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Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Timeline: Here's what we know about lead paint management in Milwaukee Public Schools
Though more than 1,000 Milwaukee children are poisoned by lead each year, this spring marks the first time city officials have connected cases of childhood lead poisoning to Milwaukee Public Schools. Now, seven MPS schools have been found with unmanaged lead paint hazards, four have temporarily closed, and at least one child's lead poisoning has been directly linked to their school — raising questions about the district's ability to manage its historic buildings amid poor internal protocols, funding and staffing constraints and more. Schools that have been identified as having lead paint hazards are Golda Meir Lower Campus, Albert E. Kagel School, Maryland Avenue Montessori, Trowbridge Elementary School, LaFollette Elementary School, Starms Early Childhood Center and Fernwood Montessori. Schools that have temporarily closed are Trowbridge, Starms, LaFollette and Fernwood. Here's a timeline of key dates in the unfolding crisis. The average MPS school is 82 years old, built in the mid-1940s, according to a recent facilities report. About 125 schools were constructed before 1978, the year lead paint was banned due to safety hazards. MPS' own Lead-Based Paint Compliance Program says the district will conduct "yearly surveillances in order to recognize any deterioration of (lead-based paint) in its facilities" — and assume the responsibility of preventing related hazards. But that requires routine maintenance: removing flaking paint chips, repainting walls, cleaning windowsills and more. Jan 13: Parents and guardians at Golda Meir Lower Campus were notified a student had been poisoned by lead in the school bathroom. Historically, the city of Milwaukee Health Department has not proactively inspected MPS schools for lead. But it does investigate cases of childhood lead poisoning. For the Golda Meir student, the city's investigation led health officials to the school after they determined the child was not poisoned at home. MPS would be in charge of lead "remediation" at Golda Meir, or containing the hazards. The city would monitor the process. Feb. 5: "Dangerous levels of lead contamination" were found in multiple MPS schools after separate investigations into poisoning cases, Health Commissioner Michael Totoraitis wrote to then-interim MPS Superintendent Eduardo Galvan and the school board. "(The city) has determined that MPS must immediately and significantly improve its detection, monitoring, and control of lead hazards," Totoraitis advised, noting a failure to act would place children "at serious risk of lead poisoning, developmental delays, and other possible health complications." Along with Golda Meir, the city identified lead hazards Albert E. Kagel Dual Language School and suspected them at Maryland Avenue Montessori School pending test results. The Milwaukee Academy of Chinese Language was also tested for lead, but no hazards were found. Feb. 5: The city health department formally requested that, by March 21, MPS submit a lead action plan describing the district's plans for inspecting, cleaning and addressing lead hazards throughout the district. Feb. 6: MPS staff and families were notified of the lead hazards at Golda Meir, Kagel and Maryland Avenue. The district would be responsible for correcting the lead paint hazards with city oversight, but the schools would remain open. Totoraitis, Galvan and Mayor Cavalier Johnson addressed the public together during a press conference at City Hall. Johnson said that, as an MPS parent himself, the recent findings disturbed him. "And I'm sure it's a feeling that many parents across Milwaukee probably will feel as well," Johnson said. Feb. 11: A city lead risk assessment for Golda Meir found widespread hazards, with chipping lead-based paint and lead dust spread throughout four floors and common areas of the school. The Golda assessment was the largest the city health department had ever conducted, officials said at the time, requiring the work of eight lead risk assessors over six hours. They took 140 dust wipe samples. "The lead degradation that is present in the schools isn't something that happened overnight," Totoraitis said during a press conference. "There's definitely a lot of contributing factors that have led us to this point." Feb. 11: Also during the press conference, city health officials cited concerns about uncontained lead at a fourth school: the Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes Studies in Bay View. Sean Kane, MPS senior director of facilities and maintenance services, did not directly answer reporters' questions about the dates when MPS schools were last surveyed for lead. : The city released a lead risk assessment for Kagel, showing a level of lead paint deterioration significant enough to require a formal order from the city to correct hazards, like at Golda Meir. Feb. 14: After conducting a follow-up inspection into MPS' ongoing lead remediation at Golda, the city notified families and staff that two of 12 dust wipe samples did not pass lead safety standards. Feb. 21: During a public meeting, members of the Common Council pressed MPS administrators for answers about their ability to manage lead paint. "Were those (rooms) part of a maintenance plan that just was forgotten, skipped, overlooked? " Ald. Peter Burgelis asked about Golda Meir. "Was there a maintenance walk-through in those rooms?" Totoraitis told the Common Council that health department officials did not believe MPS had followed its own protocol to annually inspect buildings for lead paint hazards. Feb. 27: On a Thursday evening, the city and MPS alerted families, guardians and staff from Trowbridge that the building would close the upcoming Monday due to unsafe levels of lead. "Unsafe lead work" — and findings of lead hazards in areas of the school already cleaned by MPS — drove the health department's decision to close the building. Trowbridge students and staff would be relocated indefinitely to the Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning. "Why have we been kept in the dark until the 11th hour?" Trowbridge parent Amber Riskey later asked the Journal Sentinel. Feb. 28: The city released a lead risk assessment