cleveland, he initiated a performance management session for all CMSD principals and brought it to Indianapolis. He said it’s an important goal and priority setting metric that can better prepare people for the rest of the year.

He also founded the Student Advisory Board during his time at schools in Cleveland and Chicago, as did Eric Gordon, CEO of CMSD.

Indianapolis Public Schools has been Indiana’s biggest profit since the end of pandemic-era school closures, Morgan said, with the school district improving scores in English arts and mathematics.

“We were the only district that exceeded pre-pandemic conditions,” he said.

Morgan said one of the biggest initiatives in Indianapolis he has been working on is Rebuilding Stronger, a major overhaul to ensure equitable access to a “quality curriculum” in all school buildings. Said it was a Plan. In Cleveland, the wealthier parts of the city offer better school facilities and courses than the poorer parts of the city.

“We make sure that all students up to grade 8 have access to Algebra One, that all students have access to a foreign language and that the music is there,” he said.

Throughout his career, Morgan said he has worked on a student-based budgeting model that provides more funding to schools based on the number of students attending the school, and is currently working with the school’s finance team in Indianapolis to develop that model. is being recreated.

Torres, who served as the executive director of special education at a public school in Seattle, said she did a great listening tour with students and families who received special education services who were unhappy with the system. As a result, the district’s instruction policy has been rewritten, special professional development for teachers has been implemented, and language interpretation services have been increased when families need one-on-one assistance with school staff.

He also helped create a task force to investigate inequities regarding student race-based special education programs.

Torres said he was trying to enter the building to hear directly from students and staff.

“Looking at my calendar and schedule, I have time to attend various schools around the city, from Pre-K to Eight schools to high school and two language schools,” Torres said.

Neither candidate hails from a school district with no blemishes during their term. The Washington State Department of Education has ordered modifications to Seattle public schools to make up for what it calls “excessive delays in in-person instruction” for students with special needs during the pandemic. A restructuring of a stronger plan for Indianapolis Public Schools has been controversial and is facing delays due to the associated drastic tax hike push. Both public school systems, like many other metropolitan school districts, are facing declining enrollments, with more building closures and school consolidation expected. Also, like CMSD, both schools face severe performance disparities based on student race.

Students who interviewed potential finalists asked what they would most like to change about CMSD.

Torres said he wants to improve academic performance for his students, noting that he has long wondered what the “missing parts” of CMSD could lead to.

Morgan said he wants to create a sense of optimism and hope in the community, while also ensuring that all CMSD buildings offer quality products.

Parent interviewers, meanwhile, asked the finalists what they would do first once they got a job. Morgan and Torres said they would like to conduct an important listening tour with all stakeholders, from students to parents to staff.

One of the top concerns of parents, students, and others in the CMSD community, shared with school districts in surveys and other community initiatives earlier this year, was safety in and out of school.

Torres and Morgan said they share that concern.

Morgan said that when he was a principal in Chicago, he had trouble getting students to school safely. He witnessed “visible drugs for sale on the corner” and students having to walk through “gang zones”.

He took these concerns and some students on his student advisory group to a forum with the mayor of Chicago and the chief of police, which led to a “reform effort to think about safe transit” to schools. said he helped

If hired by CMSD, in addition to the appropriate school resource officer, he said he would like to conduct building safety audits, walk the path to school for students, and ensure good relationships with students.

“We take very seriously making sure babies are protected while they are in our care,” he said.

Torres recalled last year when a student was shot at a school in Seattle. He said that in the months after filming, he went to school to help coordinate the team that supported the students and staff.

He said he’s heard from students who don’t want the school to “feel like a prison” with security guards everywhere, but want a balance of increased security.

When his school in Cleveland was struggling with fights and bad behavior, Torres said the new focus on social-emotional learning support and “recovery practices” helped and eventually helped the school. It has led to a safer environment for everyone within.

“We’ve reduced our suspension rate significantly. And for me, the big data point was people actually showed up when we talked about staff. People wanted to be there,” he said. Told.

Both Morgan and Torres have reportedly been looking for work elsewhere for an undetermined period of time. but was not selected. Torres, meanwhile, said he was elected the next Superintendent of the Lancaster, Pennsylvania School District in February, but resigned due to “failed contract negotiations.”

Morgan’s Teach for America background also aligns with that of Bibb’s Chief Education Officer, Holly Trifiro, who was executive director of Teach for America in Ohio and Greater Cleveland.

In a video provided by CMSD, Torres said his family came to Cleveland from Puerto Rico in the 1940s and 1950s, but was ordered by the U.S. government to travel to Puerto Rico in May to conduct an audit of the Puerto Rican Department of Education. He said he was. their special education program.

Once the students and parents were finished with the interview questions, both Torres and Morgan had the opportunity to ask the interviewer questions.

Morgan asked students what they were most proud of about CMSD, and Torres asked what brought them joy in the district. Students cited things like Cleveland’s Say Yes Scholarship Program, the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board, extracurricular activities available to them, and staff and teachers who really seem to care about them.