Coalition registers committees to recall four Milwaukee School Board members

A coalition of about a dozen Milwaukeeans from various community organizations announced at City Hall Wednesday that they were attempting to recall four Milwaukee School Board members: Marva Herndon, Jilly Gokalgandhi, Erika Siemsen and Missy Zombor.

The group registered four committees with election officials on Thursday — one for each board seat. They will need to gather thousands of signatures to trigger elections where the current board members would be challenged for their seats.

Tamika Johnson, a private school teacher who opened Wednesday's press conference for the group, said members of the coalition came from over 20 community groups, but that they weren't necessarily representing those organizations.

Those standing behind the podium included Black Educators Caucus Chair Angela Harris, activist Vaun Mayes, broadcaster Tory Lowe, Saleem El-Amin of North Division’s Call to Action Committee, leaders of Ubuntu Research & Evaluation, and other residents and parents.

"I am here as a fed-up community organizer, a voice of those who are tired of being manipulated and misled, a voice for those who have been ignored and in need of an advocate," said Johnson, who said there was no single leader of the recall coalition.

In attendance but not behind the podium: former board member Aisha Carr, who was praised by organizers of the press conference. Carr told the Journal Sentinel she was there to learn more about the effort but didn't know whether she would help with it. Asked whether she would run for school board again, Carr said she was done with politics.

The recall effort comes as Milwaukee Public Schools is nine months late on completing financial reports it owes to state officials, who are now withholding funding from the district. After the problem was publicized last month, MPS Superintendent Keith Posley resigned, the district's comptroller was ousted and community members called for more accountability.

Asked why the group was seeking the recall of four specific board members out of eight sitting board members, Johnson said she thought they had "played a huge role in deception and not being transparent with the community." Asked for examples, Johnson said: "Testimony, paperwork, things like that. Everything will be out in the open once we get the ball rolling."

Johnson is one of four petitioners listed on paperwork filed with city elections officials. Johnson is the petitioner for the recall against Siemsen, while Chantia Davis is petitioning against Herndon, Kahrilynn Phelps is petitioning against Gokalgandhi, and Nicole Johnson is petitioning against Zombor. They will be circulating the petitions for signatures of residents who demand recall elections.

Elizabeth Brown, a resident and MPS graduate, said board members shouldn't have called on voters to support the district's recent referendum while its financial audit was late.

"There was no transparency, there was no accountability when it came to these board members," she said, adding: "We're going to put our boots on the ground to remove these individuals."

Harris called on the four board members to resign to avert the recall effort.

Gokalgandhi, Siemsen and Zombor said Wednesday they weren't planning to do so. Herndon didn't immediately return a message from the Journal Sentinel Wednesday night.

“My plan is to continue working really hard every day to ensure we have a strong corrective action plan that puts the district back on target to best serving our kids and our families,” said Gokalgandhi, vice president of the board.

Siemsen said while she understood why there was frustration, she believed the current board is capable of transforming the district.

"Sometimes when there's a struggle, you come out of it in a better place, and that's truly how I feel," Siemsen said. "This is an opportunity to look deep within the organization and come out stronger."

Zombor said she believes the district needs "steady leadership."

"The months ahead of us are going to be critical, and every move we make has to be the right one," she said. "My main focus is on paving a strong, solutions-oriented path forward."

At a press conference Thursday, Mayor Cavalier Johnson said he wasn't shocked by the recall attempt, “especially given some of the news as of late.”

Asked if he would support a recall, Johnson said: “That’s up to the voters to decide.”

How would Milwaukee School Board members be recalled?

To run a recall campaign, the group first had to register as a committee with the Milwaukee Election Commission, including a statement of the reason for the recalls.

The group will then have 60 days to gather signatures in support of the recalls of each board member. If they get enough signatures validated by election officials, a recall election will be held.

The group would need the following number of signatures to trigger a recall election of each board member, according to Paulina Gutie?rrez, the new executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission. The numbers represent a quarter of the votes cast in each district in the 2022 gubernatorial election.

• District 1 Director Marva Herndon, president of the board: 5,137 signatures

• District 2 Director Erika Siemsen: 6,809 signatures

• District 5 Director Jilly Gokalgandhi, vice president of the board: 7,759 signatures

• Citywide Director Missy Zombor: 44,177 signatures

Gutie?rrez said Wednesday she was working to determine when the recall elections would take place, if the group succeeds in collecting the required signatures. Current board members could run in those elections to keep their seats, while other candidates could challenge them.

