001Thank you everybody for your patience. We were having fun in executive session. Um and now we are back in public session and I would like a motion to consider the consent agenda. Please. I move that we consider the consent agenda. Second. Is there any discussion? I was really uh comforted seeing that we uh are continuing to find good people to fill really important positions. Um I know that intervention specialists are really hard to find right now and I see that we were able to snap a few up which is nice. Um I was happy to see that we've got coaches lined up for all those sports which already began um like cross country, you know, they always start in July. So yeah, getting getting the right people in the right places is important. I did
002see that we have a social media post out today advertising. We do still have some uh positions though. So if folks are looking for work, I encourage everybody to take a look at the Heights Schools um website because there are some positions uh that are available in the district. Come work with us. Change the world one kid at a time. One tiger at a time. I'm going to switch topics here a little bit and just uh note that in the financial reports, there's a lot of uncertainty right now, particularly with what's going on at the federal level with the Department of Education possibly being dismantled and money being withheld right now from the federal government. So, we just we don't really know. I mean, there's a lot of uncertainty right now and I just want
003the community to know that. Yeah. And the numbers at play are large. Yeah, we're keeping our eye our eye on it, but there's a lot of unknowns right now. Yeah. And Molly, perhaps you want to introduce Miss Leam, just so people know. I was going to say sitting to my right is the person whose main headache all of this is. Miss Angel Leam is our new incoming treasurer uh who comes to us from Reynoldsburg and previously from CMSD. So, welcome home. Um and we're very happy to have you with us. Yes. And I'm sorry that they're big numbers with big question marks next to them because it's going to make your hard your job much harder. And you will find out once a tiger always a tiger. So now you will always be a part
004of Cleveland Heights University Heights City School District. So thank you for joining us. Thank you. It's kind of lick the mafia once you're in. Yep. Okay. Um Mr. Trimble, will you call the role, please? Mr. Hines, yes. Miss Lewis, yes. Miss Serini, yes. Miss Krenshaw, yes. And Mr. Trimble, yes. And now I will turn it over to Superintendent Kirby for the topic of Monttoello renaming. All right. So our work session topic this evening is uh make the Monaceel Middle School renaming process. Um and we will end with uh some names for the board to consider. I am um pleased that Kathan Kavanaaugh, our supervisor of communications, will be leading us through the presentation today. We also do have members of the renaming committee um that are here. Um so if you guys would not mind
005standing so we can acknowledge you. Uh we have been meeting quite um frequently over the past two months in this process. So just thank you all for your work. Uh Lisa Hunt and Nancy Pepper are also part of this process. We also had three students uh that were engaged in the naming process as well in addition to um Ron Holland, a staff member here um at Monaceel. So I'm going to turn it over to Kathan to take us through our work session. All right. Well, thank you, Superintendent Kirby. Um good evening board members and good evening, Miss Leam. It's nice to see you. Um, so I am really happy to be here tonight to um share with you all on behalf of uh the the renaming committee as uh Superintendent Kirby just mentioned. Um I
006I'm looking forward to sharing what we've been up to for the last few months and of course um presenting you with a few name options to consider for Monteello Middle School. Um, so what I'll be going over tonight, uh, I'll briefly share a recap of the renaming consideration process thus far to get everyone up to speed. Um, we'll talk about, uh, what we did as a task force. Um, what we discussed, what we learned, and what we considered during, um, our role in the process. And of course, finally, uh, we'll present our group's top three ranked name options to you um, for your consideration. So um kind of for you know the folks at home obviously we all lived this process but um just to kind of get everyone up to speed who may not
007be familiar um this process really started in earnest um over a year ago. So the discussions began um at board meetings around the topic of um considering renaming Monaceel Middle School back in kind of the springtime and the summertime of 2024. So it was around that time we also started collecting information and gathering some data um regarding you know what that process could potentially look like. So then moving into uh the fall and the winter of 2024. So later that year we engaged uh Dr. Gregory Hutchings to um lead as our consultant. Um he led community engagement around the topic for us. So, if you'll recall, that included um online surveys um different in-person uh focus groups and discussion sessions um and some one-way messaging as well. So, in the form of online and print
008messaging. So, um that was our way of really engaging the community and getting their sentiment and educating them on the history um you know behind the name Monttoello and why we were considering the process. So, um early in 2025 doc Dr. Hutchkins presented um his data and his findings to the board of education and um a month later and you know not to speak for the board but um that data did of course give you all the the the validation to go ahead and um keep moving forward with the process. So that was when the board approved a motion to ensure that the school has a new name by the start of the 2526 school year. So that brings us a lot closer to the present. So in the spring of 2025 um we formed
009the Monaceel Renaming Task Force. So we put out a call for applications uh for community members to apply and join our task force and it was our um job to determine at least three new name options to present to the board uh for their for their consideration. So that is where we are tonight. So, um, Superintendent Kirby also, um, you know, shared mentioned the task force members, but, uh, we did have, um, quite a great variety of of people serving on this task force. So, we had a few students. So, um, Marshall Breedlove, Terren Howard, and Charlotte Walker from Monaceel Middle School. Um, staff members, myself, uh, Ron Holland, um, who's school counselor at Monaceel. Lisa Hunt, our family engagement specialist, uh, Superintendent Kirby, along with Nancy Pepler, our supervisor of community and school partnerships.
