MPS parents and staff call for dismissal of Superintendent Keith Posley

Lina PortmanJune 4, 2024

1 5 minutes read

Milwaukee school board members left a public meeting for a closed-door discussion about the fate of Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Keith Posley shortly after 8 p.m. Monday.

Board members could return to open session later in the night to take disciplinary action or fire Posley. (This story will be updated.)

At a public hearing before board members went behind closed doors, they heard from parents and staff who called for Posley to lose his job in light of recent reports that MPS had no failed to submit key financial reports to state officials.

Before the meeting, school board President Marva Herndon said at a news conference that an investigation was underway. She did not explain the scope of the investigation or answer questions.

“We are working with our stakeholders to conduct a thorough, prompt and timely investigation,” Herndon said. “As the investigation is ongoing, the board is limited in the information it can share at this time.”

Also at Monday's board meeting, the board discussed hiring a new financial consultant, Todd Gray, to help the district complete its reporting for the State Department of Public Education. He also is holding a public hearing on the district's budget.

Residents call for Posley to be fired

Dozens of community members filled the board meeting room Monday to demand that Posley lose his job.

Maria Penager, a district parent, said she petitioned her neighbors, friends and sorority sisters to support the MPS referendum that passed in April to raise the district's taxes. She said she had lost confidence in the district, accusing Posley and board members of a lack of oversight.

“We believed in you, but we don’t believe in you anymore,” Penager said. “So what we will do is when the election comes, you will no longer have your job.”

Angela Harris, a teacher at the Milwaukee Chinese Language Academy and chair of the Black Educators Caucus, presented demands including: removing Posley, reviewing the performance of Posley's administrative team, forming a community coalition to help find a new superintendent, adding community involvement to superintendent performance evaluations, ordering an equity audit of the district and funding higher-needs students at higher grades.

“It’s time for the board and district administration to rebuild the trust they broke,” Harris said.

A few speakers said there would be a recall attempt against some board members.

Some came to Posley's defense. George Jolly, pastor of Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church, said Posley was a member of his congregation. He said it seemed like people wanted to “do a hatchet job” on Posley. He said MPS had been “messed up” for decades because of decisions prior to Posley.

“I don’t think we need to come here specifically to go after one man,” Jolly said. “I stand with Keith Posley.”

The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, MPS's staff union, has not determined whether Posey should be fired, but urged MPS to complete its audit and asked board members Monday for “clarification on the direction to short term of MPS”.

The MTEA also called for quick passage of the district's budget to give staff confidence in the salary increases administrators have agreed to grant. Board members delayed a vote on the budget last week after learning of missing financial reports.

“This also means that current hiring is hampered as potential employees do not know what salaries will be for 2024-2025,” MTEA President Ingrid Walker-Henry said in a statement to members of the board of directors. “The board and administration must now communicate effectively with families and workers. »

MPS failures jeopardize state and federal funding

Posley is under pressure after state and federal officials raised red flags about MPS operations.

On May 21, federal officials suspended funding for MPS Head Start sites, which are federally funded preschool programs. The district failed to address problems after some children were found unsupervised or abused by staff, federal officials said.

MPS expected to receive about $10.5 million for Head Start programs in the upcoming school year, according to the district's budget plan. The district could lose that funding if federal officials don't find that MPS has corrected problems in its programs.

On May 24, state officials threatened to withhold general funding for MPS schools because the district had failed to file key financial reports expected last year — including an annual audit that could reveal more problems .

If DPI suspends MPS funding, the district will be able to recoup the funds when it completes its reporting, DPI officials said. However, DPI also found that MPS made errors in its reported costs for the 2022-23 school year, which a DPI spokesperson said could result in a “significant reduction” in state aid for the 2024-25 school year.

MPS has previously been late in its financial reporting

MPS also turned over its latest audit to the state late. A DPI spokesperson confirmed Monday that DPI submitted its 2021-22 audit by Baker Tilly on March 29, 2023. It was due December 15, 2022.

DPI did not immediately respond to questions from the Journal Sentinel about whether DPI threatened to withhold funding during last year's delay,

Last year, MPS Chief Financial Officer Martha Kreitzman acknowledged that it was difficult to complete the previous audit because of vacancies and turnover of key personnel within the finance office.

In that audit – which was submitted to board members on March 24, 2023 – Baker Tilly found that MPS had not prepared financial statements “in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles” or in accordance with state funding schedules and the federal government.

Kreitzman said in December that the district was fixing the problem by hiring more staff, working with a job agency and outside financial consultants from Protiviti. MPS did not respond to a question from the Journal Sentinel about the number of vacancies in the finance office.

A Baker Tilly spokesperson said the company does not comment on matters involving its customers.

State officials criticized for not sounding the alarm sooner

After the MPS completed its previous audit months in late March 2023, the DPI began holding quarterly meetings with the MPS starting in April 2023, DPI officials said.

After MPS missed its reporting deadlines again in December, DPI began holding monthly meetings with MPS in February, moving to weekly meetings in March and daily meetings in May.

DPI Executive Director Sachin Chheda said that while it is common for a few school districts to be late in their financial reports, MPS's delay stands out as “particularly late.”

Milwaukee school board members said they were not informed of the late reports until May 24. When asked why DPI didn't notify school board members sooner, DPI spokesman Chris Bucher responded, “Because it would be an extraordinary measure.”

DPI did not immediately respond to questions from the Journal Sentinel about when the department typically notifies school board members or threatens to withhold funding because of late reports.

Daniel Bush, who served as director of school finance at DPI from 2019 to 2022 and was on the team in previous years, said that during his time there, DPI once or twice threatened districts with suspension their assistance due to late reports. He said this action was taken much earlier than the DPI in this case.

Lina Portman

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