Milwaukee Excellence expands into MPS building under emergency measure after agenda change
Milwaukee Excellence, an independently run charter school, is planning to move its high school grades into the third floor of Andrew S. Douglas public middle school this week, under an emergency protocol that skirted the traditional school board approval process.
Milwaukee Superintendent Keith Posley signed off on the move with an emergency authorization power that allows the school to get started before the Milwaukee School Board votes on its lease later this month, according to a district spokesman. At that point, the school will already be set up and in session for the fall.
The board was initially scheduled to vote on the lease last week Thursday but it was pulled from the agenda without public explanation at the meeting. Some said there were concerns about how the charter school’s presence might impact the traditional middle school already in the building.
Milwaukee Excellence is an on instrumentality charter school of Milwaukee Public Schools, meaning it is run by non-MPS employees but is granted status as a public school by authorization from the district. Non instrumentality charter schools buy or lease their own buildings and must sign a lease with MPS in order to use MPS buildings.
Since its beginning in 2016 serving sixth graders, the school has added a grade level each year and outgrown its space in another building owned by MPS, 4950 N. 24th St. The school expects to serve 650 students in 6th through 11th grades this year, including 300 high school students that will move to Douglas.
When the lease was pulled off the board’s agenda last week, Milwaukee Excellence CEO Maurice Thomas said he was caught by surprise. He worried there wouldn’t be a decision in time for school beginning Aug. 16.
But, in another change to Thursday’s board agenda, administrators added a request that they be empowered to grant “emergency” access of its buildings to district schools without board approval of each case.
In presenting the proposal Thursday, administrators made no mention of using this power to grant Milwaukee Excellence access to its building. They said the primary purpose was to be responsive to COVID concerns, such as the need to move students to another building to allow for social distancing, though it also allowed for other emergency uses.
After the board approved that authorization, Posley used that power to green-light Milwaukee Excellence’s move.
Board member Megan O’Halloran, who abstained from voting on the authorization, said she would have preferred to have a board discussion about the Milwaukee Excellence move and any other moves. She also supported a motion from member Jilly Gokalgandhi to begin work on a strategic plan that could clarify these processes.
“I recognize there are families and students who are very stressed out right now,” she said. “And this is why I would advocate for having a strategic plan, for having conversations earlier in the process, because I don’t think it’s fair to put students and families in this position two weeks out from the start of school.”
O’Halloran said she was concerned about how the move could impact Douglas Middle School, particularly if they have to share some facilities, which has caused issues previously in other school-sharing arrangements.
The Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, the union for MPS staff, also op poses space-sharing with non instrumentality charter schools.
“From public disputes over space and resources to inequitable treatment of students, school colocations in Milwaukee and nationally have proven to be harmful to students in either school involved in a co-location,” MTEA President Amy Mizialko said in a statement.
Thomas said he planned to be “extremely collaborative” with the middle school’s administration to share those spaces.
“We’re looking forward to our high school students having a true high school experience with lockers, a gym to host basketball games, a track and field where they can play sports, an auditorium where they can do plays, black history programs, graduation,” Thomas said.
Board Member Aisha Carr, whose district includes Douglas, said she supported the move but was also frustrated by the process.
“There was a communication breakdown,” she said. “That’s what led to the unfortunate decision to pull it that then put us in a crisis or reactive mode.”
Carr said there were valid concerns about the move’s impact on other district schools, but ultimately she expects the schools will benefit each other. She noted a strong STEM program at Douglas that could benefit Milwaukee excellence students, while the charter school would bring its own strengths.
“Milwaukee Excellence is a high performing charter school with strong academic success so I think the sharing of best practices with Douglas will be a benefit,” she said.