010And again, community members um, in the audience tonight, uh, Mr. David Ryder and, um, Dr. Vincent Stokes I, and they are both, um, not only community members, but they're alumni and district parents as well. Thank you both. So, um, you know, what did we get up to these last few months? Um, so starting around April, we uh met uh virtually bi-weekly and um during this time we also met with uh several local historians and I'll get into exactly who um here in a minute. Uh we visited the Heights Library. There's a great resource room filled with Cleveland Heights specific um history and information and uh we conducted a lot of independent research kind of on our own time. And of course, we also talked a lot. Um, that's mostly what we did. We talked. Um,
011we had some really great and nuanced conversations. We brainstormed potential options. Um, options included new ones um that we had thought of in this time period as well as ones that had kind of been brought forward during the initial community engagement process. Of course, finally, we um shortened our list up and then shortened it up again. So we had our list and then we collectively ranked um individually our top three. And I do want to make a note that um throughout this whole process um I feel both implicitly and explicitly our core values were really front and center. So um our district's core values being of course excellence, equity, integrity, trust and respect. So all of our discussions and conversations, even when we didn't necessarily agree with one another, um we still had kids at
012the forefront. We still showed respect to one another and um we had equity at the forefront definitely as well. So um to get a little bit more specific on um who we talked to in terms of local experts and um historians. So um we had the pleasure of being joined um a couple times actually in our meetings by U. Maisie Adams who serves as the chair of the Cleveland Heights Landmark Commission um as well as Margaret Lan um who is the director of preservation services and publications for the Cleveland Restoration Society. So they joined us together and um they did a lot of research for us which I'll get to in a moment. Um we met with Ken Goldberg with the Cleveland Heights Historical Society. He was the one that really showed us around um
013the library resources for Cleveland Heights. And um Ken also introduced us to Dr. Mark Souther who is a professor at uh Cleveland State and he holds uh various leadership positions there and he is also a researcher and expert on um early black home ownership in uh the Cleveland area and Cleveland Heights. So I don't know if you got a chance to um take a look at that little newspaper clipping there. It was something that uh Maisie and Margaret had shared with us and we thought it was kind of funny. It just shows that even in 1930 when the school was first um opened, people didn't really know how to pronounce it. But it sounds like it was pronounced Montichello back then and so it was just something we thought was kind of entertaining in our
014in our research. I find it amusing that the students are called inmates. Yeah, we didn't know if that meant students or staff or both, but yeah, that was a letter to the editor. Definitely very opinionated in there. Language changes. It really does. So, um, a few things that were brought forward to us by, um, Maisie and Margaret and Ken that, um, I wanted to include in the presentation tonight that was, um, not only interesting, but I think validating to this whole process. So, um, we we learned that construction on Monteello Boulevard itself began around 1910. And um Maisie and Margaret definitely in their research assured us that it is reasonable to assume that um the name Monaceel Boulevard was of course inspired by the Virginia plantation owned by President Thomas Jefferson. And they explained that
015that was connected to the Americanization movement um which was really all about nostalgia for the resolution or revolution and assimilating immigrants and really instilling a sense of patriotism. And that showed up in a lot of different ways. And specifically here, we saw that show up in um naming streets. So we have like Monaceel, it's why you see a lot of Washington Boulevards and and things of that nature. And so bringing us up to when the school was actually built, um it was built in 1929 and it was dedicated in October of 1930. And there is a newspaper clipping to the left there with with a little more detail about who was there. Um, it's important to note that the building costs $600,000 as well to build. Wow. Just wanted to note that, too. No bond
016issue, huh? No, I don't think there was an issue there. So, all right. Now, we come now we come to the big moment that everyone's been waiting for. So, I'm going to present our top three rank names and I'm going to present them in alphabetical order. So, first on the list, we have Bombgardner Middle School. You know, I had to make it a little flare and dramatic here. So, Bombgardner Middle School, Heights Middle School, and Yellowstone Middle School. So, I'm going to go into a little bit more context and detail on each, but I do want to offer a little bit of a disclaimer that um you know, I'm coming to this completely neutral. I'm just sharing information on the messenger. We will be definitely spending a little more time talking about Bombguarder naturally because
017there's more history and context to unpack here. The other two a little bit more self-explanatory. So, um, we first learned about the Bombgardner family, um, through Dr. Sather. So, I had contacted Dr. Souther, um, to possibly set up a meeting with him to kind of pick his brain on, um, you know, his expertise on um, early black home ownership and, um, history here in Cleveland Heights. And it was kind of funny because I think I emailed him at maybe 4:30 on a Friday and I think within 20 minutes I got a response and it was Kaiten, I need to tell you about the Bombgardner family. And he did. He shared a lot of really um amazing information. So in a nutshell, the Bombgarders were among the first black homeowners in Cleveland Heights. So um physician
