Rules tie up Milwaukee Public Schools real estate

Becky Vevea:

The former Garfield Elementary School building, stately and picturesque, looks as if it could be used for a movie set. That would be one way to fill the empty school with life.

For now, the century-old building at 2215 N. 4th St. sits empty.

Just down the road, construction is under way for a $7 million expansion to St. Marcus Lutheran School, one of the highest performing voucher schools in the city. But before St. Marcus raised millions of dollars, school leaders spent months in conversations with Milwaukee Public Schools about purchasing one of several nearby vacant buildings, including Garfield Elementary.

They were unsuccessful.

For MPS, one less building would mean revenue from the sale and a reduction in maintenance costs. So what happened?

"We were told we could buy them, but could not operate them as a school in competition with MPS," said Henry Tyson, St. Marcus' superintendent. "It became clear that the acquisition of one of those vacant MPS buildings was just not an option."

Posted by Jim Zellmer at January 5, 2011 1:14 AM
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