Cleveland commission prioritizes girls’ school safety plans | #schoolsaftey #kids #parents #children

Find the agenda for this meeting here. 

Commission on Black Women and Girls commissioners:

• Kathryn Hall, chair, vice president of Diversity and Inclusion, JACK Entertainment
• Dr. Linda Bradley, vice chair, Women’s Health Institute, Cleveland Clinic
• Eugenia Cash, commission secretary, Social Support Services director, City of Cleveland
• Rev. Dr. Lisa Maxine Goods, senior pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church
• Taneisha Fair, associate, Racial Equity, The Center for Community Solutions
• Stephanie Howse-Jones, Cleveland City Council Ward 7
• Shameka Jones-Taylor, chief operating officer, Saint Martin de Porres High School
• Anastasia Sakairoun, student, Cleveland State University College of Law
• Dameyonna Willis, founder and executive director, Queen IAM
• Lita-Marie Wills, commissioner of Health Equity and Social Justice, City of Cleveland

Subcommittee report outs

Education Committee

Presenter: Commission member and Cleveland City Council Member Stephanie Howse-Jones

Howse-Jones said she had met with Sonya Pryor-Jones, Cleveland’s Chief of Youth and Family Success and leader of the Office of Prevention, Intervention and Opportunity for Youth and Young Adults (PIOYYA), to talk about collaborating and about policy suggestions for the mayor’s office and city council.

Commission Member Eugenia Cash said the committee met with Michele Pomerantz, Cleveland Chief of Education, to discuss what supportive resources Cleveland offers girls and young women and how we can have better coordination with these efforts.

Howse-Jones said they plan to make a recommendation that, with the newly formed Municipal Cabinet for Children and Youth, the city make an annual report on the voices of Cleveland’s children so people working specifically with girls know what they need. They also plan to partner with the Department of Parks and Rec and the PIOYYA to provide after-school programs and safe traveling routes for girls, as some schools will be shutting down and students will be transitioning to different schools and environments.

Membership & Recruitment Committee

Speaker: Commission Member Anastasia Sakairoun

The committee has had some interviews and made this recommendation for the vacant higher education representative position on the commission: Anne Nelson, a senior assistant dean of academic affairs at Cleveland State University’s Monte Ahuja College of Business. 

Its recommendation for one college student seat: Sydney Evans, a student at Case Western Reserve University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. Sakairoun said she has great advocacy experience.

Its recommendation for a second college student seat is a student at the University of Akron and a certified pharmacy technician with great policy suggestions.

Its recommendation for the labor representative is a union member and an attorney at Squire Patton Boggs (this Documenter could not properly hear the name of the recommendation).

Recommendations that may fit other roles such as community engagement, policy advocacy and mentorship roles: Delanie West, marketing director for the Graphic Artist Guild, and Imani Edwards, public affairs director at Taft law firm.

Commission Chair Kathryn Hall said candidates will be voted on during the next meeting and the group may invite those who are not placed on the commission to sit as working committee members until the representative roles are added to the commission. Sakairoun said final interviews will take place before the next session.

Public Hearings/Listening Sessions Committee

Speaker: Kathryn Hall, commission chair

The committee is compiling a list of community events and activities. One event mentioned was the MetroHealth health fair. MetroHealth expressed “strong interest” in collaborating with the commission.

Hall said that, with funding cuts, the committee is looking into sponsors and grants.

Commission member Rev. Dr. Lisa Maxine Goods suggested that they be present at community festivals.

Howse-Jones suggested they also participate in back-to-school events.

Commission member Dr. Linda Bradley asked what their table would look like and what they would do.

Goods suggested having brochures at the table and said Bradley’s question was a good one.

Goods, Hall and Cash made suggestions about partnering with a government entity already attending these events.

Research Committee

Speaker: Anastasia Sakairoun

The committee wants to develop more policies involving the workforce. Many Black women have left the workforce since President Trump returned to office, and many have not returned following departures tied to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. They also want to look into getting workplace equity certificates for Cleveland businesses that have a certain percentage of Black women on staff.-

Howse-Jones explained the pay equity legislation passed earlier this year by Cleveland City Council. This legislation requires businesses with 15 or more employees to stop asking job applicants what they were paid for past jobs. If residents want to file a complaint against their employer, they can, and it will be seen by the Fair Employment Wage Board. If the business does not comply, it could be fined.

New business

Community updates:

Speaker: Luciana Gilmore, founder of FORWARD Girls Leadership Academy

It will be the only all-girls public high school in Cleveland. It will be tuition-free and independent of local charter authorities.

Sakairoun asked how the school can be tuition-free.

Gilmore said this will be state-funded like charter schools. It just won’t be under any charter authority.

Wills asked about how many students the school will have at first.

Gilmore said 75 students is the target to open with next year.

Sakairoun asked if the school will start with the 9th grade.

Gilmore replied yes, and that every year they will add a grade. If they meet their target every year, they should be able to build and expand in five years.

Howse-Jones suggested Ward 7 for expansion. [Editor’s note: Ward boundaries and numbers are set to change with this fall’s elections. Learn more.] 

Gilmore said there is already an all-girls middle school in that community that is opening a high school, and she did not want to compete with that school.

Goods asked if she knew about the Ginn-Thompson School for Girls.

Gilmore said that Ginn-Thompson is the school she referenced earlier, and that it will be under the ACCEL schools umbrella, while her FORWARD school will be independent. Gilmore said Ward 1 is the target location.

Public comment

Sabrina Otis, resident: She said the city has a lack of medical care for the Black community. She said the city has a lack of Black doctors, including pediatricians and neurologists. She said her daughter has seizures, and doctors have not treated the situation properly. She wants the commission to look into how local healthcare facilities are treating Black children.

Gregory Reaves, resident and former Cleveland Community Police Commissioner: He said Ward 7 is having a block party Aug. 16 from noon to 4 p.m. from East 33rd Street and St. Clair Avenue to East 33rd and Hamilton Avenue. Reaves said he would like someone from the commission to come and sit at a table.

Miscellaneous

Commissioner Lita-Marie Wills: The Cleveland Division of Health Equity and Social Justice will be putting out a monthly email list of news stories about policy changes and things happening in the community relating to social determinants of health, especially those that affect Black women and girls, so they can stay on top of the rapid changes.

These notes are by Documenter Ayanna Rose Banks.

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalcleveland.org  with “Correction Request” in the subject line.