Brown Street Academy, a Milwaukee Public Schools building constructed in 1897, has been cleared of dangers posed by lead-based paint.
When inspectors toured the building in March, they found deteriorating paint in spaces where children 6 years and younger spend time: in classrooms, common areas, bathrooms, the cafeteria and more. The visual inspection report noted that paint was often found to be chipping or peeling on areas like baseboards, doors, windowsills and cabinets.
Brown Street is the ninth district school cleared of hazards like those by the city of Milwaukee Health Department, MPS announced July 24.
“This is an important milestone in our work to clear our schools of lead dangers,” Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said in a statement on July 24.
MPS’ lead action plan says by the end of this summer, it will stabilize hazards caused by lead-based paint in all elementary schools built before 1950. Along with those 54 buildings, the district plans to complete paint stabilization at another 52 schools — those constructed between 1950 and 1978 — by the end of the 2025 calendar year.
Brown Street inspection comes as part of larger push to address maintenance issues
More than 1,000 children in Milwaukee each year are poisoned by lead, mostly due to paint in older houses, according to city health officials. In early 2025, however, officials announced a child had been poisoned by lead paint at Golda Meir Lower Campus.
The poisoning at that MPS school, built in 1890, drew broader public attention to a lack of maintenance in aging district schools.
Since then, MPS has budgeted about $19 million for lead-related work in the 2025-26 budget. Of that total, roughly $16 million is for lead stabilization work and $3 million for 21 new jobs to help manage lead.
Brown Street Academy was among six schools that temporarily closed in the prior school year due to lead paint, forcing students and staff to relocate. Its 245 students in K4 through fifth grade spent their final five weeks of the school year at Andrew S. Douglas Middle School.
In her July 24 statement, Cassellius said district students, families and staff “navigated the disruptions caused by building relocations last year with great patience and resilience.”
“I’m grateful to them for their partnership through this challenge. I’m also pleased that the students and staff of Brown Street Academy, and all of these impacted schools, will be able to start the school year back in their own buildings,” Cassellius said.
Cleo Krejci covers K-12 education and workforce development as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. For more information about Report for America, visit jsonline.com/rfa.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brown Street Academy, built in 1897, becomes 9th MPS school cleared of lead dangers
Reporting by Cleo Krejci, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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