Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent Brenda Cassellius is preparing a proposal to spend about $12 million installing air-conditioning in classrooms across the district, after extreme heat forced schools to close on the second day of the new academic year.
About 74 per cent of MPS classrooms do not currently have air-conditioning, rising to 85 per cent in elementary schools, according to district figures from 2023. Cassellius said the lack of cooling had created unacceptable conditions for pupils and staff.
“It was miserable and very challenging for our staff and students to be in those hot buildings,” she said. “It’s just really, really hot.”
Schools were closed on Wednesday, September 2, after officials warned of dangerous temperatures. The Milwaukee Health Department advised the district to shut all schools, while before- and after-school activities were also cancelled.
Air-conditioning proposal for MPS classrooms
Cassellius said her budget proposal this autumn would include funding to begin installing cooling systems. The initial estimate was prepared on the assumption that roughly 4,000 classrooms require air-conditioning, with split-system units among the options being considered.
Interim chief operating officer Mike Turza told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the preliminary calculation used an estimated $1,200 for each unit and a further $1,800 per classroom for facilities upgrades. The district is also expected to examine alternatives including window units and central air-conditioning.
Cassellius said air-quality sensors should be installed alongside the cooling equipment to monitor temperature, carbon dioxide levels and airborne particles. A similar approach was used in Boston during her time as superintendent there.
“Our core mission is to educate children and that doesn’t happen when it’s so hot that you can’t think straight,” she said.
The proposal comes as Milwaukee Public Schools faces severe financial and maintenance pressures. The district has a budget deficit of about $50 million, while its backlog of building repairs has been estimated at roughly $430 million.
Cassellius said the district had spent almost $50 million on lead abatement and had little money remaining in its construction budget. She said officials would need to “tighten our belt” before bringing a plan to the school board.
A previous attempt to expand air-conditioning was rejected in 2021 after installing systems in 28 early-start schools was estimated to cost $140 million. The board voted 7-2 against the proposal, which would have been funded through federal pandemic relief money.
City Forward Collective, a Milwaukee education advocacy organisation, has criticised the district’s earlier spending decisions and said pupils and teachers should not be exposed to extreme heat in school buildings.
The district received more than $700 million in one-off federal pandemic funding, although Cassellius said she was not in post when decisions were made about how that money should be used. She said she would not criticise the previous administration or school boards, but acknowledged that access to the funding would have made the air-conditioning project easier to deliver.
