It's been a busy summer for Cincinnati Public Schools. Over the past few months, the district made millions of dollars in budget cuts, changed superintendents, updated its cellphone policy, tweaked its transportation system, and developed a new plan for several buildings.
Here's a rundown of the changes to expect before the first day of school for CPS students, which is Wednesday, Aug. 14:
Budget cuts and transportation
The school district will lose millions of dollars in pandemic emergency relief funding later this year. Since the beginning of 2024, the CPS Board of Education has mulled over a long list of options to create a balanced budget that accounts for the change in funding.
Over the past few months, the Cincinnati Public Schools Board has agreed to close openings for unfilled positions, reduce the number of school nurses, eliminate some summer programs, and limit the amount of technology available to students to chip away at its budget gap.
The Board was eventually able to fully close the budget gap just two weeks ago after making some changes to its transportation system. This year, CPS will consolidate its yellow bus services, offering fewer routes and buses. The change will result in some students from different schools sharing the same yellow bus.
Additionally, 7th and 8th graders who previously took yellow buses to get to school will now have to ride Metro buses instead. The shift is expected to save the school district more than $9 million.
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New leadership
Amid the budget cuts, CPS also saw a change in leadership. In May, Iranetta Wright resigned from her superintendent role after all six of the school district's employee unions passed votes of no confidence in her. Union leadership claimed Wright ignored employee recommendations on budget cuts and created an uneasy work environment that intimidated some employees.
Soon after Wright's resignation, the Board appointed longtime CPS employee and administrator Shauna Murphy to take over as interim superintendent. Murphy is expected to hold the job until the end of the 2024-2025 school year when the Board plans to appoint a permanent superintendent. Murphy told WVXU she intends to pursue the permanent role.
New cellphone policy
When many CPS students return to the classroom Aug. 14, they may not have the same access to their cellphones as in years past. In early June, the district updated its cellphone use policy to allow its schools to implement stricter rules around when students can have and use their phones.
CPS leaders say the new cellphone policy was influenced by a pilot program last year at Hughes High School that required students to put their phones in a secured pouch, preventing them from accessing it during the day. Soon after updating the policy, CPS purchased secured cellphone pouches for district-wide use.
RELATED: CPS updates policy to encourage stricter rules for student cellphone use
School building restructuring
On top of all of those changes for the coming school year, the Cincinnati Public Schools administration has decided to move forward with a plan to restructure the use of some of its school buildings. On the first day of class, students from several schools will automatically report to different buildings instead of the one they may have attended for years.
Students in kindergarten through 8th grade at Riverview East Academy will now attend Mt. Washington School. Riverview 9th through 12th graders will all move to the second floor of Riverview's building to make room for students from the Spencer Center for Gifted and Exceptional Students, who will move onto the first floor. The following school year, high school-level students attending Riverview must enroll in a different school of their choice.
After all Riverview East students leave the building, students from Spencer Center will take over the entire building. CPS leaders say this will allow Spencer Center to expand its enrollment.
Students from the newly named Dr. O'dell Owens Center for Learning, which serves students with behavioral and academic difficulties, will move into the old Spencer Center this fall.
Finally, 7th and 8th graders at Shroder High School will report to the building previously used by Owens Center, creating the district's only building exclusively for middle school students.
Students and staff members at these schools have already received information about where they will report for the first day of school, but some have criticized the move by CPS saying it's too drastic of a switch too close to the start of the school year.
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Carolyn Powers, a retired CPS teacher, spoke at a Board meeting two weeks ago. She said making the move just a few weeks before the first bell doesn't allow families or staff enough time to properly plan and adjust.
"I think a lot of people are going to be very confused, very upset, and very frustrated," Powers told the Board.
Interim Superintendent Murphy says the restructuring will better utilize CPS buildings and told members of the Board the principals of these schools are all on board with the plan.
CPS says families with questions about enrollment and the restructuring plan can call the CPS Customer Care Center at 513-363-0123.
