Latest news with #LaFolletteElementarySchool
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
LaFollette Elementary becomes 7th school cleared of lead dangers, according to MPS
LaFollette Elementary School has been cleared of dangers caused by lead paint, Milwaukee Public Schools announced June 11. It's the seventh school to have passed recent inspections for lead hazards by the City of Milwaukee Health Department. LaFollette school was constructed in 1897, making it among the oldest in MPS. An inspection in March found the building had dangerous levels of chipping paint and dust where young children could potentially ingest it, creating a poisoning hazard. More than 1,000 children in Milwaukee each year are poisoned by lead, mostly due to paint in older houses, according to the city. But a widespread lack of lead paint maintenance in MPS schools came to light in early 2025 after city health officials announced a child had been poisoned by lead paint at Golda Meir Lower Campus. LaFollette was among the early batch of six schools that closed temporarily this spring so lead hazards could be remediated. Closures affected about 1,800 MPS students. In closing March 17, LaFollette's 216 students in kindergarten through eighth grade transitioned to the Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning. They will remain there until the end of the school year on Friday, June 13 — about 13 weeks since the initial closure. MPS said that this summer, it will remediate lead paint in all schools built before 1950 that also educate elementary-age kids. It will do the same in schools built between 1950 and 1978 by the end of the calendar year. 'I'm grateful to the LaFollette School community for their continued partnership and patience as we undertook this important work,' Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said in a statement. 'A disruption like this one is never easy, but this school community navigated it with the best interests of students at the forefront. I'm glad we are making good progress on our lead stabilization efforts in our school buildings, guided by our Lead Action Plan. Our students and families deserve school buildings that are safe and welcoming.' According to an inspection report, 50% or more of painted surfaces at LaFollette were found to be deteriorating. "Heavy" levels of paint dust were found throughout the building, the report said. Chipping and peeling paint was found in classrooms with kindergarten-age children and children with disabilities, and in cafeteria areas, the report said. The inspection report also noted signs of disturbed asbestos, which pose "notable health (risks) to both adults & children)." MPS spokesperson Stephen Davis said that, during the March inspection at LaFollette, two potential asbestos-related issues were found: deteriorating plaster in a few areas and the end of the asbestos-containing pipe insulation was exposed and uncovered. The Environmental Protection Agency and Milwaukee Health Department were told the deteriorating plaster was not asbestos-containing, according to historical sample results. In addressing the issue with the pipe insulation, MPS' Environmental Health Services put in an emergency work order to seal the small section of pipe; that work was completed March 17. The pipe's wrapping was repaired to maintain the covering. No asbestos was removed. "The repaired canvas covering maintains the asbestos in a safe manner," Davis said. For LaFollette and all other MPS facilities that follow the EPA's Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act regulation, the district has an asbestos management plan in place to manage and address any maintenance and repair requests. That plan has been in place since the 1980s, he said. MPS also conducts re-inspections to assess the condition of asbestos-containing materials in each school every three years, as required by the EPA. Every six months between reinspections, the school's building engineer checks the building to ensure the asbestos-containing material within the building is undamaged, Davis said. Any damage identified during a three-year reinspection or six-month building check gets immediately fixed through the MPS work order system. 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: 128-year-old LaFollette Elementary School abated for lead, MPS says,
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Milwaukee schools closed due to lead: Fernwood to open, LaFollette needs weeks more work
Students at LaFollette Elementary School will spend four to five more weeks displaced from their building while it is cleared of lead paint hazards, Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said during an April 17 school board meeting. The necessary renovation and painting work at LaFollette began on April 15, the earliest available date a contractor was available, Cassellius said. LaFollette, Fernwood Montessori School and Starms Early Childhood Center students and staff have already been displaced for five weeks since March 17. They were temporarily relocated to other schools without being given clear dates when they would return. Fernwood Montessori students and staff will be able to return on April 23 if all goes as planned, Cassellius said. That's because renovation and painting is complete, and the school is now being deep-cleaned. It is scheduled for an inspection by the city of Milwaukee Health Department on April 21. At Starms, renovation and painting work is about 75% complete. That work should be finished by the end of April, Cassellius said, which will be followed by cleaning and an inspection by the city. "Our teams remains committed to doing all that we can to confront the lead remediation work that is ongoing in our district," Cassellius said. Last week, more than 250 people attended a virtual town hall for parents and guardians of students at the seven MPS schools where lead hazards have been discovered. During the school board meeting, Cassellius said last week's event included "repeated calls from families to increase our communications to them on the status of the work happening in their buildings." "We are committed to doing that," she said Thursday. The city and MPS will publish a formal Lead Action Plan to address ongoing issues "in the coming days," Cassellius said. A resolution by board member Missy Zombor directs MPS to consult with the Office of the City Attorney "in order to explore legal options to hold lead paint companies accountable … for costs associated with remediating lead paint that continues to pose health risks." MPS should not have to "shoulder the burden" of replacing repairing or maintaining buildings that contain lead risks, the resolution said. The school board considered that item in closed session during Thursday night's meeting. During a board meeting on April 22, the school board will consider another resolution on lead safety proposed by Zombor and board member Megan O'Halloran. If approved, it would require changes to the district's system for managing facilities maintenance requests, protocols for communicating with parents and guardians about lead work being done in their schools, and other changes. That lead safety resolution would also require monthly reports on the implementation of the Lead Action Plan "until all initial school assessments and recommendations are complete." 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: MPS gives reopening timelines on lead work for still-closed schools