018and surgeon Dr. Luther O. Tom Gardner, his wife Myrtle, and their two young daughters, Gretchen and Jane, uh they moved into a house in 1938 that they had purchased on Wilmer Road. And just a few nights, um it was less than a week after moving in, they suffered a bombing attack after, um a dinner party. Um it was a pipe bomb, and um the house was damaged, but thankfully no one was injured. And they refused to be intimidated into selling. they refused to um move or um be intimidated into into leaving. And um later Jane and Gretchen, they indeed went on to attend Monttoello Middle School and to graduate from Heights High School. And um one interesting fact about Dr. Bombgardner, he um was originally from uh South Carolina, specifically where one of the five
019cases um submitted into Brown versus Board originated. So we thought that was kind of interesting, too. So, here's a few um clippings and yearbook photos that you might find interesting. So, these two um newspaper articles were of course written after um the bombing and they kind of detail that it was of course um racially motivated and um indeed was done to instill fear into the family, but um Dr. Bombgardner went on record saying that he was not going to be intimidated into moving. So, um, you can definitely read those more at your leisure. And, um, we were able to also find, um, with Dr. Sther's help, uh, the yearbook pictures of their daughters. So, Gretchen, um, graduated in June of 1948 and Jane graduated in June of 1955. So, um, obviously with something of this
020measure and once we knew that it was going to be on the short list, uh, we as a group decided it would be really important for us to try to contact the bomb gardeners, um, just to make sure that they were, of course, okay with this, um, to let them know that we were doing this and to, you know, just gauge their comfort and, um, and make sure that that they were essentially okay with this process. So, um, I was able to, um, track down, uh, Jane. So, Gretchen has since passed away. Jane is still with us, and I was able to track her down through her daughter, Pam. And, um, this actually was taken today. So, this is um, Jane. Now, she's known as Dr. Jane Seavoy. So, she is 87 years old, and
021she is a practicing psychologist in Michigan. And what she's holding is, I guess, a stuffed um Heights High School tiger that she was able to find. Maybe from a different angle, it looks looks a little more tiger-like, but really cute. Yeah, she's wonderful. Yeah. So, I um Lisa Hunt and Na Nancy Pepler and I um had really the great privilege of um speaking with um Jane and her daughter Pam um over a Google Meet for about an hour. I think we spoke and um she spoke candidly about um her experiences growing up in the Heights and um the the family was just really lovely. So, that was a really special thing to be able to um connect with her and um hear her story. All right, so moving on, Heights Middle School. So, again, pretty
022self-explanatory. Heights Middle School was really um a student favorite that kind of came out during the community engagement period, as we will all recall. So, it was also um the unofficial but official name of the combined middle schools um at the WY campus during the renovation years. So that picture is from I think the first day of school of maybe year two that we were over at WY. And finally, Yellowstone Middle School. So um this would of course be named for the cross street um which itself um as we were able to confirm with Maisy and Margaret was most likely named for a type of fine grained yellow sandstone that was quarried in the vicinity. So um we see that also with Blue Stone Road. So, finally, I just wanted to give um a special
023thanks again and include some links to different references. So, Amazing Margaret sent us um a really great write up and a lot of news clippings and photos and site plans um that you can that you can look through there. It should lead you to a folder. Um again, Ken Goldberg with the Cleveland Heights Historical Society, Dr. Mark Souther. I did include a link there to um his uh research paper that includes information about the bomb gardeners and many other families um living in the Heights around that time. And um I also want to thank the Heights Libraries um and the Heights Schools Foundation and their archive volunteers also helped us um do some digging with uh yearbooks. And that is all. Wow. Thank you. That's a lot of work. Well, thank you, Kathan. Thank you
024to the committee and everyone um who participated in this. Um I think this is really an exciting time for our community um to move towards um who we say we are when we say that all are welcome um and creating a more anti-racist environment for our students um and for our entire community. So, thank you to you all for um for doing this work. Thank you for entrusting us with it. I guess how do we want to Yeah. Do we all talk now or how do we pres Yeah, we we we all have a lot of things we need to mull over. Do we want to just start at one end and work our way down or Sure. Well, I'd like to um close if I could. Oh, okay. Okay. So, we'll start with Phil
025then. Okay. Yeah. Um well, first off, thank you for uh the committee uh some of whom are here, some of whom are not um for all of their hard work because this obviously was a lot of work. Uh as well as the community members and other volunteers who uh who helped out with this. So, full disclosure to the audience and the public, uh, Kathan did share the short list with us. Was it yesterday? The day before? Yesterday, yesterday. So, I was looking into the bomb gardeners as well, and I found um, uh, Mr. Southther's uh, article and it along with Susie Kazer's book, Resisting Segregation, um, which Malia brought, but I've got a I have a copy at home. I I cracked that open as as well to see if the bomb gardeners were mentioned
026there. Um they were not just because of the timing. Yes. Uh and the the the staggering thing, the staggering fact is that um throwing a stick of dynamite at a black family's home was not an isolated incident. This is something that happened in the city time after time after time. um often orchestrated by members of the Blue Cuts clan. Um I mean this is uh really really really dark stuff uh and staggering something staggering to read and learn about uh now and to think how recent this time was. Um I mean from you know the 30s into the 60s uh and then you know all of the additional racism that has taken place even since bombings became less prevalent. Um, the other thing about the Bombgarders that was that was interesting to me as I
