Navigating Milwaukee Public Schools' Financial Turmoil: A Path to Transparency and Accountability

In a virtual meeting on Monday, officials from the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) district and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) provided an update on the ongoing financial challenges facing the state's largest school system. With overdue financial reports still not submitted to the DPI, the district is now working to complete its FY23 financial reporting by Thanksgiving, according to the district's interim superintendent, Eduardo Galvan.

Restoring Trust and Transparency in MPS Finances

Addressing the Corrective Action Plan

Both DPI and MPS officials expressed optimism in completing the district's Corrective Action Plan (CAP), which was initiated at the end of June. Over the past three months, MPS has made significant progress on various items in the CAP, according to Tricia Collins, DPI assistant state superintendent. The district is now working to align its systems with state reporting systems and is addressing staff vacancies in the district's Office of Finance, with the goal of speeding up the process to correct past mistakes and avoid them in the future.

Hiring New Financial Leadership

The district has hired Aycha Sawa as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and is still "aggressively" recruiting for a comptroller position. "As we have been working to submit overdue data, we have also been working to correct issues, streamline processes, and ensure we are creating long-term solutions to these problems," said MPS Interim Superintendent Eduardo Galvan.

Ensuring Timely Financial Reporting

With these efforts underway, officials are hopeful that the district will be able to complete its FY23 audit by Thanksgiving and are already working to ensure next year's financial reports are submitted well ahead of schedule. "I understand the public's frustration that the district is in this situation. It is now my goal to ensure that this never happens again," said Galvan.

Navigating State Aid Adjustments

The update comes on the eve of the October 15 General Aid Certification, which replaces previous state aid estimates released in July. DPI had previously deducted $42 million in an aid payment to MPS last month due to miscalculations in the 2022-23 fiscal year. However, both MPS and DPI believe they are in a good place with the 2023-24 data used in the October 15 certification, and they do not anticipate significant adjustments at this time.

Addressing Concerns about Missed Deadlines

State Superintendent Jill Underly also addressed concerns about deadlines set in MPS' CAP being missed, stating that the corrective action plan was never about instituting new deadlines, but rather about getting the required work done. "The fact is that while we insisted the district lay out a path, what we have been learning about the depth of the problem is that it's taking longer than we thought," said Underly.

Rebuilding Trust and Confidence in MPS

Despite the ongoing financial challenges, both DPI and MPS officials expressed confidence in the new leadership at the helm of the state's largest school district. "We have confidence in Superintendent Galvan and CFO Sawa," said State Superintendent Underly, as the district works to restore trust and transparency in its financial operations.