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    • Consultant publishes list of possible MPS school closures
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    Consultant publishes list of possible MPS school closures

    Online Niel Posted on

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

    Thirteen schools could 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 may 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 have been made regarding any schools,” the district told families Friday. “This information will be used to inform the development of a 10-year master plan (long-term facilities master plan).”

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

    Closing some schools and upgrading others is necessary, the district argues, because 1 in 4 of its schools are not being used at 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 the school closest to where they live.

    Meanwhile, the total number of enrollments in the district has it has fallen by a third over the past two decades.

    More: The future of MPS could include school closures, enhanced programming under the long-term facilities plan

    Schools that may 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 Middle School
    • Keefe Avenue School
    • Robert M. LaFollette School
    • William T. Sherman School

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

    • AE Burdick School
    • Browning School
    • Cass Street School
    • Clement Avenue School
    • Congress School
    • Frederick J. Gaenslen School
    • The 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 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 Training Academy
    • Lincoln Avenue School
    • Lloyd Barbee Montessori School
    • Milwaukee German Immersion School
    • Milwaukee Parkside School of the Arts
    • Milwaukee School of Foreign Languages
    • Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School, Lower Campus
    • Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School, Upper Campus
    • Obama School of Career and Technical Education
    • The Richard Kluge School
    • Victory K-8 and Milwaukee Italian Immersion School
    • Albert school of stories
    • Benjamin Franklin School
    • Byron Kilbourn School
    • Clara Barton School
    • Dr. Benjamin Carson Academy of Sciences
    • 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 College School
    • Henry David Thoreau School
    • James E. Groppi High School
    • Louisa May Alcott School
    • Lowell P. Goodrich School
    • School of Manitoba
    • The Maple 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 could be expanded:

    • Accelerated Learning Academy
    • Alexander Mitchell Integrated School of Arts
    • Eighth 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
    • The school on Ninety-fifth Street
    • Whittier School

    Schools which will continue to be monitored and assessed or which have other ‘unique circumstances’ which are being looked at:

    • Alexander Hamilton High School
    • Anna F. Doerfler School
    • Bay View High School
    • Casimir Pulaski High School
    • Clement J. Zablocki School
    • Edward A. MacDowell Montessori School
    • Elm School of Creative Arts
    • 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
    • South Division High School
    • Wedgewood Park International School
    • Bay View Montessori School, Lower Campus
    • Bradley School of Technology and Commerce
    • Fairview School
    • Fernwood Montessori School
    • Gilbert Stuart School
    • HW Longfellow School
    • Hawley School of the Environment
    • At Escuela Fratney
    • Lowell International Primary 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
    • Milwaukee Alliance School
    • Hi-Mount Community School
    • James Madison Academic Campus
    • Lincoln Center for the Arts
    • Milwaukee Marshall High School
    • STAY High School Project
    • Roosevelt Creative Arts Middle School
    • Rufus King International Secondary School
    • Transition High School
    • Washington High School of Information Technology
    • Westside Academy
    • William Cullen Bryant School

    More: The future of MPS could include school closures, enhanced programming under the long-term facilities plan

    How did MPS decide which category a school should fall into?

    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 “utilization rate” of the building, based on comparing the number of students to the capacity of the building.
    • Has the school experienced an increase in enrollment over the past five years?
    • Does the school have a “major” academic program? These programs are: Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, gifted and talented, or college support programs; community schools, arts-focused 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 other factors evaluated. For example, this includes whether the school has facilities such as an elevator or an athletic field and how large its classrooms are; details about where the school is located, such as whether there are safety concerns in the neighborhood, whether it is close to a highway, an industrial site, or a public park, among other considerations.

    The categories a school currently falls into “do not represent any 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 enrolled” schools nationally

    What about school closings?

    Schools that are flagged for potential closure or merger have some specific traits:

    • Have a utilization rate of 50% or less, meaning that at least half of the physical space in the building is not being used;
    • They have seen enrollment decline over the past five years;
    • I am less than 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 Friday.

    Several schools were initially slated for potential closure or merger but have been “re-assigned,” according to information released Friday. They are still under evaluation.

    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 possible school closings in Milwaukee

    Tuesday’s MPS school board meeting will include more details

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

    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.

    Tuesday’s meeting is open to anyone. 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, feedback from the community will continue to be extremely important in the development of any plan that may move forward,” the district told families and staff about Friday.

    Cleo Krejci covers education and workforce development as a Report For America staff member 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.

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