MILWAUKEE– For four weeks, Fernwood Montessori, LaFollette School and Starms Early Childhood Learning Center have been closed as Milwaukee Public Schools continues to clean-up and remediate for lead-dust.
The continuous closures have frustrated parents who are now asking the district questions as to where the district is with its deadline for all schools being cleared to have students back for learning.
On Thursday night Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee Health Department and MPS parents met online for a virtual town hall to discuss the district’s ongoing lead crisis.
“How many schools have any reportable levels of lead dust consistent with the new EPA rule? How many schools have lead in the soil that exceed 200 micro-grams per square foot? That’s also a new EPA rule. We don’t need an administrator being dismissive about a health crisis. We need the data and we need the voices most effected by this crisis to be centered,” said one parent from Fernwood Montessori.
Commissioner for the Milwaukee Health Department, Dr. Michael Totoraitis addressed the issue head on.
“We’ve been inside 17 other schools in partnership with some of our partners at the state and we have taken the corrective actions given to us so far,” said Dr. Totoraitis. “If we need to close any additional schools, we need to have those conversations with the district first and these are really difficult situations. Part of the long-range plan that Dr. Cassellius is talking about, will actually outline the timeline for when we go to the additional schools and have a better assessment of what’s going on.”
Another major concern parent brought up was the cost of cleaning and remediation for the schools that are being cleaned and have been cleaned such as Golda Meir Lower Campus, Maryland Avenue Montessori, Albert E. Kagel School and Trowbridge School. Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius addressed how the district is dealing with the costs.
“The district budgets will take care of this lead remediation. We are hoping to find other revenues as well and talk to state leaders, but it will not be the responsibility of these schools for this lead remediation,” said Dr. Cassellius. “In the future we plan on decentralizing these facility budgets in order to better create equity and attention where work orders are happening so we can be sure they are filled and prioritized based on their importance in need at the district level.”
Both MPS and MHD are still formulating a plan on how to properly check and clean all schools in the district for lead dust.
In previous drafts of the plan, MPS has proposed looking at all facilities built before 1950 in search of any kind of lead-dust.
But some parents in the virtual town hall were still confused and frustrated as to how MPS did not address the lead dust issue until MPS students tested for high lead levels in their blood stream.
“I hear you guys speaking about guidelines, how you’re learning throughout this experience, but if there were guidelines in place, and you guys had those in advance, and you guys are working with certified people and for remediation to happen people needed to be certified, how did the school that my child attends end up with a violation and you guys continuously say that you’re learning along the way with us?” asked another parent from Fernwood Montessori.
MPS and MHD have said that they will continue to update parents when they have information to present on the Milwaukee Health Department website and through emails.
No timeline has yet been revealed on when the three schools will reopen again.