for Maryland Avenue Montessori. Two days earlier, MPS received a formal order from the city to address lead hazards at the school. March 5: The city released a lead risk assessment for Trowbridge, as well as an order to clear the building of hazards. March 7: On a Friday, families and staff from Trowbridge were notified their school would not be ready to reopen the following Monday. They were not given a return date. March 12: On a Wednesday, students and families from Trowbridge were notified they could return to their regular school building that Friday. March 12: Maryland Avenue Montessori passed a clearance check for lead, a health department letter said, with hazards found only inside a locked janitor's closet. Kagel also passed a safety check. March 13: The health department alerted local news outlets that it had been conducting proactive visual assessments of 10 schools: Fernwood Montessori School, Frances Brock Starms Early Childhood Center, Hopkins Lloyd Community School, Brown Street Academy, Anna F. Doerfler Elementary, H. W. Longfellow Elementary, Westside Academy, Auer Avenue School, Benjamin Franklin School and the Robert M. LaFollette School. March 13: On a Thursday, families and staff from LaFollette, Starms Early Childhood Center and Fernwood Montessori learned their buildings would temporarily close the following Monday due to "significant lead hazards" identified during visual inspections. LaFollette students would be relocated to the Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning, Starms students to the separate Starms Discovery Learning Center and Fernwood students to Andrew S. Douglas Middle School. March 15: About 250 children were screened for lead during a Saturday clinic at the Lynde and Harry Bradley Technology and Trade School. MPS has about 9,500 students in kindergarten or prekindergarten who are the most susceptible for lead poisoning based on age. "I know MPS has a lot of problems, but at the very bare minimum, my kids shouldn't be harmed when they go to school," said MPS parent Sean Hayes at the clinic. March 19: The health department sent a letter to MPS families and staff saying of the 249 children screened at Bradley Tech, "a very small number" tested above the current safety threshold for lead. March 19: Golda Meir was cleared of lead hazards, according to a letter to families and staff. March 19: MPS violated state rules for lead paint remediation in the course of cleaning Fernwood and Trowbridge schools, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services told Kane, MPS' facilities director, in a formal noncompliance order. At Fernwood, for example, health officials observed "a significant amount of paint chips and renovation debris (that) were visible within an arm's length a child's desk." As a penalty, the state ordered MPS to use lead safe practices, alert authorities before beginning lead remediation and to allow city and state officials to observe the work, as requested. Failure to comply could trigger "forfeitures, suspension, revocation" or a referral to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. March 20: Through interviews and records requests, the Journal Sentinel found MPS has cut 85% of its painting staff in the past three decades, relied on skim checklists to track lead paint deterioration, stopped sharing how long it takes to complete work orders and more. MPS officials were unable to provide documentation showing the district had completed routine surveys for lead paint deterioration. "It has gotten to a point where clearly the maintenance has not been done," MPS interim chief school administration officer Michael Harris acknowledged in an interview. "Something was neglected." March 20: MPS will work with The Sigma Group to inspect 52 of its oldest schools for lead, district officials said in an interview. Those inspections are expected to be completed by the end of May, with more schools to be inspected after that, a spokesperson said. March 27: In a communitywide update, the city said MPS had submitted a draft of its lead action plan that was due March 21. The full plan will be made available once the draft is finalized, according to the letter. March 28: LaFollette, Starms and Fernwood students and staff were notified they would not return to their regular buildings Monday. They were not given a formal return date. March 31: Although the city of Milwaukee Health Department confirmed a Golda Meir student was poisoned by lead in the school bathroom, the link between MPS schools and other cases of childhood lead poisoning is murkier. According to information provided by the city, here's what we know: A second MPS student with lead poisoning could have been exposed to the toxin both at Kagel school and at home. A third MPS student, who attends Trowbridge, was poisoned by lead at home. But the child's blood lead levels did not reduce as expected after those hazards were contained, according to the city, driving it to investigate the school as a possible secondary source of ongoing exposure. The city is investigating a fourth case of childhood lead poisoning for an MPS student, with Maryland Avenue Montessori flagged as a potential source. April 1: State officials reprimanded and fined Kane, the senior director of facilities and maintenance services for MPS, for misrepresenting himself as a registered architect years after his credentials lapsed. He not have an active license MPS requires for his job. April 3: Kane is out of his job, MPS superintendent Brenda Cassellius announced. Cassellius also said the district was bringing on Michael Mannan, the director of home environmental health for the Milwaukee Health Department, to support lead hazard remediation, guide inspections and advise the district on its lead action plan. This timeline will be updated as more information becomes available. There is no safe level of lead in someone's blood. But the current threshold used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is 3.5 µg/dL, or 3.5 micrograms of lead per one 1 deciliter of blood. The CDC lowered that threshold in fall 2021 from a previous cutoff of 5 µg/dL. The current 3.5 µg/dL level represents U.S. children ages 1 to 5 with the 2.5% highest levels of lead in their blood. The CDC recommends children with those high levels of lead receive routine assessment, investigation