When the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education convened on Tuesday, June 16, and voted to make candidate Douglas Heuer superintendent of the school district, it was met with opposition from a vocal, overflow crowd. 

The board chose Heuer, superintendent of Austintown School District located near Youngstown, over interim superintendent of Cleveland Heights-University Heights schools Christine Fowler-Mack and William Zelei, superintendent of South Euclid-Lyndhurst schools.

In the end, board members Kal Zucker, Nancy Peppler, Eric Coble and Michael Cicero voted 4-1 to give Heuer a three year contract as superintendent that begins August 1. Only the vice president of the board, Ronald Register, voted "no" to Heuer.

A large section of the crowd booed when Zucker, the board president, announced the decision. Attendees, many of whom were members of the Heights group Minority Achievement Parents Alliance, held anti-Heuer signs in protest of the choice.

One of the most prominent concerns with Heuer appeared to be that only 6.3 percent of students in his current district identify as African American, whereas 76 percent of students in Cleveland Heights-University Heights schools identify as African American.

“Heuer’s current district does not look like ours, I cannot deny it,” said Zucker. Yet he maintained that Heuer was the best candidate for the position.

Joining Zucker’s opinion were board members Peppler and Coble. Peppler said Heuer offered an “excellent” vision for raising achievement levels for “every student” in the district. 

Coble said that while his “biggest concern” over Heuer was also the demographic difference between his current district and Cleveland Heights-University Heights, Heuer’s track record proved he could handle the transition.

“African American students in Heuer’s district are outperforming students in Cleveland Heights-University Heights,” said Coble.

Register, the only member to vote “no” to Heuer, said that while Heuer’s record is impressive, “The lifting is only going to get heavier, not lighter” and that nothing short of a “cultural change” would raise achievement levels in the under-performing district. 

“We need a fit and I think Mr. Heuer is not it,” said Register, eliciting loud applause from the crowd. 

Reactions from the community about the new superintendent have so far been cautious. 

“At the end of the day we have to support him in the hopes that he supports our best interests,” said Sheldon Glave, a supporter of Fowler-Mack and board member of Reaching Heights, a foundation that financially supports the school district.

Reginald Evans, a founding member of Minority Achievement Parents Alliance, said he “agrees to disagree” with the board, and that raising achievement levels for students should ultimately be the main focus.

“The choice was made, so I have nothing to do now but be an engaged parent and get to know the new superintendent and move forward,” said Evans.

Kaitlin Bushinkski is a recent graduate of Oberlin College and a summer intern with FutureHeights and the Heights Observer.