MPS Town Hall Meeting Causes Frustration Among Community Members

 Milwaukee Public Schools potentially closing 25 percent of all schools over a 10-year plan announcement causes frustration from community members.

A town hall meeting was held at James Madison High School regarding the 10-year plan that MPS announced earlier this year. The meetings are to get input from community members as the district decides how to transform its future. However, in doing so, it may cause closures or mergers of multiple MPS schools. Community members are frustrated with the lack of communication they are getting from Perkins Eastman’s Long-Range Facilities Plan which MPS hired to consult the reimagining of schools.

“I’m a little bit concerned about the number of schools that are talking about closing on the northside,” said Romelia Power. “I want to know what’s going to happen to those children and where they are going to go.”

Power is a retired MPS teacher who worked with children with special needs. She attended the meeting with hopes of getting more information about the new plan. The Long-Range Facilities data report was released by Eastman. It gave parents and community members an insight into what could be the future for MPS students. Two Perkins Eastman employees showed the data report at the meeting. They presented the report with a slide show and offered feedback from community members. The director of the Milwaukee Improvement Council attended the meeting. He spoke about his stance on the new MPS plan.

“There are a couple of issues. The number one is we know that there is a problem with trust in the community with the school board,” said Riley. “I know you have a 10-year plan, but we are going to have to work something out where we develop a working relationship with other organizations, where the community can be the eyes and ears therefore, we can share ideals.”

The slideshow consisted of a report that nearly all MPS buildings are 55 years old. The report also showed that 14 percent of MPS enrollment has dropped over the last decade. Based on the report, if a school has a utilization rate below 50 percent and a 5-year trend of declining enrollment within 1 mile of another underutilized school, they would be considered as potential closures. Parents were frustrated when they were not given the option of having the report before the meeting. Andrew Ward, a community member, spoke about the lack of information not handed out before the meeting.

“I had a problem with what was on the screen, and I know we should all have a sheet of everything that is on the screen,” said Ward.

According to Perkins Eastman’s employees, the data report would have been shown after the meeting with a shared link.

Parents also questioned the location of “where all this money is coming from.” According to the MPS Website, Perkins Eastman was hired by MPS after a financial scandal occurred earlier this year that resulted in the loss of MPS money.