Cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may impact Milwaukee Public Schools’ work cleaning up lead contamination in schools.
At a news conference Thursday, Milwaukee Health Commissioner Michael Totoraitis said he requested help from the National Center for Environmental Health on March 26. The request was approved.
But this week, the center was decimated by Trump Administration cuts to its parent organization, the CDC. All the staff responsible for working with Milwaukee’s health department have lost their jobs.
Totoraitis has been told Milwaukee’s request for help will likely be shifted to a different organization within the Health and Human Services Department.
“They acknowledged receipt of that request and are now evaluating if they can even send support to Milwaukee," he said. "In the interim, our partner here at DHS is committed to continuing to support us as we plan for additional testing.”
It’s not clear how this will impact the extra help Milwaukee was counting on from the CDC to address lead contamination in schools. Totaritis was hoping the federal agency could help ramp up lead sampling, testing of students and outreach to vulnerable families.
Top MPS official overseeing lead project now 'separated' from district
In addition to uncertainty at the CDC, MPS’s top facilities director who was overseeing the lead remediation project is now out of a job, according to Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius.
Sean Kane, who has been the district’s director of facilities since 2021, has now quote separated from the district. His departure comes after the state discovered Kane allowed his architect license to expire in 2020.
MPS requires that the director of facilities be a credentialed architect or engineer.
Superintendent Casssellius wouldn’t comment further on Kane’s separation on Thursday. The district has hired health department director of home and environmental health Michael Mannan and former MPS director of business operations Mike Turza to take Kane’s place in the interim.
"I am confident that the appointments I’m making today are in the best interest of our students, our staff and our families," she said. "We must move forward with a plan everyone has confidence in, that everyone trusts, and that puts the health and wellbeing of our students and staff at the forefront.”
Milwaukee mayor: 'Absolutely nothing' more important than students' health
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson stood alongside Cassellius and health department staff at Thursday’s news conference.
He said the city, its health department and the district need to move forward together.
“There is nothing, absolutely nothing, more important than the health and wellbeing of kids in Milwaukee. That’s why you’re seeing this collaborative approach," Johnson said.
The three MPS schools that are still closed for lead contamination cleanup are Starms Early Childhood Center, LaFollette School and Fernwood Montessori.
Four other schools have been closed temporarily or undergone lead cleaning overnight.
Katherine Kokal is the education reporter at 89.7 WUWM - Milwaukee's NPR. Have a question about schools or an education story idea? You can reach her at kokal@uwm.edu