How much did school board members know about MPS's accounting problems?

It's been clear for over a year that the district has had problems with financial reporting.

An audit by Baker Tilly of the district's finances for the 2021-22 school year, presented to the board in May 2023, highlighted some of the problems. It noted the district's financial statements didn't conform to "generally accepted accounting principles."

Board members expressed concern about that audit, and member Missy Zombor asked administrators to bring them an update in November on their progress resolving issues. Posley requested the update be in December instead.

In December, MPS Chief Financial Officer Martha Kreitzman acknowledged her office had struggled with key staff vacancies and turnover, but she assured board members she was addressing the problems. The district had worked with employment agency Robert Half to find more staff and enlisted help from Protiviti financial consultants to address problems identified in the audit, Kreitzman told the board. Kreitzman retired from her position Thursday, effective immediately.

This March, MPS Office of Accountability and Efficiency Senior Director Matt Chason informed board members in a memo that MPS had missed deadlines to provide Baker Tilly with information it needed to complete the district's newer audit. That audit was already overdue to be provided to the state Department of Public Instruction.

Chason said Posley sent board members a response to his memo, which Chason said he recalls "left the impression that things would be fixed."

Chason, whose position reports to the board rather than the superintendent, was not informed that DPI had become so concerned that department staff started meeting weekly with MPS administrators in March. Chason was therefore unable to inform the school board about those meetings, he said. The meetings became daily in May, according to DPI.

Chason said administrators should have informed him and board members about the meetings. Board members have confirmed to the Journal Sentinel that they knew about the missed deadlines for the audit but not about the meetings with DPI until DPI contacted board members directly on May 24. Multiple board members have said they should have been informed of those meetings.

Siemsen also said she felt DPI should have reached out to board members earlier in the process.

"Had we been informed, either by DPI or administration, that it had risen to this level of concern, the board could have stepped in to take action much sooner," Siemsen said. "We could have asked the superintendent and financial department what support they might need to get the work done to get those reports in on time."

Board members say they're working to prevent repeat problems

Milwaukee School Board members have said they're focusing on ensuring the district completes a corrective action plan for state officials. When state officials accept that plan, which outlines how MPS will finish its overdue financial reports, the district will be able to recoup withheld funding.

Amid previous calls for board members to consider resigning, board member Henry Leonard said he didn't think it was the best move for the district.

"We are working to make sure this never happens again," Leonard said. "You have to give us the opportunity to take care of it. Bringing in a new board wouldn’t be like pressing a button and everything starts working again. That would be massive chaos."

Dan Rossmiller, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, said while board members are supposed to provide oversight, they rely on administrators for forthright communication.

"They have an oversight function, but they don't do the day-to-day work; that's done by educational professionals," Rossmiller said. "When the team is working well, generally governing the district works well, but like a marriage, when one spouse is keeping secrets from the other, that's a sign there's probably a problem."

Rossmiller said school board seats across the state are part-time positions. Board members tend to have other jobs or be retired.

Milwaukee School Board members, some of whom have other full-time jobs, get an annual salary of $20,490, which board members voted unanimously in April to hold steady.

Some local officials have stood by Milwaukee School Board members. County Supervisor Justin Bielinski said Wednesday he was introducing a draft resolution in support of the board and against proposals to break up the district or change the governing model. Bielinski said he opposed recalling board members.

"I am against the recall effort because I believe it would unnecessarily hinder the efforts the board are already undertaking to fix MPS’ current challenges," Bielinski said in an email.

Board member Megan O’Halloran, who was not named in the recall effort, said in a statement that she stood “steadfast” with her colleagues on the board.

“I appreciate their continued focus on meeting the immediate needs of the district at this critical moment — including delivery of a comprehensive corrective action plan, wrapping up outstanding financial reports, conducting a thorough investigation of the breakdown, and preparing for a robust community driven selection process for the next superintendent,” O’Halloran wrote.

Alison Dirr contributed to this report.

Contact Rory Linnane at [email protected]. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @RoryLinnane. 

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Coalition to try to recall four Milwaukee School Board members