MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Public Schools has submitted an updated draft for corrective action to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), the board announced Tuesday.
A quick look at the plan shows that it has much more detail than two drafts that were submitted last week.
What is the Corrective Action Plan (CAP)?
The Corrective Action Plan (CAP) provides details on how MPS plans to address overdue financial data submission and compliance issues.
The plan is designed to facilitate the timely release of the district’s general and special aid payments as well as identify and address challenges in the district that led to the delayed submission of audited financials, according to an emailed statement from The Milwaukee Board of School Directors Tuesday.
Staffing issues in the Office of Finance
Tuesday's draft plan revealed there are currently over a dozen vacancies in the MPS Office of Finance and the next position that will be open is at the top.
The district states in the plan they're likely to replace Chief Financial Officer Martha Kreitzman and are already searching for an interim CFO.
The plan says the open positions make up more than half of the staff involved in reporting financial documents.
The report states, "the current staff have less than three years' experience in their role," and says due to the lack of experience, "the risk of errors is high, and it will mean further reliance will be placed on the external audit firm to ensure the accuracy of the data to be submitted to DPI."
The draft suggests they hope to have temporary hires in place by June 26.
Their deadline to have 12 permanent employees is September 26.
An ineffective accounting system
The plan also calls the current MPS financial system "uniquely configured, " saying it's not user-friendly or understandable which makes it hard to find the correct data needed for the missing reports.
The former comptroller, Alfredo Balmaseda, brought many of those issues— like low staffing and a complex system— to our attention during an interview with TMJ4's Mariam Mackar last week.
He claimed the department has been this way for years.
What's next?
The next step is for DPI to approve or deny this draft plan.
If it's approved, the state could release a $16-million aid payment that is currently on hold because of overdue financial reports.
Wisconsin State Senator John Jagler obtained the district's draft of the plan at that time and shared it on X, writing it has "no urgency on finding immediate solutions."
TMJ4's Mariam Mackar spoke to state Senator John Jagler on the phone at the time, who said the plan "looks like it was written by Chat GPT."
DPI agreed, replying on X "We made it clear we need a real plan and we are committed to helping them get there."
See the latest draft of the Corrective Action Plan below:
MPS Draft of Corrective Action Plan by TMJ4 News on Scribd
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