MILWAUKEE — Parents of students who attend the seven Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) that were found to have lead hazards got the chance to share their frustrations and have their questions answered at a virtual town hall, hosted by MPS, on Thursday night.

One at a time, parents got the chance to address MPS leadership and the Milwaukee Health Commissioner. The town hall comes as schools remain closed for a fourth week for ongoing lead hazard clean up. Many are wondering what that means. 

New MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius described some of the dangers she witnessed.

“I walked Fernwood myself,” said Cassellius. “There were cracks everywhere in the walls and micro cracks. And so that all had to be plastered. That all has to be painted and sealed. Then that all has to be cleaned up.”

A parent from Trowbridge School, which is back open now after lead remediation was completed, expressed her disappointment in how things look after the cleanup.

“I’ve had a chance to see the remediation work that was done, and it does look very sloppy to me,” said a Trowbridge parent. 

District leaders say the immediate goal is to remove the danger and cosmetic work will be done at a later time.

Many parents said they wonder how the district is going to pay for all of this and how long it will take, especially after leaders said all the other school buildings will also need to be checked for lead hazards.

“We have spent about $1.8 million so far on the renovations at these schools. Or not renovations, but the, the remediation and the abatement that has been necessary,” said Cassellius.

Cassellius assured parents that the money for the lead clean up will not come out of the individual schools’ budgets. However, it left many wondering how this will affect district finances in the future.