'Disconnected and harmful’: MPS families express concerns over district budget cuts
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- As the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) district continues to work on closing a $46 million budget gap, more families are getting concerned about the changes.
In March, the district board approved a plan to cut more than 260 jobs.
Superintendent Brenda Cassellius has said she chose the positions that will be cut with the goal of minimizing the direct impact on students.
On Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association (MTEA) hosted a town hall meeting for parents and invited three MPS board members.
“It might not be a glamorous meeting but it’s an important one,” MPS parent Amanda Seppanen said. “I think transparency has definitely been a concern of mine.”
Seppanen has a 7-year-old son in MPS and thinks the job cuts will hurt schools throughout the district, including her son's.
“We’re losing an assistant principal that we want to keep, that we hired specifically for the credentials that she has, and we didn’t have a say in losing that position,” Seppanen said.
Tatiana Joseph is also an MPS parent. Her husband works for the district but is losing his job as part of the cuts.
“He has spent years teaching, supporting students and contributing to a community that so many rely on,” Joseph said.
Joseph told the board members she’s not only concerned about her husband losing his job, but the impact on the students.
“It feels rushed, disconnected and harmful to the very schools we are trying to protect,” Joseph said. “Parents are not asking you to ignore the budget, we are asking you to make decisions that reflect what schools actually need to function.”
An MPS spokesperson was at the town hall and said, “We recognize that building a budget while working to close a $46 million deficit is challenging and that the hard decisions we have to make affect valued employees.”
MPS is projecting a net increase in teaching and paraprofessional positions and is maintaining and estimating a slight increase in the total number of art, music and physical education positions across the district.