MILWAUKEE — TMJ4’s Lighthouse team is taking questions right to the top of Milwaukee Public Schools as the district faces a major problem.
“Are you concerned?” reporter Ben Jordan asked.
“Absolutely,” replied school board president Marva Herndon. "So that's it for now."
Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction is threatening to withhold state funding from MPS for next school year for failing to provide financial reports. Some of those reports were due last September.
A lot of questions remain unanswered about how this happened and who’s at fault. TMJ4 spent the day focusing on the accountability factor.
We started at the MPS district office to try to track down Superintendent Dr. Keith Posley.
An MPS secretary told us he has meetings going on all day.
A district spokesperson met us at the entrance almost immediately. Nicole Armendariz reiterated that Dr. Posley was too busy to talk with us at the time.
“He made time for us to talk about the referendum before it passed. We would like to talk with him about this today if possible,” Jordan said.
“I’m going to look and see what kind of availability we have, otherwise there will be more information for you later,” Armendariz said.
"Do you have any information you could provide ahead of tonight’s meeting about what happened with these missing financial reports?” Jordan asked.
“Right now, the Board of Directors has released a statement and it’s something that we’re working through.
That statement came six days after the Department of Public Instruction sent this email to Dr. Posley.
It outlines four financial reports the district has failed to submit, including its 2023 annual finances which were due last September.
DPI goes on to say the consequence could be "a significant reduction in state general aid payments for MPS in the 2024-2025 school year.”
MPS responded by saying, “We take this matter seriously and we are confident that we will be able to course correct promptly.”
After repeated attempts to talk with School Board President Marva Herndon on the phone, we showed up at her house and she answered the door.
“I’m wondering if we could talk about these missing financial reports,” Jordan asked.
“Not at the present time,” Herndon replied. “I’m on the phone working with the district and I’m not prepared to do that at the present time.”
“Do you have just a couple of minutes for us?” Jordan asked. “A lot of people who are teachers and parents and people who live in this community and voted for this referendum want to know how this could have happened.”
“Well, right now we’re working on it and I’m not doing an interview right now,” Herndon replied. "I’m just not prepared. I’m handling my phone calls working with the district at this point."
“What’s the latest information you can provide?” Jordan asked.
“I have nothing at the present time,” Herndon said. “We’re busy working on the issue.”
“Are you concerned?” Jordan asked.
“Absolutely,” Herndon replied. “So that’s it for now."
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson says he’s also concerned.
“I want to make sure that the kids in Milwaukee have every single opportunity that’s available to them and that also means that the school district has access to all the funds to support our kids, so that’s where my focus is, that’s what I’m concerned about and I think in terms of the snafu that happened over at central office, there will be folks that are working on that,” he said. “My concern is the kids.”
“Is this acceptable?” Jordan asked.
“I want this to be resolved,” Mayor Johnson replied. “I want it to be resolved right away so that kids aren’t negatively impacted.”
This past-due deadline could start causing financial problems for MPS as soon as next month. DPI says it may withhold the district’s special education aid payment that is supposed to be sent in June.
Last year, that totaled up to more than $15 million.
Read the updated statement from Milwaukee Public Schools below:
"On Friday, MPS was notified by the Department of Public Instruction that some funding may be delayed until certain financial reports are submitted to the state. District Administration and the Milwaukee Board of School Directors are engaging an external financial consultant to assist in submitting the required data and to improve this process moving forward. We are meeting daily with the Department of Public Instruction until the process is completed.
The Department of Public Instruction has confirmed with MPS that the district will be able to fully recoup any delayed funds when reports are complete. This issue will not have any impact on current staffing, hiring, or other district operations.
The district will work with the Department of Public Instruction to create an action plan to streamline the reporting process and ensure any concerns are identified and resolved moving forward.
MPS Administration, the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, and the Department of Public Instruction are all committed to providing the best outcomes for children in the City of Milwaukee. We will continue to work together through this process."
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