Milwaukee Public Schools hosts first day of 2023-24 school year for some schools

The students of Bay View High School were greeted with a red carpet welcome Monday morning, surrounded by balloons and a cheering crowd. The celebratory entrance marked the beginning of the new 2023-24 school year.

"(The first-year students) are probably excited; they're ready to learn something new," said Jada Jones, an incoming senior at Bay View High School. "In high school, it's more exciting to be yourself; you can find yourself, because you're growing up."

Jones said she found herself in high school through the support of friends, teachers and the culinary program. She said being able to cook with her teachers, friends and peers is like being with "one happy family," and she's looking forward to continuing that this year and in the future.

“When I walked into these doors today, I walked back with a memory, especially when I was ... back in my first year,” Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said. “But it also does remind me that we have to continue to invest in our young people.”

Crowley said the support from parents, teachers and the community is needed not just on the first day, but throughout the school year and in years to come, as well.

While some schools started class Monday, other MPS students will start school Sept. 5. School on the early start calendar include all high schools, sixth- to eighth-grade middle schools, K-12 schools and several elementary schools. MPS schools on the traditional calendar are primarily elementary schools.

Here are six things to know about the upcoming school year.

Police could return to MPS buildings

A new state law requires MPS to have at least 25 Milwaukee Police Department officers in its schools by January. The law requires that the officers be present at school during school hours and be available for programs and sporting events outside school hours.

Milwaukee School Board members had strongly opposed the Republican-backed proposal, which Gov. Tony Evers approved as part of a package of local government funding.

“In terms of workforce and response to the general community, I think MPD has been struggling with that to begin with, so I’m not even certain where they’re going to find the staffing to fulfill that promise, and I as a school board member will do everything in my power to make sure that does not happen," Jilly Gokalgandhi, school board vice president, said in June after lawmakers approved the measure.

The law requires the school board and city officials to come to an agreement about how to pay for the officers. The board has yet to discuss any potential contract with MPD at a school board meeting.

MPS is no longer tracking COVID

As of June 30, MPS stopped tracking COVID cases in the district. Masks are optional. COVID cases are on the rise nationwide, driven by the EG.5.1 variant, nicknamed Eris.

COVID-19 masks and tests will be available upon request.

MPS is expecting staff vacancies

The MPS budget for the school year, which predicted drops in enrollment and state funding, avoided cutting school staff positions by banking on hundreds of positions going unfilled.

State budget decisions left MPS with an increase of only $12 per student for this school year, district officials said, leaving the district in the dust of inflation.

As MPS Superintendent Keith Posley crafted the budget, he anticipated the district shrinking by 1,437 students this school year because of declining birth rates in the city and competition from private and non-district charter schools. It would mean a 2% enrollment decline to a total of 65,121 students.

Current staffing levels and enrollment counts were not available Monday.

Marva Herndon is new school board president

Bob Peterson, who started working for MPS in 1977 and ended his career at the district as president of the school board, gaveled out his last board meeting in April.

Asked what he has learned in his years with MPS, Peterson said the district must stay committed to securing equitable state funding, protecting public education ruled by democracy, welcoming diverse students, building community partnerships and improving working conditions for educators.

While some other Wisconsin school districts are reversing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, MPS has expanded some efforts to support marginalized students, recently investing in anti-racist training and adding staff positions for its departments of Black and Latino Male Achievement, and Gender and Identity Inclusion.

"MPS students have the freedom to learn the truth about our nation's and our community's past, and they have freedom to use pronouns they wish," Peterson said, "and I believe strongly that's a strength of Milwaukee Public Schools."

Marva Herndon, who joined the board in 2019 and this spring fended off competition from Shandowlyon Hendricks Reaves, was elected by board members to serve as president for this school year.

Herndon worked as a computer programmer for 25 years and retired from Harley-Davidson in 2009. She founded the Bryant Heights Neighborhood Association in 2001 and has been involved with the NAACP education committee and Wisconsin Public Education Network.

Herndon said she wants to continue pushing for more music, arts and physical education programming at MPS, particularly on the north side of the city where programs have dwindled. She was an advocate for the 2020 referendum, which provided funding to address those gaps.

Herndon also wants to continue work restoring school-based kitchens to make fresher meals for students, something students have been calling for. She also co-sponsored a resolution last year to cut the district’s greenhouse emissions by 45% by 2030.

New projects and initiatives

Posley said Milwaukee Public Schools has outlined some new projects and initiatives being created for students.

He said one notable highlight is the introduction to the Junior Achievement 3DE model, a redesigned education program to be more "relevent, experiential and authentically connected to the complexities of the real-world." Milwaukee's Bay View High School and Marshall High School are among just four schools in the Midwest participating in the 3DE Innovative Initiative.

MPS has also facilitated the projects of new outdoor classrooms across the city, lighting projects, flooring-enhanced electronics, digital outdoor display labs. It is working to install more water bottle filling stations, window screens, sound systems and STEM labs. For high school across the city, MPS is working to install new bleachers and scoreboards.

Posley said the senior class of 2023 earned more than $121 million in scholarship honors, and he looks forward to the senior class of 2024 receiving even more.

“I know they will do it. They have never let me down,” Posley said.

Connecting with students

MPS board meetings will continue to be broadcast on the district's YouTube page.

Board director for MPS district 8, Megan O'Halloran, said Milwaukee schools are the heart of the community.

“Before I was an MPS School Board director, I was an MPS mom,” O'Halloran said. "If you're having a lot of emotions, I'm right there with you."

Amy Mizialko, president of the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association and special education teacher in MPS, said she tried to make eye contact with students as they arrived Monday morning.

"(Educators) have the responsibility and the honor and the joy of looking into all of our students' faces every single morning when they come to school, bringing whatever excitement or troubles they bring with them; that's our joy and our honor."

Contact Rory Linnane at rory.linnane@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @RoryLinnane.  Contact Skyler Chung at schun@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @skylerchun_.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Early start for Milwaukee Public Schools was Aug. 14