My name is Alexandra Carrier. I’m a sophomore at Shaker Heights High School, and I’m a student at the Innovative Center. And I’m not here to politely disagree with this decision. I’m here to tell you it’s wrong. A few months ago, I was failing math and science. Not because I didn’t care. Not because I wasn’t trying. But because I was in a system that moves too fast, and doesn’t slow down when students start falling behind. There wasn’t enough help. There wasn’t enough time. And it felt like no one even noticed.

And what’s honestly unacceptable is this: No teacher told me about the Innovative Center. No counselor told me. No administrator told me. Another student did. So when you say “low enrollment,” that’s not a student problem. That’s a district problem. You cannot use low enrollment as an excuse to shut down a program you didn’t even try to make accessible. You can’t say students didn’t choose it, when many of us were never given the choice in the first place. The Innovative Center is not just another program. It is completely different from the traditional high school environment. It’s smaller. It’s flexible. It’s personal. Teachers actually talk to you. They figure out how you learn. They give you time to understand things instead of rushing you through them. And that changes everything. I went from failing, to passing. But more importantly, I went from feeling overwhelmed and behind all the time, to actually feeling like I could succeed.

And I need you to hear this clearly: The Innovative Center doesn’t just save students academically. It saves them, period. There are students in this district who are stressed, burned out, anxious and completely overwhelmed. Students who feel like they’re constantly failing. Students who stop believing they’re capable. Students who start to disengage completely. And for some of those students, the IC is the only place where that turns around. Where they feel supported. Where they feel seen. Where they feel like they actually belong. Taking that away is not a small decision. It has real consequences.

You’ve said this decision is about space. About finances. But none of those things explain why a program that is clearly working should be eliminated instead of supported. If the building is the issue, move the program. If enrollment is the issue, promote it. If students need it, expand it. Closing it should be the last option. And yet, that’s the one you chose. And replacing it with something like Raider Academy is not a solution. Credit recovery is not the same as a personalized learning environment. You know that. Students know that. They are not interchangeable. You are not just closing a program. You are taking away a place that helps students succeed, and for some students, a place that helps them stay OK. So I’m asking you, seriously, reconsider this decision. Because once this is gone, you don’t get to see the students who needed it and never got the chance. And you don’t get to undo that.

Thank you.

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