027read I shouldn't say interesting that um impactful to me uh as I was reading Dr. Southther's article um the stick of dynamite landed in their front yard, blew out their windows and neighbors windows. the family had chosen to delay moving into the home uh while their the younger of their daughters was born. Um and so we're talking a family with a newborn baby in their new home uh having their windows blown up. I mean just terri like I'm I'm tearing a you know saying the words out loud. It's it's as a parent it's uh terrifying. Um, and so I think to me that name is very it's a very um interesting and impactful choice that we have the option of making um because of the three names presented, it is the one that I think
028flips the type of name that we are that we have for this public um from a forced labor camp to something that honors a family. Um at the same time, I've always um I mean there there's there's there's issue and nuance with naming something after a single person when that experience happened to other people as well. So I also want to acknowledge that. Um, I mean, as a Cleveland baseball fan, uh, not not enough people know about Larry Dolby, as do Jackie Robinson. Uh, which, you know, when you give one person over others with shared experience, uh, uh, recognition, you know, does it diminish others? I don't know. Um, Yellowstone, it's kind of a I don't know, kind of meh to me. I mean, I like it better than I like Monel, but uh it's
029it's the um it's the default. Uh I don't know that I love Heights Middle School personally. Um because it is not the only Heights Middle School. That worked great when WY was uh serving double duty, the joint. Yeah. Yeah. Um but to me personally um I sort of have issue with that also full disclosure as all of you know and some people in the audience might know uh my daughter attends the school. Uh I asked her a couple of days ago three or four days ago uh her thoughts again because she's shared throughout the process what her and her friends have been saying. Uh and she was very emphatic. She goes, "Oh, Heights Middle School." And I said, "Tell me more about that." that and she said, "Well, then we would be the Heights Middle
030School." Like with the implication being like we get to diss rocks a little bit on this. Uh which I appreciated, but also I don't know as a schoolboard member if that is the right choice for the community. Um so, um like most things, uh my mind is not made up. I'm very interested in hearing uh from the people that I that I that I serve with. Um but I'm uh I like all three options better than like the name Monaceel. That's where I stand right now. Okay. Well, I hope I don't repeat some of what Phil said, but um first of all, I want to thank the committee and the folks who've been part of this process. mainly because one of the things I was very concerned about going into this was I didn't want
031us to get bogged down in a very long process that was going to eat up a lot of time, energy. You know, a year goes by, then another year goes by, and we're still arguing over what the new name is going to be. I did not want that. And I'm very pleased that this has been a very smooth and quick process. And so it did take away a lot of the fear I had about even, you know, kind of opening that Pandora's box of changing a name. Um, I asked Kathan when we got the list of names to, you know, if she could give me some more information on the Bombguarder family just because I wanted to know more about it. And she shared with me the article that Phil found. And um, when I
032looked at the three names, I thought that well, first of all, I was um, I thought Heights Middle School is going to be confusing for folks because if you're not from if you're not from the Heights, you move here. you move into the city and suddenly you're like, "Wait, Heights Middle School." You're going to assume your kids's going to Heights Middle School, but we have two of them and then it would be confusing. So, unless we were changing the name of both middle schools and one was going to be, you know, Heights North and Heights South or some other distinction, I think Heights Middle School might cause confusion. And so, I'm I will admit I'm kind of like, don't let's not choose that one. I So, I do have an opinion on that. Um, Yellowstone
033is the safe choice. It's the easy choice. It's the, "Oh, it's just the other street. We name it after a different street. We're done." Um, but I love the name Bombgartner. I I love what it stands for. I love that it's a family. I love that it's a family who came through the school district. Um, going into this, I thought, you know, maybe one of the choices would be, you know, whether it was the first black graduate, the a first uh, black teacher, a first black principal, a first black, you know, superintendent, a first black board member, that's what I thought we were going to be presented. And when I read the story about the Bombgardner family, I thought, this this nails it for me because it it's it's the community. It um talks about
034the history of the community. It acknowledges some really uncomfortable and sad um history of our community, but it's wonderful to hear that, you know, Jane is still around, that she's a delightful person. I'd be curious to hear, you know, what her thoughts were when it was presented and and how she reacted. Um, I'm assuming she was at least positive or you wouldn't have presented the name to us tonight. Very much so, Jody. Very positive. Okay. But, but I admit I I'm when when I looked at the three names, I I came in here with, you know, an opinion, and my opinion was that I liked the Bombgardner middle school name the best. I agree with Jody that Heights Middle School, while it might be fun for the students in this building to stick it to
035that other building, is sort of logistically not helpful. Um, and I am also very taken uh with the name of Balgardner and the story of the family who sent their children to school here. I was aware of a whole series of bombings that happened in the 60s um of the houses bought by African-American families moving into Cleveland Heights. Um but the fact that this one is from three decades prior is I think more impactful because none of this is new, right? We've been fighting the same fights over and over again and here we are looking at the present and it's not it's not a surprise, right? None of this is new. Um, I think it would be wonderful to rename this building Bound Gardener and it would be an excellent excuse to teach everybody, all
