The CMSD takes great strides to engage children and improve education in this city through an evolving Plan. Emphasis is placed on parents to provide a healthy environment and take steps to ensure their children are ready to learn, for instance stressing the importance of a healthy breakfast and good nights sleep. These are factors well in our ability to control. My trust in the school system is to provide a healthy environment at school. I feel very disappointed when I walk into the building at 8am and myself find it difficult to breath in hot heavy air. It does not make sense to me to cut a child's summer short and force them into buildings that were not meant to hold class in the high August heat. Most of the older school buildings were built when children did not go to school until September, and while Cleveland does have hot days well into the month, they are much more manageable. The average temp in Cleveland in August is 80, compared to 74 in September. July, the hottest month of the year, comparably is only 1 degree higher in average than August.

I beseech the school board to consider an adjustment to the school year calendar. Class should begin after Labor Day, the way it has historically and successfully been done for decades. By extending the school day by only 15 min, the amount of time a student is educated is impacted very little, however the quality of that time is greatly increased. With very little negative impact, I believe these changes should be done as soon as the 2019 Academic year, and provide the following signatures of parents like myself who agree and implore on behalf of their children.

We send our children to school in Cleveland because we believe in the city. We seek a dynamic, diverse, multi cultural environment for our children to learn in. Please consider making the learning environment the best that it can be for our children and start the academic year the day after Labor Day.

Thank you,
Brittney Hooper, Resident of Old Brooklyn, Cleveland OH