MPS Superintendent Keith Posley resigns

Milwaukee Superintendent Keith Posley announced his resignation early Tuesday morning after the school board met for over five hours in a closed session meeting about his employment.

The move comes days after state and federal officials raised alarms about operations at MPS that jeopardize funding to the district.

Board members voted unanimously to accept Posley's resignation agreement, which was not immediately made public. The resignation is effective June 30, according to a statement from the school board.

"It has truly been an honor to serve Milwaukee's children for almost 35 years," Posley, who has spent his career in the district, said at the meeting. "It has truly been an honor to service this community of staff, families, and I just want to get this opportunity to say thank you. And to the board, thank you for trusting in me to serve the Milwaukee Public Schools."

As the board searches for an interim superintendent, Southwest Regional Superintendent Eduardo Galvan will “support and facilitate day-to-day operations,” according to the school board’s statement.

In an interview with the Journal Sentinel, MPS board member Henry Leonard said he had lost trust in Posley, who he said should have been more forthright with the board about the district's troubles.

“We can’t keep things the way they are now, and that includes leadership," Leonard said. "We need to make some significant changes. It’s time to clean things up.”

Board member Missy Zombor was absent but had attended the closed session meeting virtually before having trouble connecting to the virtual platform. She told the Journal Sentinel she supported the board's decision to accept Posley's resignation.

Residents called for Posley's termination

Dozens of community members filled the board meeting room Monday, with many demanding that Posley lose his job.

Maria Penager, a district parent, said she petitioned her neighbors, friends and sorority sisters to support the MPS referendum that passed in April to raise taxes for the district. She said she had lost faith in the district, blaming both Posley and board members for a lack of oversight.

“We believed in you but we no longer believe in you," Penager said. "So what we will do is when election time comes, you will no longer have your job.”

A few speakers said there would be a recall effort against some of the board members.

Angela Harris, a teacher at Milwaukee Academy of Chinese Language and chair of the Black Educators Caucus, brought demands, including: removing Posley, reviewing the performance of Posley's administrative team, forming a community coalition to help find a new superintendent, adding community involvement to the superintendent's performance evaluations, ordering an equity audit of the district, and funding students with higher needs at higher levels.

"It is time for the board and district administration to rebuild the trust they have shattered," Harris said.

Some came to Posley's defense. George Jolly, pastor at Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church, said Posley is a member of his congregation. He said it seemed like people wanted to "do a hatchet job" on Posley. He said MPS had been "messed up" for decades because of decisions predating Posley.

“I don’t think we need to come out here specifically to pick on one man," Jolly said. "I stand with Keith Posley."

The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, the union for MPS staff, didn’t weigh in on whether Posley should be fired but urged MPS to complete its audit and asked board members Monday for “clarity about the short-term leadership of MPS.”

MTEA also called for swift passage of the district’s budget to give staff confidence in the wage increases that administrators agreed to provide. Board members delayed voting on the budget last week after learning about the missing financial reports.

“It also means that current hiring is hampered as prospective employees do not know what 2024-25 wages will be,” MTEA President Ingrid Walker-Henry said in a statement to board members. “The board and administration need to communicate effectively with families and workers going forward.”

MPS failures jeopardize state, federal funding

Posley is taking heat after both state and federal officials have raised red flags about MPS operations.

On May 21, federal officials suspended funding to MPS Head Start sites, which are federally funded preschool programs. The district had failed to correct problems after some children were found unsupervised or abused by staff, federal officials said.

MPS was expecting to get about $10.5 million for Head Start programs in the next school year, according to the district's budget plan. The district could lose that funding if federal officials don’t find that MPS has corrected problems in its programs.

On May 24, state officials threatened to suspend general funding to MPS schools because the district had failed to file key financial reports that were due last year — including an annual audit that has the potential to reveal more problems.

If the state Department of Public Instruction suspends funding to MPS, the district will be able to recoup the funds when it completes its reports, DPI officials have said. However, DPI has also found that MPS made errors in its reported costs for the 2022-23 school year, which a DPI spokesperson said could cause a "significant reduction" in state aid for the 2024-25 school year.

MPS has been late on its financial reports before

MPS turned its last financial reports late to the state, too. A DPI spokesperson said MPS turned in its 2021-22 reports in March and April last year, though they had been due in September and December of 2022.

Last year, MPS Chief Financial Officer Martha Kreitzman acknowledged it was a challenge to complete the previous audit because of key staff vacancies and turnover in the finance office.

In that audit — which was submitted to board members March 24, 2023 — auditor Baker Tilly found that MPS had not prepared financial statements “in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles” or in line with state and federal funding schedules.

Kreitzman said in December that the district was solving the problem by hiring more staff, working with an employment agency and outside financial consultants from Protiviti. MPS hasn’t answered a question from the Journal Sentinel about how many vacancies there are now in the finance office.

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly said the company doesn’t comment on matters involving its clients.

State officials criticized for not raising red flags earlier

After MPS turned in its previous audit months late in March 2023, DPI started holding quarterly meetings with MPS beginning in April 2023, DPI officials said.

After MPS missed its reporting deadlines again in December, DPI started holding monthly meetings with MPS in February, moving to weekly meetings in March and daily meetings in May.

DPI Executive Director Sachin Chheda said while it's common for a few school districts to run late on their financial reports, MPS' delay stands out for being "especially late."

Milwaukee School Board members have said they weren't notified about late reports until May 24. Asked why DPI didn't notify school board members sooner, Bucher replied: "Because that would be an extraordinary step."

Asked when DPI would typically take that step, Bucher said there isn't a "typical point" or "standard process" for it, which he said is an "exceedingly rare circumstance."

When MPS was nearly seven months late on some its previous reports last year, DPI didn't threaten to withhold funding, Bucher said. He said this year, DPI chose to take that step because it was approaching its own July 1 deadline to estimate how much aid it will send to every Wisconsin school district — estimates that rely on the financial reports from all districts.

Daniel Bush, who was director of school finance at DPI from 2019 to 2022 and was on the team in preceding years, said in his time there, DPI threatened districts with withholding aid because of late reports once or twice. He said that step was taken much earlier than DPI did in this case.

"When I was at DPI, escalating for late reports and missing audits by going to the school board president and withholding aid happened in November or December," Bush said.

The Journal Sentinel has requested previous notification letters from DPI.

What happens next?

The board will elect a new superintendent. Sometimes school boards pick an interim superintendent while they conduct a broader search.

Most recent superintendents have come from within MPS ranks. Posley had been the district’s chief of school administration when board members made him superintendent in 2018. Darienne Driver, who held the position from 2014-2018, had been the district’s chief innovation officer.

MPS did recruit an outsider in 2010. With superintendent finalists hailing from across the country, board members chose Gregory Thornton who had been a superintendent in Pennsylvania. The previous two superintendents, William Andrekopoulos and Spence Korte, had been district principals.

In addition to searching for a superintendent, board members said they are working to ensure the district files the financial reports that are due to DPI. The district's Office of Accountability and Efficiency has hired a new financial consultant, Todd Gray, who will help accomplish that.

"I’m looking forward to helping with this challenge," Gray said Monday. "I know nothing is ever insurmountable and my goal is to make sure we get this cleared up as soon as possible."

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

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: MPS Superintendent Keith Posley resigns