WAUWATOSA — A proposed merger of the Wauwatosa and some Milwaukee public schools was the focus of a special meeting of the Tosa School Board on Tuesday.
Board members voted to make public the legal research into the possibility that had been kept private due to client-attorney privilege.
Watch: Wauwatosa School Board votes to make MPS merger research public
A legal memo was released to TMJ4 Wednesday morning, which stated that reorganization of the two districts, or annexation of MPS schools by the Wauwatosa district is not possible under current state law. The memo states, "due to its classification as a first class city school district, MPS is not subject to the general school district reorganization provisions under Chapter 117 of the Wisconsin Statutes."
The only way a merger or annexation would be possible is if the State Legislature changed an existing law or the Milwaukee Common Council changed city municipal boundaries.
Some board members said the reason for looking into this option is because of declining enrollment and birth rates in both Wauwatosa and Milwaukee.
RELATED: Wauwatosa board asks legal opinion on merging with some MPS schools (tmj4.com)
It comes as a $60-million dollar referendum to keep all of Tosa's nine elementary schools open awaits voters in November.
Read the full legal memo below.
Legal Memo Re: Boundary Reorganization for Wauwatosa and MPS Schools by TMJ4 News on Scribd
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