MPS superintendent details lead remediation progress, new staffing and outreach

Superintendent Brenda Cassellius told the Milwaukee Board of School Directors on April 2025 that lead remediation remains a top district priority and provided timelines for three buildings currently closed because of remediation work. "As of tonight, three of our buildings remain closed," Cassellius said, naming Fernwood Montessori School, La Follette School, and Storms Early Childhood Center.

Nut graf: The superintendent described cleaning and inspection steps that could return students and staff to Fernwood within days, outlined a multistep renovation timetable for the other sites, and announced two staffing changes intended to accelerate remediation and inspection work while increasing district coordination with public-health partners.

Cassellius said renovations and painting at Fernwood are complete and that a thorough cleaning was expected to finish over the weekend; she said the City of Milwaukee Health Department would inspect the building the next Monday and, "If all things go as expected, teachers will be provided the full day on Tuesday to set up their classrooms," and students would return on Wednesday pending the health department sign-off. She described La Follette's renovation as having started April 15 and estimated that work there would take about "four to five weeks." She said renovation and painting at Storms Early Childhood Center were about 75 percent complete and would be followed by a deep cleaning and health-department inspection.

Cassellius said the district held a 90-minute virtual town hall for seven impacted schools that drew more than 200 attendees and nearly 20 families who asked questions. The district has compiled a frequently asked questions list and will post status updates to its website; Cassellius said families had repeatedly called for more communications about work in their buildings.

The superintendent announced two personnel actions intended to strengthen operational and public-health capacity: "I have appointed Mike Terza as interim director of facilities and maintenance services," she said, adding that Mikhail Mannan — described in the meeting as most recently the City of Milwaukee Health Department's director of the home environmental health division — "is now supporting MPS full time" to advise on lead hazard remediation, cleaning protocols and inspections. Cassellius said the district, working with the Milwaukee Health Department, expected to release a formal lead action plan "in the coming days."

Cassellius placed the remediation work in the context of broader district priorities: staffing searches for a chief operations officer, chief communications officer and chief human resources officer, continued work on the FY26 budget, and an operational audit that is informing changes in district practice. She also highlighted recent school visits and student events as examples of ongoing instructional and community work.

In related budget and policy discussion, Legislative Policy Manager Chris Thiel and board members discussed school funding for students with disabilities. Thiel summarized state-level advocacy, noting requests for an increased reimbursement rate for special education and saying the current effective reimbursement rate was well under the 33 percent level referenced in state law. "As we sit here today, the reimbursement rate for special education for public schools is only 29.4 percent," Thiel said, adding that historically the rate had been higher. He and President Herndon framed higher special-education reimbursement as categorical state aid that would reduce local pressure to seek referenda.

Ending: Cassellius closed the update by reiterating the district's commitment to safe buildings and announcing the planned public release of the lead action plan; she invited questions from the board and said more frequent, data-driven superintendent reports would follow in future meetings.