MILWAUKEE, Wis. — On Thursday night, Milwaukee Public School and Milwaukee Health Department leaders held a town hall for parents whose kids attend the buildings where high lead levels have been found.
"I think the district has a ways to go with transparency and earning back our trust with some commitments," parent Casey, said in the town hall.
Concerns raised Thursday night stuck around as frustrations with parents grew on Friday.
"I really did hope for some kind of status update; maybe an explanation; maybe just one person in the organization to own this situation," parent Scott Bach, said.
Bach attended the town hall and has two kids at Fernwood Montessori.
Watch: MPS parents say town hall lacked clarity, transparency on lead crisis
"What does your ideal town hall look like," Reporter Jenna Rae asked.
"Yeah, if the superintendent would've got on there and said 'Hey, I just got here. This is an awful situation. I'm sorry you're going through this. We've heard that there's a lot of communication problems, here's my commitment to communications moving forward,'" Bach explained.
Bach said for parents to trust the district's leaders, more information needs to be given.
"There's no communication about the state of the repair work. There's no, you know, dates, timelines, anything like that," Bach said.
Bach voiced these concerns in an email to MPS and MHD leaders Friday morning.
Within hours, MHD's Commissioner Mike Totoraitis responded. Totoraitis said that he appreciated Bach reaching out and reassured him that they hear his concerns.
We also took those concerns to MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius.
A spokesperson for the district said Cassellius didn't have time for an interview Friday, but did respond to our questions via email:
Parents don't feel like they got a clear timeline of when schools will reopen, can you clarify when you plan to reopen schools?
We understand the disruption this has caused families and are committed to providing them with timely accurate information about when their buildings will reopen. With that said, it would be more disruptive to provide a timeline that later changes due to unexpected work that needs to be completed. Families have expressed a desire to have more details on what work is currently happening in buildings, and we are working to compile those details for them. Crews are working with urgency to complete this work, but there is no firm date we can provide right now for these buildings. We will only reopen schools once they have been cleared by the Milwaukee Health Department.
Parents say they want to know how much clean up at each school has taken place, how much is left to go, and what areas are being focused on. Can you answer this?
Families have expressed a desire to have more details on what work is currently happening in buildings and we will compile those details for them.
Despite Dr. Cassellius just getting here, parents say they want the district to take accountability for the current state of buildings. Who does MPS feel is responsible for the lack of lead abatement over the years and lack of oversight in schools?
Superintendent Cassellius has made staffing appointments in the facilities department to ensure there is trust and accountability moving into the future. Superintendent Cassellius is very appreciative to the families who have engaged in meaningful conversations to hold the district accountable.
Parents say they were disappointed in answers from the health department and MPS last night, what is Dr. Cassellius' reaction to this?
Last night’s Town Hall meeting is one of many opportunities families will have to engage with us on our lead remediation work. I hear their frustrations loud and clear and recognize that we must do better as a District. My commitment is to hear their concerns, communicate facts to them directly more frequently, and get them back in their schools as soon as possible. I am grateful for their advocacy because it shows that they care about our schools and are engaged. I want to be their partner through all of this.
In terms of the virtual town hall, this was done with the intention of making the meeting as accessible to as many families as possible. There will be future opportunities to meet in person that will be announced soon. We received many questions last night that our team, in partnership with the Milwaukee Health Department, will respond to in writing in the next several days. We are committed to giving families accurate information in a timely manner and being transparent about what we can’t answer.
Parents tell TMJ4 they want more change moving forward.
"I wanna trust the school, I wanna partner with the school, we live here, this is my community, we love all the teachers, the faculty and the staff, but that school system can't continue to screw us like this," Bach said.
If there's something MPS related you want Jenna Rae to look into you can email her at Jenna.Rae@tmj4.com.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
