CMSD Board Members
Board Agenda
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Denise W. Link, Chair (Appointed 2007; appointed Board Chair 2009) Parent of two Cleveland Metropolitan School District students. Employed at National City Bank, now a part of PNC, for 20 years and currently serves as Vice President in Network Planning & Delivery. Mrs. Link holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics and psychology from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from Case Western Reserve University. Before joining the Board of Education, she served on the School District’s Bond Accountability Commission and on Circle of the Arts, Inc. She is also a tutor at Newton D. Baker School of Arts. Mrs. Link lives in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland with her husband and children. | |
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Louise P. Dempsey, Vice Chair (Appointed 1998; reappointed 2003; reappointed 2007; appointed Board Vice Chair 2009) Assistant Dean of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University. The daughter of an elementary school teacher, the mother of a 1993 graduate of Collinwood High School and a graduate of the city's only public law school. Ms. Dempsey, an attorney, also serves on the board of trustees of Laurel School, an independent school in suburban Cleveland. She graduated from Laurel School; received a bachelor's degree from McGill University and her J.D. from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. She lives in Bratenahl. | |
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Rashidah Abdulhaqq (Appointed 1998; reappointed 2003; reappointed 2007) Community liaison for the Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland. She previously served as an attendance liaison with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. She has been active in School District affairs for more than fifteen years, including service as co-chair of the financial stability work team of the Strategy Council of the Cleveland Summit on Education. She also has served on various committees, task forces and school, cluster and district community councils. A graduate of John Hay High School, she attended Cuyahoga Community College. She lives in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland. | |
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Patricia Crutchfield (Appointed 2009) Parent of a Cleveland Metropolitan School District student. She previously worked as an assistant accountant at the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital for Rehabilitation. Ms. Crutchfield has an Associates Degree from Highland Park College. She has been active in the Cleveland schools as President of the School Parent Organization at the John Hay High School Campus, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the School of Science and Medicine at John Hay and as a volunteer at Iowa-Maple School. She lives in the North Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland with her husband and son. | |
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Robert M. Heard, Sr. (Appointed 2004; reappointed 2005; reappointed 2009,
served as Board Chair 2007-09) Parent of a Cleveland Metropolitan School District student, and retired claims representative for State Farm Insurance Company. He is a graduate of John Adams High School, and holds a bachelor's degree in English from Cleveland State University. He previously taught English in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District Adult Education Program. He is a member of the Neighborhood Connections grants committee, and 100 Black Men of Greater Cleveland, and serves as Vice President of the Cleveland Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. Mr. Heard lives in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland with his wife and children. | |
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Harvey A. Hopson, Jr. (Appointed 2008) Director of Graduate Support Services and professor of business law at Baldwin-Wallace College. Mr. Hopson is an attorney who previously served 26 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, where his duties included service as a prosecutor, a Circuit Judge for the Pacific Region, and as the Chief Defense Counsel of the Marine Corps. He retired in 2000 at the rank of Colonel. Mr. Hopson is a graduate of East High School and holds a bachelors degree from Baldwin-Wallace College and a juris doctor from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University. He lives in Bratenahl. | |
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Willetta A. Milam (Appointed 2003; reappointed 2005; reappointed 2009) Parent of two Cleveland Metropolitan School District students. President and founder of Help Resources, Inc., a community-based organization that assists in educating people about their legal rights. A graduate of John Hay High School, she holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Pittsburgh, Bradford Campus and a J.D. from Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C. She lives in the Buckeye neighborhood of Cleveland. | |
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Natalie L. Peterson (Appointed 2007; reappointed 2009) Parent of a Cleveland Metropolitan School District student. Corporate Counsel for STERIS Corporation. Previously she served as an assistant law director for the City of Cleveland. A graduate of John Marshall High School, Ms. Peterson holds a bachelor of arts in history and a master of science in public management and policy from Carnegie Mellon University and a J.D. from Stanford University Law School. Ms. Peterson lives in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland with her husband and children. | |
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Iris M. Rodriguez (Appointed 2008) Parent of a Cleveland Metropolitan School District graduate. Currently works for the independent insurance brokerage firm Oswald Companies. She previously held roles in risk analysis and marketing for several prominent insurance and financial services firms. Ms. Rodriguez received a BA in Economics from Columbia University and a MBA from the IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. She moved back from New York City seven years ago and now lives in the Cudell neighborhood of Cleveland.
In addition to the nine Board of Education members appointed by the Mayor, Ohio House Bill 269 provides that the presidents of Cleveland State University and Cuyahoga Community College serve as nonvoting ex officio members of the Board. |
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Dr. Ronald M. Berkman, ex officio member President of Cleveland State University. He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University. | |
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Dr. Jerry Sue Thornton, ex officio member President of Cuyahoga Community College. She holds bachelor of arts and masters of arts degrees from Murray State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas. | |
Board of Education
Administration Building
1380 East Sixth Street, Room 152
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Phone: (216) 574-8585 Fax: (216) 574-8111