036of our students about this piece of Cleveland Heights history and put it into context. Yeah, Malia, you just touched on something I meant to mention and I forgot, but if part of the reason to change the name was an educational component for our kids. Absolutely. It must be part of this. This provides a really nice additional educational piece to it versus just going with Yellowstone or going with Heights. Yeah. And I think I mean right what what do we do? We teach kids. Um, and if we don't teach the mistakes of the past, we are doomed to repeat them. I'm not the first person to say that. Um, and there has been a very deliberate move to dumb down our education, limit what we teach, forget history. Um, and that's one of the reasons, you
037know, we are in the position we're in today. So, by choosing a name that comes with very difficult history, it forces us to confront the past and and put things into context. That's I I also echo Jody uh in in that I didn't get a chance to verbalize that as well that the the educational opportunity regardless of if and when a decision is made to rename this building. Um I would love it if Dr. Jenkins is able to share this article with uh social studies teachers across the district. Uh, I thought it was a fantastic article and there's something so much more powerful and grounding to me personally to read history when it's personal in this way. It's one thing to read, you know, uh, about things that happened in Alabama, which is something that
038we're that all of our social studies classes are talking about uh, when studying American history. Uh, but to see things that happened in Cleveland Heights. Um, the last thing I'll throw in before I I I know I'm stealing time, but I went first and was put on the spot so I get to uh is that how it works? Uh, the the the house that the bomb gardeners lived on um is for folks in the audience or people who might be watching this um is on Mayfield Road right by AutoZone. Uh it's it's there's a oneb block street named Wilar. Yeah. Uh so just u again just grounding ourselves right here. Yeah, exactly. it's it's it's on this piece of paper, but it's in our community, and that's I think important. Um, and again, you know,
039we we all know, we all remember learning about, we may actually be old enough to have lived through many of the important events that happened in the 1960s. And the three decade gap there I think is very important because it's also a reminder that as important as the civil rights movement was you know coming out of the second world war it wasn't new then right um none of this is new none of this was new and if a family was putting up with this sort of nonsense and you overt attack on their safety in 1938. We need to know that today and we need to remember that. Moving on down the line. I think it's also important to note that Dr. Luther Bombgarten lived in the house until he passed away in 1976. Yep. So
040he was his house. He was in the community all that time. Mhm. Sorry, Dan. I didn't mean to cut into your time. You're fine. You're fine. We don't have any timers tonight. So, I came here tonight with the intention of um supporting the name Yellowstone. um sort of because I I didn't I didn't want to make a statement with the name. Um and and then I I began sort of digging into this incredible man. And I also thought I will say that I also thought you know unfortunately there have been many many many and there are still today many many many among us who um and and just terrible acts and and and so I sort of struggled with picking this one, you know. Um but then I I read a a little biography of
041of him. Um, and this man's life, uh, he he was born in 1886 in the deep south and he grew up in the deep south. Um, and he um is an H.B.CU guy because there were no other options. He went to Howard and he has a degree from Howard. So that tells you this guy, this this young man who grew up as a secondass citizen, this is a a unique individual um with a great family and community, no doubt, around him, urging him on, supporting him. Um, but what struck me as a history teacher is where his first professional medical job was. And it was at Freriedman's Hospital. Unquestionably, a hospital set up by the United States government in the aftermath of the Civil War in order to serve the African-American community in the South,
042just as there were Freriedman's schools. This was probably the hospital he was born in, I bet. And um as we talk about, you know, is this teachable to our kids? His life path is just on one level so extraordinary and on another level so ordinary. Um and it's so embedded in the curriculum. uh he can be an example, a touchstone, you know, that our kids can sort of put a face with. Um and so I think that that's fantastic. Um, when he came to Cleveland, he ended up working for, wait for it, well, it was called at the time, Cleveland City Hospital, which is now known as Metropolitan Hospital, which is our provider at Heights High Metro Health. He also was a black MD who went to Mount Si Hospital, the Jewish hospital in Cleveland,
043which I just love. Um, and so the other thing that strikes me about this is I often think about who we are and and and you know we talk about things and we call them portrait of a graduate and this that and the other thing. I just call what does it mean to be a tiger? And and I like to think that we raise kids who are scrappy. I like to think that we raise kids who when they see injustice, they call it by its name. Um, and I think there's a lot of that story. This man didn't run away from his house being dynamited because he had grown up as an African-American in the deep south during Jim Crow. This was unfortunately and disgustingly nothing new. And in 2025, we all know very very
044well that um things that were hidden in the closet. People's racist beliefs were not sort of expressed publicly for a number of years. And now I think that there's a great section of America that feels licensed to let those beasts out. And I love the idea of celebrating this man's tenacity and courage with the understanding that our kids who go through the high schools, not just this one, understand who he was, what he did, and and and what he literally stood for. Um, but I also think it's a it's a story of the family because um those those girls went through a lot and so I'd like to know more of their memory of that experience certainly their familial memory. And the reason I'm kind of getting to that is are we considering the Dr.
