MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Public Schools received 13 violations for lead safety issues on June 10 from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
"This is super super frustrating," a member of Lead-Safe Schools MKE, Ron Jansen said.
According to DHS, from March 20 to June 9, there were instances when the district failed to post warning signs, missed paint chips while cleaning, and radiators were not covered while work was being done.
"We're past 'mistakes happen.' We are into the territory of needing to know why these mistakes keep happening and who needs to be removed, replaced, or what other resources need to be brought to bear to get this done," Jansen said.
"It makes me feel very hopeless and difficult to think that things will get better," he added.
Watch: MPS parent upset to see state violations for lead cleanup
Mike Turza, MPS' interim Director of Facilities and Maintenance Services, says seven of the 13 violations happened under prior leadership.
"We do not have any of these still out there. We have taken care of everyone that they have indicated to us," Turza said.
DHS directly states that Sean Kane, the former Director of Facilities and Maintenance Services, didn't answer phone calls or emails to let an inspector inside of Starms Early Childhood Center on March 31. Kane parted ways with the district on April 3.
"All of them were individual instances of improper work practices that were quickly corrected," Turza said.
DHS does note that there have been improvements made by the district. Instead of paying over $5,000 worth of fines, the department is telling the district to reinvest the money into lead renovations.
"It's almost like being a parent and having a learning moment and saying hey you made a mistake here, we don't necessarily want to punish you if you can prove that you can fix it," Jansen said.
MPS provided the following statement:
"MPS continues to work with DHS and the City of Milwaukee Health Department in handling the ongoing work to remove lead dangers from our school buildings.
Our plan includes additional funding and monitoring to reduce the risk within our facilities.
MPS quickly addressed every item brought to our attention, the majority of which occurred months ago before leadership changes and when there were no students in these specific buildings. We will continue to train and work with all staff on proper lead stabilization work. The summer plan of work MPS will be submitting to DHS identifies all steps and actions MPS will take to meet the DHS requirements.
Our Facilities teams will work with contractors and staff to ensure our processes are in line with regulations and meeting the deadlines for the start of school in September."
The subcontractors MPS is working with, Thomas A Mason Company Incorporated and Service Painting Corporation, also received violations. Both companies told TMJ4 the project is a heavy lift but they are working hard to get it done right.
This story was reported on-air by Megan Lee and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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