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MPS recruits consultant Todd Gray to solve serious financial problems
The financial situation of the MPS will be resolved with external help
MPS School District Office of Accountability and Efficiency Director Matt Chason explains the need to hire an outside financial professional.
Provided by Milwaukee Public Schools
After a rebuke from state officials over Milwaukee Public Schools’ lack of financial reporting, the district recruited Todd Gray, a financial consultant who recently helped the Glendale-River Hills School District through your own financial disaster.
MPS will pay Gray, the former superintendent of the Waukesha School Districtup to $48,000 to work for the district from now until July, according to a public news.
Gray, who began work on Monday, is arriving as state officials threaten to suspend funding to MPS after the district failed to submit required financial reportssome of which were owed to the state Department of Public Instruction more than eight months ago.
To avoid suspension, DPI suggested that MPS hire a financial consultant to help the district develop a corrective action plan to complete missing reports and meet future deadlines. Gray’s hiring is MPS’ response.
Milwaukee School Board members should also consider Discipline or fire Superintendent Keith Posley at a meeting on Monday night.
Gray recently helped Glendale-River Hills after the district made major financial mistakes
Gray was hired by the district’s Office of Accountability and Efficiency. Office director Matt Chason said Gray came highly recommended.
“Looking at his credentials and his more recent assistance to other districts that have similar financial concerns, it definitely helped us make this selection,” Chason said.
Gray was hired by the Glendale-River Hills School District earlier this year after the district’s chief financial officer admitted in January that she had grossly estimated the district’s financial position.
In this case, it meant that board members had voted on a budget months earlier without realizing that the district was running a significant deficit. After learning of the errors, board members had to cut 13 staff positions to help fill the deficit. The district’s chief financial officer and superintendent resigned.
In the case of MPS, board members were made aware of the district’s financial reporting issues shortly before voting on the district’s budget for the upcoming school year. They decided delay this vote.
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After state officials shared concerns about MPS’ lack of financial resources, board members voted to delay a vote on the district’s budget proposal.
Provided by Milwaukee Public Schools
MPS must resolve missing reports and financial errors
One task ahead for Gray and MPS: completing an audit of the district’s finances for 2022-23. School districts were supposed deliver reports from its auditors in September and December 2023.
According to MPS Communications Director Nicole Armendariz, the district’s audit is underway by Baker Tilly, a company that has performed annual audits for MPS for more than a decade.
State officials could withhold a special education payment to the district on June 10 and a general aid payment on June 17 if the district does not have a corrective action plan in place, according to a DPI spokesperson.
If DPI suspends funding to MPS, the district could recoup the funds when it completes its reporting, DPI officials said. However, the MPS could use short-term measures titles of the city. District officials said any suspension would not affect staffing, hiring or other operations.
Possibly more consequential: DPI also found that MPS made errors in its reported costs for the 2022-23 school year, which could cause a reduction in state aid for the 2024-25 school year. A DPI spokesperson said the reduction could be in the tens of millions of dollars, but said the department needed more information to determine the amount.
Gray will be at the meeting Monday night where the superintendent may be in trouble
Chason said Gray planned to attend a school board meeting on Monday, where board members will discuss Gray’s hiring. Chason said Gray has already been hired and does not require a board vote, per district policy.
Also at Monday’s meeting, board members plan to consider “firing, demotion, licensing or discipline” of Posley, the superintendent. They will also be able to discuss Posley’s compensation and performance evaluation data and consult with legal counsel, according to the meeting notice.
The meeting will also include a public hearing on the district’s budget, after the board postponed a vote on 2024-25 proposed budget — which would cut nearly 300 positions — to get more information about the district’s finances.
Community members can attend the council meeting at 5:30pm Monday at the district main office in person, or stream online.