MPS enrollment down; school closures, mergers on the table

MILWAUKEE - As Milwaukee Public Schools deals with declining enrollment, school mergers or closures aren't just a possibility – they're probable.

FOX6 News sat down with Eduardo Galvan, MPS' interim superintendent, on Friday before the school board will hear a consultant's presentation on how to best move forward.

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MPS is still the largest school district in the state, but it's a lot smaller than it used to be. District data shows enrollment is down 32% over the past 20 years.

"We want to make sure that we're able to provide the best educational experiences for our students, whether that be in a building, whether that be through a program, making sure that we have appropriate staffing in all of our buildings," Galvan said.

For Galvan, the challenge now is having the right number of schools and buildings to meet the district's needs. He said overall capacity is around 80%, but that number is deceiving. 

As budget documents show, 42 schools are "significantly underutilized," and 42 others are "significantly overutilized."

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"We're gonna have to have those tough conversations if and when we get to that point about merging schools," said Galvan. "If a school is closed or merged, how do we make it so that 'accepting school,' so to speak, has everything that a student should have, right?"

FOX6 News asked Galvan if the current number of buildings is sustainable for the district. 

Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS)

"Within our city, we've seen shifts in students from one school to another in the course of a year, two years or three years," Galvan answered. "I guess my answer would be: Do we need to possibly merge some schools? I believe so. When does that need to happen? That's up to the community."

Since April, a consultant has reviewed every MPS school, its condition and its usage. Those findings will be presented to the school board on Tuesday, and each school will be sorted into one of four categories:

• Building and programmatic investments
• Building addition
• Closure/merger
• Ongoing monitoring and evaluation

MPS Long Range Facilities Master Plan

Documents also showed a list of 13 schools that are recommended for closure/merger:

• Brown Street Academy (elementary school)
• Clarke Street Academy (K-8)
• Siefert School (elementary school)
• Starms Discovery Learning Center (K-8)
• Auer Avenue School (elementary school)
• Hopkins Lloyd Community School (elementary school)
• Jackson Elementary School (elementary school)
• Dr. George Washington Carver Academy (K-8)
• Oliver Wendell Holmes School (K-8)
• Andrew S. Douglas Middle School (middle school)
• Keefe Avenue School (elementary school)
• Robert M. LaFollette School (K-8)
• William T. Sherman School (K-8)

But Galvan warns that labels do not equal action. He said, should MPS choose to close or merge any schools, the process would likely take years.

"We're gonna continue to take feedback from our community, and try to do what's best for our students," he said.