MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) will host a virtual town hall next week for families and staff affected by schools with lead, according to letters sent by the Milwaukee Health Department (MHD). 

The town hall will be held on Thursday, April 10 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. 

Attendees will hear from and be able to ask questions to MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius, MHD Commissioner of Health Michael Totoraitis, MHD Deputy Commissioner of Environmental Health Tyler Weber, and Dr. Heather Paradis of Children’s Wisconsin. Those asking questions will have 90 seconds each. Written questions and comments will also be accepted.

The town hall will be for those at the following schools:

• Golda Meir School Lower Campus
• Kagel School
• Fernwood Montessori School
• Robert M. LaFollette School
• Maryland Avenue Montessori School
• Starms Early Childhood Center
• Trowbridge School of Great Lakes Studies

The town hall comes after former Director of Facilities and Maintenance Services Sean Kane was removed from his role while he was overseeing lead abatement work within MPS schools.

The work began after a child at Golda Meir tested positive for high levels of lead in their blood, which MHD discovered was linked to chipped lead paint in the school’s basement bathroom in the Lower Campus.

MHD began its investigation in January.

Through an open records request, Spectrum News 1 obtained hundreds of documents pertaining to the school district’s lead issue. The records contained emails between MHD, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s office and MPS officials, including Kane.

On Jan. 10, an MHD inspector emailed Kane to request access to Golda Meir’s Lower Campus on Jan. 11 to conduct a lead risk assessment of the property “to formally identify lead hazards and deteriorated surfaces.” The records showed this happened after MHD spoke to the parent of the lead-poisoned child.

Kane responded on the morning of Jan. 11, stating that the building was closed and “the best opportunity of assessing the building will be after school or next weekend.” Kane went on to write, “Please reach out to me and we can schedule your assessment. We can work it out.”

During a press conference Thursday, Spectrum News 1 asked Totoraitis to confirm this.

“From what was reported to me, that was what happened. Director Kane did not allow us into the school and did not disclose that there was work that happened that weekend until the following Monday,” he said. “That delayed our entry into the school to do the full lead risk assessment and certainly delayed our ability to see other schools because — were primarily focused on the Golda Meir campus at the initial onset of this in January.”

Totoraitis is referring to an email from Jan. 13 that he sent to Johnson’s office. It stated:

“I was informed today that MPS conducted work on the lead hazards at Golda Meier over the weekend. This was after our team was denied entry Saturday to conduct a full assessment of the property. As you know, we have to approve of lead mitigation work when it is conducted. When there is a lead poisoned child, it is even more important that any mitigation or abatement work is done in coordination with MHD. As a result of this deviation from protocol by MPS, we were obligated to notify the state. They will be looking into the case and mitigation efforts as well,” Totoraitis wrote in the email.

Spectrum News 1 asked for Totoraitis’ reaction, upon learning this information nearly three months ago.

“I was frustrated,” Totoraitis said. “Our team was ready to send a staff of I think about eight individuals and lead risk assessors to go to the school, so we were ready to work that weekend.”

After Spectrum News 1 asked Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services (DHS) if it was investigating lead mitigation work within MPS, the department released a report, dated March 19, detailing several violations at four schools. It was addressed to Kane. 

The violations included some at Fernwood Montessori, in which the report stated “a significant amount of paint chips and renovation debris were visible within arm’s length of a child’s desk.” 

The report also said that “MPS allowed children back into the work areas at Fernwood to attend class on March 11, 2025, while paint chip dust and debris from the previous night’s work was present.”

Spectrum News 1 asked Cassellius to share her reaction upon learning of those violations, made public last month.

“I’ve been reading a lot about our operations within the district,” she said. “There’s work we need to do, and my reaction is, we need to get ready to do it and roll up our sleeves and use every resource, and I am grateful to the city for helping us on this one.”

On April 1, Wisconsin’s Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) confirmed in a report that Kane had been working as the MPS Facilities Director since 2021, without a valid architect registration. The report stated it expired on August 1, 2020.

The report further stated that DSPS received a complaint about the expired license on July 26, 2024. It said Kane renewed his registration five days later. The department fined him $1,319. He was allocated 90 days to pay the fine. 

Spectrum News 1 asked Cassellius how Kane was able to work for years as facilities director without the proper credentials.

“I can’t speak to what happened before, but I can speak to what we’re going to be doing moving forward with our HR processes and HR department to improve things moving forward,” she said. 

Those interested in attending the town hall can register, here. Speakers can sign up through this form.

Fernwood, Starms and LaFollette schools remain closed due to lead remediation efforts. Letters about the town hall and updates were sent to families and staff there.

Crews are currently applying paint to all affected walls in Fernwood. At Starms and LaFollette, officials said the buildings have been prepared but there are still paint touchups taking place.

See an example of the letters sent to parents and staff below: