Community meeting held to discuss concerns at North Division High School

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) --- A community meeting was held Tuesday to discuss ongoing issues and concerns at North Division High School.

The meeting was hosted by Call to Action Committee Inc., an organization that's been around since 2014, focused on empowering schools like North Division. Advocates, including alumni, say that academically, North Division is failing.

Over the last 10 years, test scores have been below local, state, and national standards and they say something needs to be done.

"We know our students are better than that and so we need to come up with an idea and a plan collectively, so that we can lift up our students so they can be successful," said McArthur Weddle, Call to Action Committee chairperson.

Weddle is also a North Division High School graduate and says he wants to see the school return to the educational resource it once was.

"A lot of students that live in the North Division district, which is 53206, they don't even want to go to that school, and we were so proud of the legacy," said Weddle.

The NAACP Milwaukee Branch Chapter is partnering with Call to Action to help with solutions.

"It is so important that we educate our children. We owe them that. They're our future. We need to set better examples," said Weddle.

During the meeting, the group discussed a variety of concerns, mainly academics.

"Looking at that data, we've seen the test scores around the state over the years was declining. We weren't meeting expectations," said Saleem El-Amin, Call to Action Committee co-chair.

One of the possible solutions being explored is turning the school into a public non-instrumentality charter school, which some advocates like Clarence Nicholas, NAACP Milwaukee Branch president, say would expand educational opportunities.

School board representatives Marva Herndon and Aisha Carr were also in attendance and shared the need for a continuation in collaboration.

Both Call to Action and the NAACP Milwaukee Branch are planning meetings in the near future on the subject and encourage parents and other community members to get involved so that their voices are also heard.