MPS sets timeline for superintendent search, talks about police in schools kept private
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- There's now a timeline in place for Milwaukee Public Schools' (MPS) search for a permanent superintendent. An outside firm hired by the district presented its process at Thursday's board meeting.
MPS has hired Hazard Young Attea Associates (HYA), a Chicago area firm that specializes in searches for school executives. HYA had two representatives at Thursday's meeting, Mike Richie, who previously had been superintendent of the Northland Pines School District in Eagle River, and Pat Neudecker, who was Oconomowoc's superintendent between 2003 and 2013.
CBS 58 requested a copy of the district's contract with HYA Thursday, but the district did not provide one as of Thursday night.
Richie's bio page on HYA's website states he worked with MPS on a previous superintendent search. He resigned from Northland Pines in 2018, and the only superintendent MPS has hired since then was Keith Posley, who resigned in June after the district's colossal financial mess was made public by state officials.
Neudecker said the firm will put together a profile of an ideal candidate after meeting with community leaders and reviewing the results of a survey made available to the public.
The survey will go live on Oct. 4, and it will be open until Oct. 20. In the meantime, Neudecker said the firm was interviewing city officials and leaders, including Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Clarence Nicholas, president of the NAACP's Milwaukee branch.
"I'm excited for Milwaukee. I think this is your next chapter," Neudecker told the board. "I think this is a job and a position that will attract a superintendent who wants to make a difference."
Neudecker and Richie said they will be assisted by former Madison superintendent Carlton Jenkins, who's also an HYA associate.
The timeline calls for a candidate profile to be established by the November 21 board meeting. December 17 is the target date for HYA to present a slate of 6-8 candidates to the board.
The goal is to then bring as many as three finalists to Milwaukee for a visit and last set of interviews. A new superintendent would then be named in late February with their contract starting on July 1 ahead of the 2025-26 school year.
Neudecker said HYA had a job posting ready for release, but the only thing the firm needed was an approved salary range for the position. The board discussed that salary range Thursday but did so in closed session.
Interim Superintendent Eduardo Galvan is receiving a base salary of $232,431. Posley's base salary was $302,358 at the time of his resignation.
SRO talks remain secretive
The board also discussed the ongoing negotiations to bring police officers back into MPS schools in accordance with a state mandate that took effect in January.
However, those talks happened entirely in closed session.
As part of a deal that allowed Milwaukee to become the last U.S. city of its size to implement a city sales tax, Republicans pushed to include a requirement MPS bring back school resource officers.
Frustrated GOP lawmakers have floated the idea of clawing back some of Milwaukee's shared revenue payment from the state if MPS fails to follow the law, which requires the district to station 25 officers throughout its schools.
The city and MPS have given conflicting statements about what they have agreed to so far. Board Director Henry Leonard previously told CBS 58 the hold up was dividing the costs of salaries and training between Milwaukee and MPS.
Board blasts plan to close alternate learning programs
During the open session period, board members harshly criticized the current administration's proposal to close a pair of alternate learning programs at South Division and Vincent high schools, known as "accelerated academies."
Regional Superintendent Jennifer Smith said in a presentation attendance at the two accelerated academies, which are geared toward students who've fallen behind their peers, was lagging their companion high schools.
Smith said staffing eight educators at the academies, which call for more one-on-one and small group instruction, was leading to larger class sizes in the high schools.
"These eight staff members serve a student population of approximately 100 students at the two accelerated academies combined," Smith said. "In a traditional high school setting, they could support over 1,000 students daily."
Several board members pushed back on the proposal, saying the administration had blindsided families by only bringing up the subject in September and planning to carry out the closure during this same month. They also took issue with administrators not talking to students or parents of the academies before suggesting they close.
"Just disappointed with how this came out," Director Missy Zombor said. "And I think we should, quite frankly, apologize to the students and staff at that school. It should've never happened like this."
Board Vice President Jilly Gokalgandhi said the episode was an example of why many families get frustrated with MPS. Ultimately, the board tabled the item, setting it aside without adopting or rejecting the proposal.
"We continue to get hammered in the community again and again and again for this exact process," Gokalgandhi said. "If we are not going to capitalize on doing things differently from what we've learned, then we're gonna be in the same situation over and over again."
A belated bright spot
The board did learn MPS has submitted its audited aid certification of last year's financial data to the state Department of Public Instruction (DPI). That report was due last September, and when it wasn't ready by May, DPI officials publicly called out the district's financial reporting woes, leading to the resignation and firings of Posley and other top district officials.
Under a state-imposed corrective action plan, MPS was supposed to get the data in by a new deadline of September 13. District leaders blamed the most recent delay on getting up to speed with a new outside auditor after the previous one, Baker Tilly, declined to keep working with MPS.