to identify where they were exposed and other actions. In fall 2024, the city of Milwaukee Health Department released an advisory saying children should be tested for lead at 12, 18 and 24 months of age, as well as annually until age 5. In light of Milwaukee's high prevalence of lead paint, the city's recommendations are more aggressive than state guidelines. "It's lead paint and the dust from that paint that sends our children to the hospital,' according to the city. In MPS, schools range from being nearly empty — 9% full — to more than double capacity, or 177% full, according to a data analysis conducted earlier this school year by facilities consultant Perkins Eastman. MPS has been working to create a long-term facilities plan aimed at, among other things, reducing excess capacity and upgrading its facilities. Since the early 2000s, the district has lost nearly one-third of its enrollment. Those buildings were constructed in: 1886: Maryland Avenue Montessori School1890: Golda Meir Lower Campus1890: Albert E. Kagel School1893: Frances Brock Starms Early Childhood Center1894: Trowbridge School of Great Lakes Studies1898: Robert M. LaFollette School1927: Fernwood Montessori School The health department website includes several documents related to lead in MPS. The link can be found at Rory Linnane and Alison Dirr contributed. Cleo Krejci covers K-12 education and workforce development as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@ or follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. For more information about Report for America, visit This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Here's a timeline showing how MPS' lead paint crisis unfolded
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Facing competition, MPS aims to open online-only K-12 charter school for $5.38 million
Next year, Milwaukee Public Schools could have a new K-12 charter school that operates fully online. On Jan. 30, MPS school board members will vote whether to approve a five-year contract for the Milwaukee Virtual School. If adopted, the contract would formalize MPS' existing online-only learning program created during the COVID-19 pandemic by turning it into a charter school beginning in the 2025-26 school year. As an instrumentality charter, the Milwaukee Virtual School would be operated by MPS staff using district funds. The $5.38 million cost of the Milwaukee Virtual School includes staff salaries, technology and supplies, curriculum and other costs. All students will be provided with a Chromebook computer, according to the program proposal. MPS intends to grow the virtual school's enrollment from 900 to 2,500 students in three years. It is designed for those who are "traditionally underserved" in the physical school environment, or need an online option due to safety, physical and mental health or family issues, according to the virtual school project proposal. MPS wouldn't be impacted financially if it doesn't reach the goal enrollment of 2,500 students in three years, Interim Superintendent Eduardo Galvan told MPS board members during a committee meeting on Jan. 16. "We expect to be able to meet those goals, and certainly mitigate any financial impact if we don't," Galvan said. More: What are charter schools? Here's what charter schools are and how they work in Wisconsin During the Jan. 16 meeting, MPS board member Missy Zombor shared specific concerns about student attendance and engagement with online classes. "I just want to make sure that we're not approving something and then forgetting about it," Zombor said. "That we're being very intentional, especially in those first few years, to make sure that progress is happening." According to the project proposal, virtual school students would take classes using a mixture of live instruction streamed via video camera, and "asynchronous," or self-paced online lessons. Students would be expected to meet with a mentor teacher each week about their progress. In response to Zombor's questions, Interim Chief of School Administration Michael Harris said MPS plans to work with parents and guardians to ensure students stay engaged with online classes. "Parents are really going to play a huge role. They know their child best," Harris said. "That's how we will be approaching this." The virtual school would lead an orientation for parents and guardians to learn about the technology their students will use, according to the project proposal. Parents and guardians would be given a "learning coach agreement," outlining the role they would be expected to play in ensuring their student learns at home. Students who do not maintain 60% attendance would be considered for probationary status, the project plan states. If they don't improve their attendance the following school semester, they could be "considered for reassignment" to another MPS school. Among MPS students, the virtual school would set aside 10% of seats for students on behavioral reassignments and another 10% for those taking advanced and accelerated coursework. Some of those students would take classes part-time. At the Jan. 16 meeting, Harris said the district has been tracking data on student enrollment into non-MPS virtual learning programs. MPS hopes to recruit students from those programs by offering extracurricular programs as part of its virtual school. "We feel confident with our marketing that we can attract those families back to us," Harris said. MPS' enrollment has been falling over time. That's both as the result of declining birth rates and loss of students to non-MPS charter programs and private schools that accept publicly-funded vouchers, according to a 2024 report by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum. Galvan said the district's existing virtual learning option showed MPS there are a "base number of students" who want virtual learning. "As parents continue this trend that were seeing... we hope this gives them a place to go so that they don't have to leave us," Galvan said. Cleo Krejci covers K-12 education and workforce development as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@ or follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. For more information about Report for America, visit This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Public Schools plans to open online-only K-12 charter school