045Luther Oid Bombgardner Middle School or are we considering Bombgardner Middle School? I would propose just Bombgardner Middle School and that way it would incorporate more of the family. I agree with you. Yeah, that's that's what I assumed. Um, so yeah, I'm I'm surprisingly um upbeat about my change of heart. You're willing to give up Yellowstone? Yeah, I'm more than willing to give up Yellowstone. There was nothing exciting about Yellowstone, but that's sort of what attracted me for a minute. But um yeah, I like the deeper. There's a lot to dig our teeth into and there's a lot for our students to learn about with the name Balm Gardener and I really like that. I also want to hear um his daughter's pronunciation. Well, you said she lives in Wisconsin. Is that right? Michigan. Michigan. Sorry,
046wrong state. Um so yeah, whatever. I would just like to hear her her say it. Balm or balm. Yeah, right. We can definitely clarify that. Well, hopefully if we hopefully we'll see her. I mean, that that would be pretty amazing. Yeah, that would be so cool. You know, there's this thing called a homecoming. Anyway, very five steps ahead as usual. Hall of Fame. We have Hall of Fame events in October. Yep. Yeah. So, anyway, alumni hall of fame. So, when I first um brought this to board members, even before I was on a on the board, it didn't really matter to me what we called the school. I just knew that a school that is majority black should not be named after a forced labor camp um for multiple reasons. Um and so Dr. Suther's
047article was one of the articles in doing my own research that I came across um and you know learned this history um of Cleveland Heights. And so I just would also want to share um some of those other families who have also uh experienced, you know, this painful and often overlooked uh racially motivated violence that has happened here in Cleveland Heights um as these black families have attempted to integrate into the community. Um, and all of them did not happen in the 1930s. Um, as Malia mentioned. Um, so in 1967, the East Overlook, home of Jay Newton Hill, who was the director of Caramu House was bombed. Um, just 2 years later in 1969, Hagen's Realy, the first blackowned realy office of any Cleveland suburb, which was located on North Taylor, was bombed. Um, and
048so these incidents were not isolated. Um, and so as early as the night families, uh, 1930s, as black families in Cleveland Heights faced violent resistance, um, when black entrepreneur Alonzo Wright moved in his into his home on Hamshshire Road, it was bombed. And so between 1923 and 1957, at least 10 African-American families acquired property in Cleveland Heights. And of those, five experienced bombings or arson attacks. Um, the six had her home partially torn down by white residents. Um, and then there was Dr. Robert Weiss and his wife Lula, um, who purchased a home on Washington Boulevard that was also bombed. Um, they would be the third family, the third black household in the city. Um, and Mr. Wright was a gas station franchisee who later became a successful real estate investor and Cleveland's first black
049millionaire. And so, in addition to the Bombgarders, that is just some additional history um that black families have faced here in Cleveland Heights. Um, and as I said, you know, I'm genuinely excited about the name change. Um, but this process at times was disheartening um, from some of the correspondences that we received from community members. It was discouraging, you know, at times. Um, we received an anonymous letter um that was sent to several, not all, board members. Um, but one seemed to um mock me and say that I was seeking a Black Panther arms salute. Um, and you know, saying that I was looking for someone to say, "Right on, sister." Um, and so as a black woman in leadership, you know, I am no stranger to microaggressions, you know, and covert racism. Um, so
050I think that someone who hides behind that, you know, that anonymous letter is a coward. Um, you know, I respect the parent who spoke boldly at our board meeting and had the courage to stand behind their words. Um, and so as we've had this discussion when we were given the the rankings, you know, I I understood why students wanted Heights Middle, but we have two. So, you know, we can't really do that. Um, I think we should move away from the naming convention of the street. Um, you know, I think also there might be a semi popular show that maybe, you know, people might think that we that is the reason. Um, and I'm not sure if that show aligns with our views and values. Um, and so, you know, I I am excited about
051this name for the school because it also, you know, it has history. It's a teaching moment. Um, and again for me it was never what are we going to name it? It was just that it shouldn't be named this. Um, so do we have copies of I don't think anyone knows this off the top of their head. I don't expect them to, but I I'd be interested to know if we have copies of Susie Kaser's book in the high school and middle school libraries. I'm not sure. Yeah. Well, it's available at Max Bass because that's where I got mine a few years ago. I was gonna say if if there's not, Liz, uh, if you could let me know and I'll I'd love to donate several copies to each of the each of the buildings.
