MPS alternative high schools staying open, board rejects proposal
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee Public Schools administrators asked the board to close two alternative high schools next month, but board members voted to keep them open.
The high schools are for 17-year-old and older students who are at risk of not graduating. They are schools within schools – Vincent Accelerated Academy is inside Vincent High School, and South Accelerated Academy is inside South Division High School.
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"We just have to stop doing work this way. We continue to get hammered in the community for this exact process," said Jilly Gokalgandhi, MPS board vice president.
"We prepare items for board meetings weeks in advance of the committee meeting. We try to bring all items through committees to make sure we have an open and transparent discussion that the public can comment on, speak on," said John Hill, MPS director of college and career readiness.
South Division High School, Milwaukee
MPS administration asked the school board to close both sites and have the kids join the traditional high schools. It came as a surprise to the students.
"The South and Vincent academies will remain open, that’s what the board decided, and we’re happy that we’ll be able to continue to help those students," said Eduardo Galvan, MPS interim superintendent.
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The MPS administration said the program's teachers would help fill vacancies elsewhere in the district. As for the kids?
"They would remain in the same school, on the same schedule, and be doing the same curriculum," Hill said. "It’s the behind-the-scenes items that change, that wouldn’t impact any of the face-to-face instruction or services – right now, they are technically enrolled in the school within the school."
Vincent High School, Milwaukee
"It is our hope by welcoming students back to the traditional schools setting, but continuing in their current competency curriculum on a half-day schedule, students would be further supported by access to counselors, school social workers, psychologists, as well as the many social supports afforded to students at both Vincent and South Division," said Jennifer Smith, MPS regional superintendent.
The MPS board voted 7-0 against the proposal to close the academies.
"I was very shocked and surprised by this. I think we as a board were blindsided," said Marva Hernson, MPS board president.
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"Talking to many of these students, they say, 'I'm not sure I'm going to show up anymore. This is a lifesaver for me. This is where I come, I feel safe here, I can work here, I can succeed here,'" said MPS board member Henry Leonard. "When I hear those comments from pretty much every student who I spoke to, I’m sorry, I’m going to stand on their side."
"One of the communications we got, a couple sentences, it just said: Last-minute decisions are not fair for us. I just enrolled a few weeks ago," MPS board member Missy Zombor said. "I think that really sums up how not fair this was."
Now, those students will stay put in their accelerated academies. The district staff can recommend proposals, but it is up to the school board to decide – and they did.