Milwaukee Public Schools is facing a problem shared by hundreds of school districts across the country: It has too many aging buildings, and not enough kids to fill them.
Now, the district is holding community meetings to decide which schools to close and which to add new programs to or rebuild.
On Nov. 9, parents, students, teachers and residents gathered at Brown Street Academy for the second-to-last meeting.
This process is taking place a year after a team of consultants recommended MPS close five schools with low enrollment — all in largely Black neighborhoods on the near north side of the city.
The consultants' recommendation was:
- Close Auer Avenue and Keefe Avenue schools and send students to Andrew S. Douglas Elementary on 18th Street.
- Close Hopkins Lloyd Community School and send its students to Gwen T. Jackson School on Hadley Street.
- Close Siefert Elementary and send its students to Brown Street Academy on 20th Street.
- Close Clarke Street School and merge into Starms Discovery Learning Center on 25th Street.
Staff from schools on this list shared that its publication impacted students and teachers. Administrators said Monday that it was difficult to recruit teachers who thought the school might close in the coming years. On the flip side, teachers reported that students said what they did in class didn't matter because the school would likely be closing soon.
MPS Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius has tried to walk back that list — preferring instead to talk to families, then look at both a building’s enrollment and its age. She says that calculation should include which schools have lots of deferred maintenance or don’t meet ADA accessibility requirements.
Michele Howard is a 36-year teacher at Siefert Elementary School and attended Monday's meeting. She says closing her building because it needs updates leaves out something important.
“Put an elevator in our building. Put an elevator in there. My thing is, you have all these families who have been there for years and bring their kids there for a reason," Howard said.
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Monday night’s community meeting on the potential closures took on a more defiant tone due to the Nov. 3 elections.
Dr. Cassellius said that she hopes to use $355 million from savings, potential new state funding from the Democratic-led Legislature and a possible future referendum to build three new schools and address maintenance gaps in existing buildings.
Amy Mizialko is the executive director of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association union. She urged the others in the room to contact the incoming Democratic lawmakers and ask them for more financial support for MPS.
"The governor-elect lived a block away from Auer Elementary School. Can we change the name to David Crowley Elementary School and can we lift that community up?" she asked. "I mean, we can be and have to be more aspirational. Our students and our community expect us to fight for them.”
Auer is one of the five north side schools consultants recommended for closure.
Currently, the district has one more community meeting before it makes a school closures plan for the school board to consider. That meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16 at North Division High School (1011 W. Center Street).
Cassellius has said she may add more community meetings if she believes them to be necessary.
Do you have a question about education or how schools work in our area? Submit it here to WUWM education reporter Katherine Kokal.
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