052Yeah. The schools. So, um, can I ask a question on on Bombgardner? And it kind of goes to your question, your comment, Dan, on are we naming it for the student? I mean, I'm sorry, the the uh Dr. Bombgardner or are we naming it for the family that lived here in the Heights, right? So, Dr. Bombgardner, his wife, and the two children, you know, who attended Monaceel and attended Heights High. I think that is important to just understand um just in this this naming process and just looking at how this process plays out that's actually really important um for us to be clear on if if if it if it actually does become so I I want to hear what everybody's thoughts are. Um but my my um idea would be to name it Bombgardner
053Middle School so that it would be inclusive of the family because I think that everyone in that family has a story that's worth um highlighting. Okay. To our students. I agree with Dan. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, when I looked at this slide, I think it's eight with the short list of names because it says Bombgartner Middle School, Heights Middle School, and Yellowstone Middle School. It doesn't say Luther O. Bombgartner Middle School, right? I assumed it was for the family. And the from what I could find of the two young women, Gretchen and Jane, they have interesting stories as well. And you know, they success stories. Yeah. Success stories. They went on to graduate, you know, go to college. They graduated Heights and they went on to college. Sounds like they had successful careers. Um, it
054sounds like the the whole family has interesting stories that would be a good educational moment for our kids. Well, it seems like we are um at a consensus perhaps. I think so. Um so somebody needs to make a motion. I will entertain a motion. You want to phrase it? Sure. So um I move that the Cleveland Heights University Heights School District rename Monttoello Middle School to Bombgardner Middle School. I second that motion. Any further discussion? Can I just add in honor of the Bombgardner family, one of the first black families in the Cleveland Heights community. Just to be clear that it's, you know, that particular nuclear family because when you name for when you name a school, you know, there's no way we would ever know. Yes. anyone even so that is on record. So
055we want to be very confused on why we're calling it that. Yes. Right. Y So do I need to say it over? Could be mine. Okay. I just want And you need to write it down. Phil has to write it down cuz he's recording it. Can I watch the video? I move that the Cleveland Heights University Heights City School District rename Monaceel Middle School Bombgardner Middle School in honor of the Bombgardner family one of the first black families to integrate the city of Cleveland Heights. And I second that. Mr. Trimble. Miss Krenshaw. Yes. Mr. Trimble. Yes. Miss Lewis. Yes. Missini. Yes. Oh, I missed Mr. Heines. Mr. Heind. Yes. Excellent. Is there any other business that we need to undertake? uh I think related um and I don't think we need a resolution or anything
056for this because I I trust that it'll happen but um I hope that the district and Liz and staff find a way to integrate this story into the process. Um I I look forward to our students uh learning about the family. I look forward to our community learning about the family, which I think uh is is important and should highlight the fact um that and as many I think of the naysaying community members that we heard from said that the road is still going to be called Monaceel. And I think that um I would love to see the powers that be with the name of that street uh that street do something about it. I'd rather they just repaved Yellowstone. Let's put that first on the list. So, um, to that end to to to
057both of those ends, um, it is possible to change the mailing address of of a home, a building, a business that is on a corner from from one, if you will, front door to to the side door, main entrance, the we the main entrance is on Yellowstone. Yeah. And truly today the main entrance is on Yellowstone. But don't you think that's letting the city off the hook if you do that? No, not at all. I'm saying I'm not I'm saying I'm not waiting for the city. So, but I just think let's begin the conversation. I think that we may be at a at a at a point of change in the city of Cleveland Heights that um perhaps um new things will be possible. Um and and which also takes me to I would love
058to partner with the city of Cleveland Heights on this this issue and the city of University Heights on this issue larger. Um it would be cool if we can do something um around the renaming. Yes. Well, I think we need to make sure that there is an event and that everybody is a participant, both cities. To the point of both uh the history and the event, I do want to acknowledge that our principal of Bombgardner Middle School is here in the audience tonight, Mr. Josh Luton. [Applause] um in addition to our assistant principal of Bombgarder Middle School, Miss Levy. So, I really appreciate your presence here and I am certain that uh the team will work to make sure that this is a part of the students um experience as we rename the school, but
059also for them to have uh that historical information. There's a lot of power in this story and I know that that will be something that the team builds upon and and um works with the students and the staff about and we also know it's going to take the students some time to get used to the name. It'll be the bomb. Great. It'll be the bomb. That's where it's the bomb. Yeah. Um, is is it too early to ask, Liz, uh, when the timeline for something like this, I mean, signage, etc.? Yeah, the uh I'll I'll work with our operations department um and Mr. Patton on, you know, how long it will take for those pieces to be ordered um and the different things that we need to change and the state process. It's a it's
