Two more Milwaukee Public Schools will temporarily close so lead hazards can be addressed, while officials hope two that have been closed will be able to reopen before the school year ends in June, city and school district officials said Monday.
Students and staff at Westside Academy, 1945 N. 31st St., and Brown Street Academy, 2029 N. 20th St., will move to Andrew S. Douglas Middle School, Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said.
The moves will happen May 5 at Westside Academy and May 12 for Brown Street Academy.
“While there is no immediate danger in these buildings, and no students in them have yet been identified as having elevated lead levels, there is significant work that needs to be done in many parts of the building,” Cassellius said. “It will take time, and it will take people power.”
Starting in May instead of waiting for school to end in mid-June will give MPS the ability to complete work in the schools “well in advance of the next school year” and get started on other buildings over the summer, she said.
Meanwhile, work will be underway in other MPS buildings where relocating students and staff won’t be required because the work can be done by restricting access to those areas, she said. The district will release additional information once officials determine the order the buildings will be worked on.
The district expects to be able to complete lead work in all of its 54 schools built before 1950 before the start of the 2025-26 school year, she said. Much of the work will happen over the summer break, when the district will bring in 130 workers to step up efforts to clear schools of lead paint hazards.
The district expects to clear lead hazards in its 52 buildings built between 1950 and 1978 by the end of the calendar year, she said.
MPS plans to increase staffing for lead program, update work order system
MPS and city Health Department officials also released a lead action plan Monday.
The city requested MPS create the plan Feb. 5, giving the district a March 21 deadline. That plan should describe MPS’ plans for inspecting, cleaning and addressing lead hazards throughout the district, the city said at the time.
“It will guide our approach moving forward in a way that is predictable, transparent and creates the urgency that we need,” Cassellius said.
MPS is creating a list of high-priority schools where it says it will remediate lead hazards ahead of the 2025-26 school year, according to the lead action plan. It says MPS will use a phased timetable to plan out immediate and long-term needs.
More: MPS’ aging schools need millions of dollars in maintenance. Look up your school here
The lead action plan says MPS will add a proposal in the 2026 budget year for two more full-time employees who will manage the district’s lead program.
MPS will also expand its ability to work with contractors that can “address the immediate stabilization efforts for emergency lead paint renovations to prepare for the start of the 2025-26 school year,” the plan says.
During an event on April 21, Michael Turza, a former MPS employee appointed to oversee the district’s response to lead contamination, said the district would bring in about 130 workers this summer to help with lead remediation efforts.
The Journal Sentinel reviewed 1,119 paint-related work orders in MPS schools that were added between February 2024 and February 2025. In an interview, district officials estimated about a quarter of paint-related work orders hadn’t been completed.
The lead action plan addresses work orders: It says the district will “ensure and communicate to the school staff that the work orders are completed and correctly updated.” The district is further developing and refining that system, the plan says.
More: Timeline: Here’s what we know about lead paint management in Milwaukee Public Schools
‘Steady progress’ at Starms, LaFollette with hopes to reopen in coming weeks
Of three schools that closed seven weeks ago, on March 17, only one has reopened: Fernwood Montessori School, as of last week.
Meanwhile, Frances Brock Starms Early Childhood Center and Robert M. LaFollette School remain closed.
Cassellius said the district is making “steady progress” at the schools and hopes to complete work in the buildings in the coming weeks.
“We’re hoping they’ll be open this school year,” she said.
A fourth school, Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes Studies in Bay View, reopened last month after being closed for nearly two weeks.
Second MHD lead screening clinic next week
The Milwaukee Health Department will hold its second lead screening clinic From 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. May 7 at North Division High School, 1011 W. Center St.
The clinic is set up by the Health Department in conjunction with Milwaukee Public Schools, Sixteenth Street Clinic and Childrens Wisconsin.
Additional clinic dates are available on the Health Department’s website.
A March lead screening clinic found “a very small number” of the approximately 250 children tested had elevated levels of the toxic metal in their blood.
This story will be updated.
Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.
Cleo Krejci covers K-12 education and workforce development as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. For more information about Report for America, visit jsonline.com/rfa.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Two more MPS schools will close because of lead hazards