Sunday, July 28, 2024 8:30 pm (c) Dairyland Sentinel
Former Milwaukee Public Schools’ superintendent Dr. Keith Posley announced his resignation on June 4, 2024. As now, MPS has yet to begin their search for his replacement.
MPS is the largest school district in Wisconsin. Faced with terrible student test cores and an abysmal graduation rate it is among the most troubled districts in the nation.
Even before the state conducts audits of the district’s finances and practices, it is certain MPS will have to return tens of millions of state aid dollars that were incorrectly sent to hem by the Department of Public Instruction.
Earlier this year, the federal Head Start program alerted the district of their concerns regarding competency and safety. Fearing a loss of program revenue, MPS was forced to make alternative arrangements for many of the City’s three-year-olds..
The MPS School Board of Directors has indicated finding the right person who is willing and able to lead such a troubled district could take some time, and the current interim superintendent, appointed Thursday, could be at the helm for the entire upcoming school year.
But there is no sense of urgency to fill the top job on a permanent basis.
Nearly two weeks ago, Dairyland Sentinel asked the district governance leaders a series of questions regarding the search for a new superintendent. We wanted to know the process for selecting a search firm, the budget for such a search, how the field of candidates would be narrowed, and if there were any deadlines for the various steps in the search process.
Ten days after our inquiry, the MPS Office of Board Governance got back to us. They let us know that as July turns to August, nothing has been done about the search for a new leader for MPS.
“The information you have asked for has not yet been determined by the Board,” MPS’ Office of Board Governance said in a July 26th email. “The Board is moving forward with determining a search firm.”
As for a timeline, the board was just as forthcoming: “Information will be provided as it becomes available.”
Their blanket response was given as a reply to the following five questions posed by Dairyland Sentinel on July 16, 2024.
- What is the budget for the Superintendent search?
- Do you have a timeline for determining which search firm to use and when do you expect the contract to be signed?
- Will you look for a pool of finalists or one candidate?
- If you task the search firm to bring forward more than one candidate, at what point do you hope to have a final decision?
- And when would the new superintendent begin at MPS?
So, nearly two months after the former Superintendent resigned under a cloud, the State of Wisconsin’s largest and most troubled school district has yet to begin a search for a replacement. Parents of MPS students and the rest of the general public have no idea how long a search could take, and nobody knows the potential cost of the search process.
Sign up for our free weekday news round up.