060a form. It's simple in the state process, but you know, moving some of those other pieces, uh, we hope to have, uh, you know, as soon as possible, hopefully by the start of the year in particular. But, um, I'll update the board on that. And our sign up front, is it new ticker sign? Yeah, we have a ticker sign up front. Can we do something with that in the meantime to let the community know? Yeah, we could change that. Yeah, we and we'll coordinate with uh, Kath communication plan. So all those pieces because we want to share with the staff, you know, share with the students and the families and you know on our website marquee like all those pieces too with information on when we can anticipate some of those changes of when things
061will change. I was talking with with uh there's a question about uh athletics that came up and so you know people do want to know um what they should be. We're all we're all Tigers at this point, right? Yeah. So we all are Tigers. Yeah. And really I think Monte uniforms are old. I I'm not sure there are any. I don't think there are any. They may have been rotated out by now. I think that we've pretty much switched even to the middle school level of of their all heights jerseys. Um and the one thing that I would ask of this student, staff, and and community as we go through this process uh is a little bit of grace around naming and a rebrand. I mean, it's it's so hard, right? There's there's gonna be
062the name Monosella is going to be stuck in some drawer or you know on some poster around here for a while. It takes I've I've worked in organizations that have gone through name changes and rebrands and it's it's surprisingly sticky old stuff that just kind of hangs around. Um but I think you know after a certain amount of time if people see stuff I' I'd hope that they would alert us because it's hard to catch all the all the names. It's all over the place, right? So yeah, use some help there. We should also um with this um include if it's a plaque or something um of why we you know why we went from Monaceel to Bombgardner. Yeah, I I absolutely agree and I would actually hope that we leave the name plate inside
063the front door that says Monaceel and put one right next to it that says that's not the name anymore. um that we shouldn't say this is the new name and this is why we shouldn't paper over that this building had a different name before um and you know because I think that was another thing that um was an accusation that was slung during the process is oh you're just trying to change history and re you know all this sort of stuff I think that it's worth calling out that for I'm not going to do the math x years this building had in my opinion the wrong name 95 years thank you so that was I'll leave it to staff and people smarter than me to figure out. But um another path might be. So I
064know that the height schools foundation and we should be thinking as as and really admin of this building in particular should be really thinking um about artifacts of Monttoello first junior high and then middle school and um really partnering with the high schools foundation to perhaps be the the recipient and archavist because they They really do have an archive. And in fact, they have the name plates from buildings that no longer exist. They have the plaques. Okay. Um and so we could take down the current plaque, replace it with a new plaque, and actually include the story on the new plaque. I like that. But but being sure to um include the Heights Schools Foundation um in that process so that so that our history good, bad, and other is is there to be studied.
065I think this is the beginning of a very exciting and perhaps slightly entangled process, right? I mean, we know what's going to happen, but as you said, Phil, it will take a little while to get everything lined up. Um, and just as we want to encourage everybody to learn about the history of the Bumgardner family, we also want to maintain the history of the district because why things change is important. And the the history of the family is the history of the community. And I really hope that the first t-shirt that rolls off the line gets mailed to Michigan if we could find out her size. we're going to work through um a transition plan. So, I've captured the notes um and the ideas and things that you shared and then I'll provide regular updates
066to the board um you know and all all of our community members um on where we are with the process. So, it's very exciting. I do want to say thank you Kathan for the presentation, putting it together um and uh leading the committee. Uh, one of the reasons why um, we were able to meet so frequently, we did meet very frequently, is because Kaitton stepped up in leadership. So, um, really appreciate that. Thank you. I've got one for the good of the order. Make it short. I just want to, um, uh, recognize that, um, former board member Jim Posh lost his father this week and, um, so just wanted to recognize that. And, uh, Let Jim know that he and his family are in our thoughts. Thank you. And now I will entertain a motion
067to adjurnn. I motion to adjurnn. I second. Mr. Trimble. Miss. Yes. Miss Krenshaw. Yes. Mr. Trimble. Yes. Mr. Hines. Yes. Miss Lewis. Yes. Thank you and good night. Thank you. But isn't that great? I would rather they call it the bomb than they call it