Wauwatosa School District, MPS reorganization 'not plausible'
WAUWATOSA, Wis. - What started as a brainstorming idea ended with fighting among Wauwatosa School Board members on Tuesday night.
A conversation about district reorganization involving Milwaukee Public Schools did not just cause drama, it led to community confusion.
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"I believe the community should remain afraid of this kind of behavior. I believe that the idea of reorganizing the Wauwatosa School District in any way, shape or form with Milwaukee Public Schools amounts to a third rail of Wauwatosa School District governance and politics," said Michael Meier, board member.
On Monday, Meier revealed the district paid a law firm to look into a potential reorganization with MPS. Tuesday's special meeting was to approve the release of those findings.
Wauwatosa School District
The district received the legal opinion on Aug. 21, but did not say anything until Meier brought it up.
"I hope that that shows there was nothing nefarious, this wasn’t something the board was planning," said Liz Heimer-Rolland, board member.
This comes as a $60 million referendum is on the November ballot to keep Wauwatosa elementary schools open. The school district would not share how much this cost taxpayers.
Reorganization opinion
FOX6 News obtained the legal document, which was released Wednesday morning. It says the district was interested in exploring the possibility of detaching territory from MPS and attaching it to the Wauwatosa School District – a process known as reorganization.
The reorganization would have impacted MPS kids who lived close to the Milwaukee-Wauwatosa border. Lawyers determined having MPS students switch districts would not be possible without a change in law or municipal boundaries.
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"It simply came up because there were people saying we want to conserve our schools at the level of enrollment that they are," said Lynne Woehrle, board member. "We can’t do it this way – no secret – can’t do it that way."
Wauwatosa Schools Superintendent Demond Means had a similar message.
"It cannot happen legally. It is not plausible," he said. "The legal opinion states that since Milwaukee is a city of the first class, there’s no way there is any opportunity to take a portion of that community and include it into Wauwatosa."
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Wauwatosa School District statement
"Last night, in a special meeting that was open to the public, the Wauwatosa Board of Education unanimously voted in the affirmative to release a legal opinion dated August 21, 2024.
"At the Board retreat on February 10, 2024, members of the Board brainstormed and discussed many ideas for increasing resident enrollment and maintaining all of the District’s elementary schools. One idea generated during that conversation held in open session was the possibility of exploring the necessary requirements to bring Wauwatosa-adjacent neighborhoods into the Wauwatosa School District boundaries. Before investing a significant amount of time into exploring this idea, legal counsel was consulted and provided this legal opinion. The Board has had no further discussions on this matter since the initial brainstorming session during their retreat on February 10, 2024.
"The opinion states that Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is Wisconsin’s only first class city school district. Due to its classification as a first class city school district, MPS is not subject to the general school district reorganization provisions under Chapter 117 of the Wisconsin Statutes. Chapter 119, which governs first class city school districts, states that MPS’s boundaries must conform to the first class city’s municipal boundaries. Reorganization and/or annexation would only be possible if the legislature changed an existing law or if the Milwaukee Common Council changed the City’s municipal boundaries to exclude an area that is currently within the municipal boundaries.
"Thank you for your continued engagement and support for the students of Wauwatosa."