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MPS Chief Financial Officer Retires Immediately Amid Accounting Crisis
Milwaukee Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Martha Kreitzman has retired, school board members announced Thursday before voting on a budget for the next academic year amid a crisis of public confidence.
Records show that Kreitzman signed a resignation form on June 4, with his retirement taking effect at the end of the day on June 12.
Kreitzman is the third MPS employee to lose his job following revelations that the district was using an error-prone accounting system and is nine months late in submitting key financial reports to state officials.
MPS Superintendent Keith Posley resigned on the night of June 3rd. District controller Alfredo Balmaseda said he was fired the next day.
The consequences continue to emerge. Governor Tony Evers is hiring auditors to closely examine MPS academic operations and practices. A new coalition try to remember four school board members.
The state Department of Public Instruction is funding retention from MPS and analyze how errors in MPS data could impact the aid the district receives for the upcoming school year. The school board plans to vote on a budget Thursday night.
Top administrators like Posley and Kreitzman have been criticized for not only allowing the district’s accounting to become so confusing, but also for failing to communicate the depth of the problems to school board members.
The announcement of Kreitzman’s departure was not surprising given the district’s recent draft action plan showed the district was already working on a plan to find an interim replacement for Kreitzman.
School board members said Thursday that the district new financial advisorTodd Gray, “would manage day-to-day financial operations moving forward.”
Gray has already been helping the district with its action plan, which must be approved by state officials before they release the funding they withheld from the district. MPS presented a draft of that plan Tuesday, and state officials said they are hopeful of approving a plan by the end of the week.
Contact Rory Linnane at rory.linnane@jrn.com. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @RoryLinnane.