2 more MPS schools to close as part of ongoing lead issue

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Two Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) are set to close because of lead hazards as the district continues to battle an ongoing lead crisis.
Brown Street Academy and West Side will close in the next two weeks. They are the eighth and ninth MPS schools to close.
Students from those schools will be relocated to other MPS buildings for the remainder of the school year.
This comes just as the district announced its lead action plan has been completed and released.
The plan, which was approved by the Milwaukee Health Department, outlines how the district will address lead in its buildings going forward.
Every building will go through visual lead testing and lead samples. Students will be relocated when necessary.
The district will cover the costs of lead remediation for every school and expects the cost to be millions of dollars.
“We’ve paid about $2 million so far in invoices and expect further invoices to come as we continue to add schools," said MPS Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius.
MPS plans on working through multiple buildings over the summer and expects that 54 of its buildings will be tested and cleared for lead before the start of next school year.
District officials say an additional 52 buildings will be tested and cleared of lead by the end of this calendar year.
District officials say students will remain with the same teachers they have had all school year.