MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Public School district was sent "tens of millions" of dollars more in state funds than it deserved and now faces an urgent crisis as that money must be paid back, according to a state senator briefed on the situation by the Department of Public Instruction.
State Sen. LaTonya Johnson said she was part of a Zoom meeting Monday between DPI and members of the Milwaukee delegation to the state legislature.
In that call, Sen. Johnson said, DPI revealed the district had been overpaid.
The exact amount of the overpayment, she said, was not known even to DPI as MPS financial figures are in such disarray.
"We were told tens of millions, but no direct answer," Sen. Johnson said.
Sen. Johnson said DPI took the extraordinary step of contacting the Milwaukee School Board of Directors about this overpayment because the issue was not being taken care of by MPS administrators.
"They said the superintendent didn't keep them informed as he should have," she said. "They said DPI never reaches out to the school board for anything. They did for this situation."
A second member of the Milwaukee delegation confirmed the Monday Zoom meeting took place, but said she was not able to attend.
Last week, a spokesperson for DPI shared that MPS had made errors in reporting for the 2022-23 school year and future aid payments could be reduced.
On Monday, The MPS board held an emergency meeting and accepted the resignation of Superintendent Keith Posley.
In a statement Friday afternoon, DPI did not address the specifics of Sen. Johnson's comments.
"We indicated many days ago that past errors will likely result in correction of future aid payments," the statement said. "There will likely be a significant reduction in general aid payments for MPS in the 2024-25 fiscal year. The reduction is the result of MPS errors in reported 2022-24 shared costs. This subsequent aid reduction is still to be determined."
A spokesperson for MPS has not responded to requests for comment.
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