MILWAUKEE — Parents of students at Milwaukee schools facing lead contamination issues are growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of communication and clear timeline for when their children's schools will reopen.
The Milwaukee Public School District held a virtual town hall meeting on Thursday to address concerns from parents at the affected schools.
Both health and school district leaders fielded questions.
Fernwood, LaFollette School, and Starms have remained closed since March 17, with students having to attend their classes elsewhere.
"It has been so disruptive. It has been so difficult on families," said Anya, a parent from Fernwood. "I know everyone knows it has been so difficult."
According to Superintendent Brenda Cassellius, the district has spent nearly $1.8 million on remediation and abatement efforts. However, parents say the lack of a definitive timeline for when the schools will reopen is unacceptable.
"Certainly, certainly, we must know if we're 50% of the way there, 20% of the way there to give some guidance," Anya said.
District leaders said they are close to the end of the painting at Fernwood and that the process has taken longer than expected. More testing will be done once the work is completed before kids can return.
The district has stated it is working with the Milwaukee Health Department to finalize a lead action plan.
Parents like Janice from Maryland Montessori say keeping their children safe should be the top priority.
Watch: MPS parents call for transparency, timeline on reopening lead-affected schools
"Keeping our children safe in a school building and our teachers should be number one priority, so I'm wondering how did we get to this place," Janice said.
Parents also expressed a lack of trust in the district's communication and transparency efforts.
"I think the district has a ways to go with transparency and earning back our trust with some commitments," said parent Casey.
The Milwaukee Public School District has not yet provided a timeline for when the affected schools will reopen. Officials say more information will be shared once the lead action plan is finalized and released to the public. They plan to have more town halls in the future.
More Information: https://mps.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/en/District/About-MPS/Departments/Office-of-Operations/Facilities--Maintenance-Services/MPS-Lead-Report-.htm
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.
