Milwaukee Public Schools could be docked between $35 million and $50 million in state aid for the next school year due to previous accounting errors by the district, according to initial estimates that the state Department of Public Instruction provided to the Journal Sentinel on Thursday afternoon.
An exact, reliable figure for the aid reduction remained elusive Thursday as state officials said they were still in a “review process” and the numbers could change.
The news came as Milwaukee School Board members prepared to vote on a budget for the next school year at a meeting Thursday night.
While some called for another delay on the board’s budget vote, now-retired MPS Chief Financial Officer Martha Kreitzman previously told board members they must approve a budget by the end of June, when the district’s fiscal year ends. School boards are allowed to make adjustments to their budgets later in the year, after DPI determines how much aid they will get.
Jilly Gokalgandhi, vice president of the board and chair of the board’s budget committee, said the board needed to get a budget plan in place, and would consider changes to that budget planafter DPI provides an update on the district’s state aid.
“This budget will change as DPI provides us with more information on what the real impact will look like for the district,” she said. “We know it’s a serious impact, and so as we get more information, we will share more information.”