MPS has $46 million budget deficit, details plan to lessen need for future cuts
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) announced a $46 million budget deficit Tuesday that could impact district finances for the upcoming school year.
Some of the contributing factors were discussed at a budget committee meeting Tuesday night.
The crowd at the strategic planning and budget meeting was already not happy. It started 44 minutes late after a previous meeting ran long.
These are the nitty gritty details, minutia, spreadsheets and projections and numbers that are broken down and broken down again.
But one big number is looming over everything: $46 million, the budget deficit the district faces this year -- and the numbers are projected to get a lot worse.
The superintendent says they won't shy away from tough decisions, which is upsetting many people.
The high-water mark for revenue will be in fiscal year 2028, when the deficit will shrink to $3 million. But enrollment is projected to then decline, which means state funding will decline.
That, plus higher projected medical costs, means the deficit is expected to jump to $60 million in 2029, $215 million in 2030, and $420 million in 2031.
Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said several measures will be taken to try and minimize the need for cuts. While the district will maintain classroom teaching positions, there will be cuts to Central Services staffing, and the district will aggressively try to save $20 million a year by not filling vacancies.
That has a lot of people upset.
"Even if these cuts don't pass in this budget, no telling they won't be in the next," Douglas Middle School special education teacher Will Fitzgerald said.
“The good news for parents is we've done the cleanup," Sup. Cassellius said. "We've done three audits; we have a more accurate picture. And now we are planning and being more judicious, tightening our belt the way we need to to control for spending and to make sure we're doing really accurate planning in the future."
