"We do not want to come with a list of closing," Cassellius said at the meeting. "We want a list of building or renovating or doing additions."

Cassellius said new and upgraded buildings could make the district a more competitive choice for the roughly 60,000 students in Milwaukee who do not attend MPS. She acknowledged to reporters after the meeting that closures and mergers are still likely over the 10-year life of the facilities plan.

The revised approach addresses concerns raised at earlier meetings of the Great Schools Committee, an advisory group formed in September to set criteria for school closures and investments. At a Sept. 28 meeting, District 4 Board Director James Ferguson warned that families at North Side schools targeted for possible closure might leave MPS for nearby charter and voucher schools, and said building new schools is what the community deserves.

Although the district has not officially selected any schools for closure, a January proposal from planning firm Perkins Eastman suggested closing five North Side schools: Auer Avenue School, Clarke Street School, Hopkins Lloyd Community School, Keefe Avenue School and Siefert School. That list was never official, but Brittney Stevenson, a social worker at Hopkins Lloyd, said at Monday's meeting that the mere possibility has hurt schools trying to increase enrollment.

"We've heard them be like, 'Well, we're not going to be around next year anyways,'" Stevenson said of students.

Throughout the committee meetings, the district has presented a data tool that sorts schools into categories including closure or merger and building or program investments. Michelle Lenski, MPS manager of design and construction, said the data informs decisions but is not the only factor. The tool weighs enrollment versus building capacity, known as utilization rate, deferred maintenance costs, proximity to other schools and recent enrollment trends.

Ingrid Walker-Henry, president of the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association, said union members at Siefert, Clarke, Keefe, Auer and Hopkins Lloyd requested investment last year and "the district completely blew them off."

"What I hear right now is a blaming of deferred maintenance and trying to lead people to the conclusion of 'Well, I guess we should get rid of them,'" Walker-Henry said.

Deirdre Lafford, principal at Siefert School, where the utilization rate is 33.33%, said the low percentage masks the school's potential. "We also have two STEM labs," Lafford said. "We have space for a sensory room, we have space for small group rooms." She noted the school has space to expand special education units.

Lafford proposed building a new school on Siefert's site at 1547 N. 14th St. that could serve both Siefert and Brown Street students, rather than merging Siefert into Brown Street as Perkins Eastman suggested. Siefert, built in 1903, has no deferred maintenance costs but lacks air conditioning and does not meet current accessibility standards, according to district data. More than a quarter of its students are identified for special education.

"You could shift this in a way where a brand new building would be built in a better position, neighborhood safety traffic-wise … and draw those children that left Brown Street, left Siefert and went to the shiny new [Milwaukee Academy of Science]," Lafford said. She added that the school sits in a more residential area without busy streets on either side and has room to construct a new building without disrupting students during construction.

Staff at Hopkins Lloyd and Siefert also urged the district to invest in transportation, arguing that better bus service would boost enrollment. That request runs counter to the district's current direction: MPS is spending the school year deciding how to cut $3.5 million in transportation costs, which could include consolidating stops and requiring students to walk farther.

Transportation director David Fifarek told NNS in July that consolidating stops could save up to $11 million, but the district is weighing how to do so without creating safety risks. At Siefert, Lafford said families do not want students crossing busy streets like Walnut Street, 27th Street or Fond du Lac Avenue to get to school.

"We lose kids because they just opt for a school that they can get a bus and go to," Lafford said. "We can't get kids from Hillside because the walk across that Sixth Street and the bridge."

Stevenson suggested that when families choose a farther school with a bus assignment, it may cost MPS more in the long run because the district ends up transporting them farther than if they attended their neighborhood school.

Cassellius said the district can acknowledge its $87 million transportation budget while still prioritizing local transportation for some schools. "If we're going to do that for equity purposes and because we think it's better for the … family and for the child, we just have to know it's going to cost more," she said. She floated the idea of using district vans to help transport students who would otherwise need to cross busy streets.

Stevenson described how walking to school remains a barrier for many families at Hopkins Lloyd. "They need boots because it's not plowed, it's not shoveled. They need coats," she said. "They've got a baby at home they don't want to take out in the cold for a 20-minute walk there and a 20-minute walk back."

The long-range facilities plan is intended to support student success by ensuring district spaces meet student needs. The Great Schools Committee is expected to continue meeting as MPS develops its investment list.