More than half of Cleveland Metropolitan School District students are considered chronically absent from class, a problem that's gotten worse since the pandemic.
For years, the district has turned to local speakers and partners to try to motivate students to stay in school. But a recent tour by prominent Black Cleveland pastor R.A. Vernon has generated an unusual amount of controversy, with some, including the teacher's union, raising questions about a lack of separation between church and state.
Vernon is the senior pastor at, and co-founder of, The Word Church, one of the biggest Black churches in Cleveland. He's been going to CMSD schools since early February, talking about his life and giving gift cards to students with perfect attendance. He's also invited honor roll students and valedictorians to his church for a party at the end of the semester.
Vernon, a graduate of CMSD, said his focus was on trying to resonate with the students and inspire them to be successful like he's been, not on proselytizing.
"At no point did I do any sort of proselytizing or evangelism. I did mention one scripture," he said in an interview with 精东影业. "And after that, I didn't mention it. But... The Bible says that the question was asked, can anything good come out of Nazareth? And I use that as the theme of my tour. Can anything good come out of Cleveland schools?"
Church and state?
Junior Sampson Parker said he was uncomfortable with Vernon's initial visit to Garrett Morgan High School in early February.
"You can talk about being a motivational speaker and doing all those things, but at some point he advertised his church, he quoted the Bible and while a lot of the majority of the kids at my school are Christian, there's also a lot of Muslim kids, and also atheists," Parker said.
Parker was concerned because he said he's heard CMSD CEO Warren Morgan attends The Word Church. He said it feels like the district was endorsing Vernon鈥檚 church. Parker is also transgender, and took issue with previous statements he's heard Vernon make about LGBTQ+ people.
The first rally at Garrett Morgan also caught the attention of Shari Obrenski, president of the Cleveland Teachers Union, who raised concerns about a lack of separation between church and state.
"We still have a First Amendment and while I do appreciate anyone that is successful and wants to share that with others, I think that's terrific... However, in a public school setting during the school day, it is inappropriate to promote a specific religion," Obrenski said.
After the union filed a grievance over the pastor鈥檚 tour, Obrenski said Vernon and the district鈥檚 approach appeared to change, cutting out any talk of the Bible and making attendance voluntary. But the tour is continuing with his final visit in early March.
CMSD spokesperson Jon Benedict said students have always been able to opt out of assemblies they disagree with. Vernon volunteered to do the tour, reaching out himself initially after hearing CMSD CEO Warren Morgan speaking about challenges facing the district, he added. Vernon is also not being paid for his time.
"He wants us to help kids get to school," Benedict said. "This is his way of doing that. If other folks have additional ways that they think can help us move the needle on chronic absenteeism, we are all ears."
CMSD declined to allow 精东影业 to attend one of Vernon's rallies. In a recording shared by Vernon's team of a visit to John Hay High School, following the rally at Garrett Morgan, Vernon did not mention religion.
But what about chronic absenteeism?
Chronic absenteeism is defined by the state as a student missing 10% or more of class per year. CMSD's rate was 55.7% in the 2024-2025 school year, more than double the statewide rate. Cleveland's rate was about 20% lower prior to the pandemic, according to state data for the 2018-2019 school year.
Research suggests the problem of students regularly missing class is worse at districts with large , like Cleveland. Research also suggests students when they miss class.
During a mid-February board of education meeting, Cleveland schools CEO Warren Morgan said CMSD is trying to intervene. But three of every four student absences are unexcused, he said, providing it with little data to dig into why it's happening.
"We don't want to throw spaghetti at the wall when looking at this. We want to really be strategic about what are those levers we could do to move it," Morgan said.
The district has created a task force to examine the issue, has principals discussing best practices, and is trying beef up its communication plan with parents, Morgan said
Even before Morgan came to CMSD, the district has long leaned on community partners to motivate students. In the past, the Cleveland Browns and others have provided gifts like trips to Cedar Point for students with good attendance.
How should the district address absenteeism?
Vincent Stokes II, a former CMSD teacher and pastor at New Sardis Primitive Baptist Church in Cleveland, says CMSD needs to leverage partners like Vernon who can resonate with the majority-Black district, especially during Black History Month. He agreed visiting speakers should not proselytize, but "whether people like his politics or like his theology or not, he represents an aspect of Black excellence, Dr. Vernon does," Stokes said. "And I think it's important that we lift those voices and those faces up."
Stokes added there's a lack of understanding from some expressing concerns about Vernon's visits.
"Often the Black preacher's voice is seen as a sermon even when they're just talking. And I think when you don't understand Black people, Black culture, Black church, you don't understand the cadence of the Black preacher, you began to think that everything that they say sounds like a sermon," Stokes said.
Vernon said he believes his story of achieving despite a challenging upbringing has been resonating with students. His mother was pregnant with him when she was 15.
"Because she was so young, I went to like seven or eight different Cleveland schools, because whoever we lived with, that's a school we had to go to," Vernon said in his speech to John Hay High School students. "So I ended up going to East Tech, but it was rough. You know, my mother and father both love me, but they ain't like each other that much. So they didn't end up staying together. Some of you can identify with that."
Vernon hopes students are inspired by hearing him speak, like he was decades ago as a high school student himself at East Tech in Cleveland.
"Montel Williams came to my school 37 years ago and did a speech and all of us sat up and paid attention," he said. "So you never know (if) there's a pivotal moment that can change a child's life."
But times have changed since he was a kid. And it鈥檚 an open question whether motivational speakers are enough to get kids back in the classroom.
