Consultant releases list of potential MPS school closures
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Consultant releases list of potential MPS school closures

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No final decisions have been made on school closures or other upgrades.

Thirteen schools could potentially close or merge with others as part of Milwaukee Public Schools’ long-term plans for its facilities, according to data released Friday.

Specific details about the future of each MPS school have not been decided.

But on Friday, MPS released a list of its schools divided into categories: Schools that could potentially close or merge with others, get a new academic program or build investment or expand. Others are still being evaluated and monitored.

“Please understand that no recommendations or decisions about any schools have been made,” the district told families on Friday. “This information will be used to inform the development of a 10-year (long-haul facilities master plan).”

School-specific information released Friday is part of a progress report on the facilities planning process, which the school director will review on Tuesday. Perkins Eastman, a consulting firm hired by MPS, created that report after working with the district for months to analyze data and gather public information.

Closing some schools and upgrading others is necessary, the district claims, because 1 in 4 of its schools are not being used to their full capacity. Another 1 in 4 have too many students. In-demand academic programs are not evenly distributed across the city, and many students do not attend schools closest to where they live.

At the same time, the total enrollment in the district has decreased by a third over the past two decades.

More: The future of MPS could include school closures, improved programming as planned for long-distance facilities

Schools that may close or merge with a nearby school:

  • Brown Street Academy
  • Clarke Street Academy
  • Siefert school
  • Starm’s Discovery Learning Center
  • Auer Avenue School
  • Hopkins Lloyd Community School
  • Jackson Elementary School
  • Dr. George Washington Carver Academy
  • Oliver Wendell Holmes School
  • Andrew S. Douglas Middle School
  • Keefe Avenue School
  • Robert M. LaFollette School
  • William T. Sherman School

Schools that may receive new academic programs or other building upgrades:

  • AE Burdick School
  • Browning school
  • Cass Street School
  • Clement Avenue School
  • Congress School
  • Frederick J. Gaenslen School
  • IDEAL school
  • Lancaster School
  • Milwaukee Academy of Chinese Language
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne School
  • Neeskara school
  • The Ralph H. Metcalfe School
  • River Trail School of Agricultural Science
  • Riverwest Elementary School
  • William George Bruce School
  • Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning
  • Academy of Languages ​​and Fine Arts
  • Albert E. Kagel School
  • Allen-Field School
  • Audubon Middle and High School
  • Bay View Montessori School, Upper Campus
  • Craig Montessori School
  • Forest Home Avenue School
  • Golda Meir School, Lower Campus
  • Green Tree Preparatory Academy
  • Lincoln Avenue School
  • Lloyd Barbee Montessori School
  • Milwaukee German Immersion School
  • Milwaukee Parkside School for the Arts
  • Milwaukee School of Languages
  • Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School, Lower Campus
  • Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School, Upper Campus
  • Obama School of Career and Technical Education
  • Richard Kluge School
  • Victory K-8 and Milwaukee Italian Immersion School
  • Albert Story School
  • Benjamin Franklin School
  • Byron Kilbourn School
  • Clara Barton School
  • Dr. Benjamin Carson Academy of Science
  • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. school
  • Engleburg School
  • Fifty-Third Street School
  • Frances Brock Starms Early Childhood Center
  • Grant Gordon Learning Center
  • Grantosa Drive School
  • Hampton School
  • Hartford Avenue University School
  • Henry David Thoreau School
  • James E. Groppi High School
  • Louisa May Alcott School
  • Lowell P. Goodrich School
  • Manitoba School
  • Maple Tree School
  • Milwaukee Sign Language School
  • Morse Middle School
  • Parkview School
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson School
  • Samuel Clemens School
  • Thurston Woods Campus
  • Townsend Street School
  • Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes Studies

Schools that can be expanded:

  • Academy of Accelerated Learning
  • Alexander Mitchell Integrated Arts School
  • Eight-First Street School
  • Escuela Vieau
  • Greenfield Bilingual School
  • Honey Creek Charter School
  • Humboldt Park School
  • James Fenimore Cooper School
  • Jeremiah Curtin Leadership Academy
  • Mary McLeod Bethune Academy
  • Morgandale School
  • Ninety-Fifth Street School
  • Whittier School

Schools that will continue to be monitored and evaluated, or have other “unique circumstances” being analyzed:

  • Alexander Hamilton High School
  • Anna F. Doerfler School
  • Bay View High School
  • Casimir Pulaski High School
  • The Clement J. Zablocki School
  • The Edward A. MacDowell Montessori School
  • Elm Creative Arts School
  • Golda Meir School, Upper Campus
  • Hamlin Garland School
  • Hayes Bilingual School
  • James Whitcomb Riley School
  • Milwaukee French Immersion School
  • Northern Division High School
  • Riverside University High School
  • Southern Division High School
  • Wedgewood Park International School
  • Bay View Montessori School, Lower Campus
  • Bradley Technology and Trade School
  • Fairview School
  • Fernwood Montessori School
  • The Gilbert Stuart School
  • HW Longfellow School
  • Hawley Environmental School
  • La Escuela Fratney
  • Lowell International Elementary School
  • Luther Burbank School
  • Marvin Pratt Elementary School
  • Maryland Avenue Montessori School
  • Milwaukee High School of the Arts
  • Reagan College Preparatory High School
  • Rogers Street Academy
  • Rufus King International High School
  • Alliance School of Milwaukee
  • Hi-Mount Community School
  • James Madison Academic Campus
  • Lincoln Center of the Arts
  • Milwaukee Marshall High School
  • Project STAY High School
  • Roosevelt Creative Arts Middle School
  • Rufus King International Middle School
  • Transitional high school
  • Washington High School of Information Technology
  • Westside Academy
  • William Cullen Bryant School

More: The future of MPS could include school closures, improved programming as planned for long-distance facilities

How did MPS decide which category a school would be placed in?

It’s complicated.

But there are a few key questions that MPS and consulting firm Perkins Eastman ask that help determine which category a school falls into:

  • Are there enough students enrolled to use the entire school building? This is called the building’s “utilization rate,” based on comparing student enrollment versus building capacity.
  • Has the school seen enrollment grow over the past five years?
  • Does the school have a “special” academic program? These programs are: Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, gifted and talented, or college support programs; community schools, art-oriented schools and Montessori schools; language immersion, English as a second language and bilingual education; Project Lead the Way and career and technical education programs.
  • What is the condition of the physical building?
  • Is the school within 1 mile of an underutilized school?

There are several other factors that are evaluated. It includes, for example, whether the school has amenities, such as an elevator or a sports field, and the size of the classrooms; details about where the school is located, like if there are any safety concerns in the neighborhood, if it’s near a highway, an industrial site, or public park, among other things.

The categories in which a school is currently placed “do not represent final policy decisions” and are not permanent, according to information released Friday.

More: 15 Milwaukee schools and 1 Racine school on Fordham Institute’s list of “underperforming and underenrolled” schools nationwide

What about school closures?

Schools marked for potential closure or merger share some specific characteristics:

  • They have a utilization rate of 50% or less, which means that at least half of the physical space in the building is not being used;
  • They have seen declining enrollments over the past five years;
  • They are located within 1.5 km of another underutilized school.

MPS does not plan to close or merge any schools during the 2024-25 or 2025-26 school years, the district told families and staff on Friday.

Several schools were initially slated for potential closure or consolidation, but were “relocated,” according to information released Friday. They are still being evaluated.

These schools are: Hi-Mount Community School, James Madison Academic Campus, Lincoln Center of the Arts, Milwaukee Marshall High School, Project STAY High School, Roosevelt Creative Arts Middle School, Rufus King International Middle School, Transition High School, Washington High School of Information Technology, Westside Academy and William Cullen Bryant School.

More: Teachers, parents want details on potential school closures in MiIwaukee

Tuesday’s MPS school board meeting will include more details

On Tuesday, the MPS school board will review a status report on the facilities planning process created by Perkins Eastman consultant.

After that, MPS says it plans to gather more feedback from students, families, staff and others before a draft of the final long-term facilities plan goes to the school board for approval.

The meeting on Tuesday is open to everyone. It is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at 5525 W. Vliet St., the district’s central service building.

“Our goal is to take a data-informed approach, not a data-driven approach; therefore, community feedback will continue to be extremely important in the development of any plans that may move forward,” the district told families and staff on Friday.

Cleo Krejci covers education and workforce development as a member of the Report For America corps based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. For more information on Report for America, visit jsonline.com/rfa.

Website https://carnevalestoricocivitonico.it

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