MIWLAUKEE, Wis. — Within the last month, financial woes have been exposed at Milwaukee Public Schools.
In May, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) sent a letter to the district threatening to withhold tens of millions of dollars in state funding.
In the last few weeks, changes have been made at the district's central office in an effort to meet deadlines to correct financials and ensure state funding for next year.
This week, MPS offered two of its new, top acting leaders to talk with TMJ4's Jenna Rae.
First, Rae talked with Todd Gray. He's seen as a fixer for school districts across the state. Now, he's been hired to repair MPS' financial standing with DPI.
He said it's an even bigger challenge than he imagined.
"I will say I didn't, was not aware of the total scope of it," Gray said.
It's a scope the public didn't know either until the DPI letter came out in May.
Now, we're getting answers.
"What's your biggest concern right now," Rae asked Gray.
"I would say the staffing," Gray responded.
A glaring issue mentioned in the district's corrective action plan and a need to hire positions like CFO, comptroller, and general accountants.
"If they're part of working through these problems, working through this corrective action plan, hopefully they're going to learn the system that much quicker, and also understand how to avoid this in the future," Gray explained.
A system that's getting overhauled, as the district finds new ways to communicate its financial data to the state. That's because what's in place now, Gray said, leaves room for financial error.
"We do have someone that's been coming in to do some re-programming. If we get to the point where we're able to push that data that we need monthly to DPI, that'll solve a lot of these problems," Gray added.
Once that new workflow is in place, Gray said it'll be easier to submit the big ticket items that are due to the state in a few months. Items like the annual budget data and annual expenditure report.
"We're working on it. We have people that, there have been some errors in that particular area, and we're correcting those errors. In fact, that's going on a we speak," Gray said. "I'm confident that we'll get enough information to DPI that will satisfy them."
Confidence in the district and its fiscal responsibility to its staff, students and taxpayers moving forward.
"We don't have a budget issue, it's more of a reporting issue. I don't expect to lose any revenue, so with that going forward, I don't think it's going to impact the services and the programs for kids and for staff and parents," Gray said.
Gray's just one of the new faces inside MPS' central office tapped to fix the state of the district. Eduardo Galvan is another. He's the acting superintendent.
"Initially I think there was a little bit of shock and maybe some fear," Galvan said.
That's the mood described inside central office as the state was threatening to withhold funding to MPS, and while former Regional Superintendent, Galvan, was taking over as acting superintendent for the district.
"Our main goal here is to help our students. We will make any corrections that need to be made, we'll move foward, and never make those mistakes again," Galvan said.
For three decades, Galvan has worked either inside or closely with MPS. In his new role, he said he wants to focus on hiring.
"Employment and opportunities are here in MPS," he added.
Galvan also said he wants to ensure staff, students, and parents feel heard.
"Staff have outlets, right. So, if they wanna speak to whether it's their principal or their administrator, we'll certainly listen and see what we can do to assist them," Galvan said.
And his message to parents and students.
"For anybody that lives in Milwaukee, if you have questions, ask them. If you have children you're looking to enroll, enroll them in MPS. We offer all kinds of programs and we continue to do that," Galvan explained.
On top of that, Galvan said he's also focused on increased transparency.
"When people ask a question and the response isn't understood, maybe we could get some feedback on that, so we're better able to communicate that," Galvan added.
The acting superintendent said that he doesn't want people to lose focus on what's most important. The kids.
"The most important issues are our students and the needs that they have and the needs our Milwaukee community has," Galvan said.
On Tuesday, MPS' board of directors are having a special meeting where they will consider possible action on the appointment of an interim superintendent.
TMJ4 will be there.
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