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Consultant publishes list of possible MPS school closures

Consultant publishes list of possible MPS school closures

Sakege013 mins

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

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 new academic program or construction investment, or expand. Others are still being evaluated and monitored.

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

The school-specific information released Friday is part of a progress report on the facilities planning process. which the School Board of Directors 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 input.

The district argues that it is necessary to close some schools and improve others, because 1 in 4 of its schools are not being used at their maximum capacity. Another 1 in 4 have too many students. In-demand academic programs are not evenly distributed throughout the city and many students do not attend the school closest to where they live.

Meanwhile, overall enrollment in the district has decreased by a third in the last two decades.

Further: MPS future could include school closures, enhanced programming under long-term facilities plan

Schools that could close or merge with a nearby school:

  • brown street academy
  • Clarke Street Academy
  • Siefert School
  • Starms 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 High School
  • Keefe Avenue School
  • Robert M. LaFollette School
  • William T. Sherman School

Schools that could get new academic programs or other building improvements:

  • A.E. Burdick School
  • Browning School
  • Cass Street School
  • Clemente Avenue School
  • Congress School
  • Frederick J. Gaenslen School
  • ideal school
  • Lancaster School
  • Milwaukee Chinese Language Academy
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne School
  • Neeskara School
  • Ralph H. Metcalfe School
  • River Trail School of Agricultural Sciences
  • Riverwest Elementary School
  • William George Bruce School
  • Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning
  • Academy of Language 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 of the Arts
  • Milwaukee Language School
  • 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
  • Alberto story school
  • Benjamin Franklin School
  • Byron Kilbourn School
  • Clara Barton School
  • Dr. Benjamin Carson Academy of Sciences
  • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School
  • engleburg school
  • 53rd Street School
  • Frances Brock Starms Early Childhood Center
  • Grant Gordon Learning Center
  • Grantosa Driving School
  • hampton school
  • Hartford Avenue College
  • 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 High 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 could be expanded:

  • Accelerated Learning Academy
  • Alexander Mitchell School of Integrated Arts
  • Eight First Street School
  • Vieau School
  • 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 that have other “unique circumstances” being looked at:

  • Alexander Hamilton High School
  • Anna F. Doerfler School
  • Bay View High School
  • Casimir Pulaski High School
  • Clemente J. Zablocki School
  • 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 School of Business and Technology
  • Fairview School
  • Fernwood Montessori School
  • Gilbert Stuart School
  • H. W. Longfellow School
  • Hawley Environmental School
  • The Fratney School
  • Lowell International Elementary School
  • Burbank Luther 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
  • Milwaukee Alliance School
  • Hi-Mount Community School
  • James Madison Academic Campus
  • Lincoln Center for the Arts
  • Milwaukee Marshall High School
  • STAY Project Secondary School
  • Roosevelt High School for the Creative Arts
  • Rufus King International High School
  • Transitional High School
  • Washington High School of Information Technology
  • west side academy
  • William Cullen Bryant School

Further: MPS future could include school closures, enhanced programming under long-term facilities plan

How did MPS decide which category a school should be included in?

It’s complicated.

But there are some main questions that MPS and consulting firm Perkins Eastman ask to 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” and is based on comparing student enrollment to building capacity.
  • Has the school experienced an increase in enrollment over the past five years?
  • Does the school have a “specialty” academic program? Those programs are: Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, gifted and talented programs, or college support; community schools, arts-centered 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 being evaluated. For example, that includes whether the school has amenities, such as an elevator or a sports field, and the size of its classrooms; Details about where the school is located, such as whether there are any safety concerns in the neighborhood, whether it is near a highway, an industrial site, or a public park, among other considerations.

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

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

What about school closures?

Schools that are marked for possible closure or merger share some specific traits:

  • They have a utilization rate of 50% or less, meaning that at least half of the building’s physical space is unused;
  • They have seen a decline in enrollment over the past five years;
  • They are 1 mile from another underutilized school.

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

Several schools were initially going to be flagged for possible closure or merger, but were “reassigned,” according to information released Friday. They are still being evaluated.

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

Further: Teachers and parents want details on possible school closures in MiIwaukee

MPS school board meeting on Tuesday will include more details

On Tuesday, the MPS school board will review a progress report about the facility planning process created by consulting firm Perkins Eastman.

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

Tuesday’s meeting is open to all. It is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at 5525 W. Vliet St., the district’s Central Services Building.

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

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

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