# 11/12/26 Committee on Finance and Operations


**Body:** Milwaukee Board of School Directors
**Date:** November 11, 2026
**Jurisdiction:** SLED

**Tags:** Education, Construction & Infrastructure, Physical Infrastructure, Grants & Funding


The Milwaukee Board of School Directors’ Committee on Finance and Operations met on November 12, 2026. The committee unanimously approved an application for an ESEA Ed-Flex waiver allowing MPS to exceed the 15% carryover limit for Title I, Part A funds. It also approved a $1,055,281 contract with The Sigma Group for a districtwide life-safety assessment of school facilities. The assessment will document safety systems and deficiencies and support compliance and long-range facility planning; the administration said the cost was budgeted in Fund 49. The committee also approved the mutual termination, effective November 30, 2026, of the partnership contract with Asada High School, which requested early termination amid declining enrollment. The district said it is working to place affected students and offer MPS employment opportunities to Asada staff.

A proposed $3,649,143.97 Fund 46 expenditure for facility upgrades at several schools was discussed as an adjustment to projects whose total costs had risen from $18.6 million to about $22.2 million. The administration cited scope changes, added furniture, asbestos abatement, and other unforeseen work; members raised concerns that some work had already been completed and invoices remained to be paid. Rather than approve the spending, the committee voted unanimously to advance the item to the full board without a recommendation while the administration reviews the applicable policy and reporting. Financial discussion noted an approximately $12.6 million projected general-fund deficit, about $500,000 in reserves, and an estimated $10 million in flood-insurance proceeds expected to go to the capital-projects fund. Staffing updates reported roughly 35 teacher and 180 paraprofessional vacancies; the district described recruitment efforts and plans to develop paraprofessional training.

**Source:** Milwaukee Board of School Directors