MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Board of School Directors approved its proposed $1.5 billion budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year at its board meeting on Thursday, June 13.
The budget was approved by a 7-1 vote.
The decision could also mean that nearly 300 staff positions may be cut for the next school year.
In the room Thursday were dozens of people including community leaders, parents, and teachers from the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association(MTEA).
"This needs to happen as the board works to solve these problems," Ingrid Walker-Henry, the president of MTEA, said at the meeting.
Other parents argued the board should wait to pass the budget until June 30th, the deadline set by the state.
"There's no money, money misspent, and you’re short-staffed?" Kim Young, an MPS parent, said. "How are you going to pass a budget when you don't have your books in order?"
Director Jackson, the sole "no" vote, spoke directly to audience members.
"I'm ready to fight on a different level. I don’t trust the proposed budget by Keith Posley," Jackson said.
Several directors added that this budget is not final.
"Passing this budget does not shake me at all. The one in October has to be picture perfect and I’ll start working on that next week," Board Member Henry Leonard said.
The Board also approved recommendations for their'Corrective Action Plan'(CAP). Members unanimously approved the revised vision of its CAP sent back by DPI.
TMJ4 first saw the CAP from MPS earlier this week. It details a specific timeline for submitting financial documentation, hiring and restructuring the finance team, training for employees, and more.
Now that the CAP has passed, the district will be able to get its payment of $166.5M on Monday, according to DPI.
DPI said it will continue withholding state aid payments like the $16M allocated for special education and other departments. We're told the district will get other payments once it makes "adequate and sufficient progress towards implementation of the corrective action plan."
DPI also said they believe MPS could have an aid reduction of $35-50 million in the coming year to account for past errors.
At the end of the session, the board went into a closed meeting to talk about possible action on the appointment of an Interim Superintendent of Schools.
The meeting adjourned behind closed doors.
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