Consultant publishes list of possible closures of MPS schools

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

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 yet been determined.

But on Friday, MPS released a list of its schools, divided into categories: schools that could potentially close or merge with others, get a new academic program or make investments, or expand. Others are still being evaluated and monitored.

“Please understand that no recommendations or decisions regarding schools have been made,” the district told families Friday. “This information will be used as the basis for developing a 10-year long-term facilities master plan.”

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

Closing some schools and modernizing others is necessary, the district says, because 1 in 4 schools is not being used optimally. Another 1 in 4 has 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, overall enrollment in the district has increased fallen by a third in the past twenty years.

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

Schools that may close or merge with a nearby school:

Brown Street Academy
Clarke Street Academy
Siefertschool
Starms Discovery Learning Centre
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 receive new academic programs or other building upgrades:

AE Burdick School
Browning School
Cass Street School
Clement Avenue School
Congress School
Frederick J. Gaenslen School
IDEAL school
Lancaster School
Milwaukee Academy of Chinese Language
Nathaniel Hawthorne School
Neeskara School
Ralph H. Metcalfe School
River Trail School of Agricultural Sciences
Rivierwest primary school
William George Bruce School
Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning
Academia de Lenguaje en Bellas Artes
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
Preparatory Academy Green Tree
Lincoln Avenue School
Lloyd Barbee Montessori School
Milwaukee German Immersion School
Milwaukee Parkside School for the Arts
Milwaukee School of Languages
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
Albert Story School
Benjamin Franklin School
Byron Kilbourn School
Clara Barton School
Dr. Benjamin Carson Academy of Sciences
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School
Engelburg School
Fifty-Third Street School
Frances Brock Starms Early Childhood Centre
Grant Gordon Learning Center
Grantosa driving school
Hampton School
Hartford Avenue University School
Henry David Thoreau School
James E. Groppi High School
Louisa May Alcott School
Lowell P. Goodrich School
Manitoba School
Maple School
Milwaukee Sign Language School
Morse High School
Parkzichtschool
Ralph Waldo Emerson School
Samuel Clemens School
Thurston Woods Campus
Townsend Street School
Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes studies

Schools that can be expanded:

Accelerated Learning Academy
Alexander Mitchell Integrated Arts School
Eight-First 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
Ninety-fifth Street School
Whittier School

Schools that will continue to be monitored and evaluated, or that have other ‘unique circumstances’ that are being analyzed:

Alexander Hamilton High School
Anna F. Doerfler School
High school overlooking the bay
Casimir Pulaski High School
Clement 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
North Division High School
Riverside University High School
South Division High School
Wedgewood Park International School
Bay View Montessori School, Lower Campus
Bradley Technology and Business School
Fairview School
Fernwood Montessori School
Gilbert Stuart School
HW Longfellow School
Hawley Environmental School
La Escuela Fratney
Lowell International Primary School
Luther Burbank School
Marvin Pratt Elementary School
Maryland Avenue Montessori School
Milwaukee High School for the Arts
Reagan College Preparatory High School
Rogers Street Academy
Rufus King International High School
The Alliance School of Milwaukee
Hi-Mount community school
James Madison Academic Campus
Lincoln Center for the Arts
Milwaukee Marshall High School
Project STAY Middle School
Roosevelt Creative Arts High School
Rufus King International High School
High school transition
Washington High School for Information Technology
Academy Westside
William Cullen Bryant School

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

How did MPS determine which category a school should be classified into?

It’s complicated.

But there are some important questions that MPS and consulting firm Perkins Eastman ask that help determine which category a school falls into:

Are there enough students registered to use the entire school building? This is called the building’s “utilization rate,” based on comparing student enrollments and building capacity.
Has the school seen an increase in enrollment over the past five years?
Does the school have a “special” academic program? These programs are: Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, gifted and talented, or college support programs; community schools, art 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. This includes, for example, whether the school has facilities, such as a lift or a sports field, and how large the classrooms are; details about where the school is located, such as whether there are safety concerns in the area, whether the school is close to a highway, an industrial estate or a public park, among other considerations.

The categories a school is currently placed in “do not represent final strategic 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 under-registered’ schools nationwide

What about school closures?

Schools flagged for possible closure or merger share a number of specific characteristics:

They have an occupancy rate of 50% or less, which means that at least half of the physical space in the building is not being used;
They have seen declining enrollment over the past five years;
They are within a mile of another underutilized school.

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

Several schools were initially set 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 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 and parents want details about possible school closures in MiIwaukee

The MPS school board meeting on Tuesday will have more details

The MPS school board will consider one on Tuesday progress report about Perkins Eastman Consulting’s facility planning process.

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.

The meeting on Tuesday is open to everyone. The meeting 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-informed approach, not a data-driven approach; therefore, community feedback will continue to be extremely important in the development of any plan that can move forward,” the district told families and staff. Friday.

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