As Milwaukee Public Schools weighs how to address declining enrollment, aging buildings and financial pressures, City Forward Collective executive director Colleston Morgan Jr. is urging the district to consolidate about 30 schools — and ensure students who are displaced have access to stronger educational opportunities. Morgan’s recommendation is larger than the 26 schools that met MPS’ criteria for possible closure or consolidation in this round. City Forward Collective’s analysis identified 30, he said, based on enrollment, building use and district finances. The district has not released an official list of schools it may close or consolidate. Morgan’s argument is informed by personal history: he attended Elm Creative Arts School, where he recalls teachers who helped shape his education. But Elm, on Milwaukee’s North Side, illustrates the tension at the heart of the debate, he wrote. The school enrolled 317 students last year in a building he describes as half-empty, and it ranked among Wisconsin’s bottom 50 schools on the state report card, according to his piece. The district operates 138 schools despite enrollment having fallen about 30% from its peak, Morgan said. MPS counts 36 schools as less than half full and another 48 as between 50% and 90% full. Those figures do not, by themselves, determine which buildings should close; grade levels, programs and location would also matter, he acknowledged. Morgan points to closures elsewhere as evidence that Milwaukee is not alone in confronting declining enrollment. He cited more than 1,000 public school closures nationally last school year, along with consolidation plans or proposals in Cleveland, St. Louis and Minneapolis. Closures would not resolve all of MPS’ financial challenges. Morgan cited a projected five-year deficit of roughly $420 million and more than $400 million in deferred maintenance. He estimates that consolidating 30 schools could make $355 million to $360 million available for investment over the next decade, potentially addressing priority maintenance needs without another referendum or property-tax increase. Those are City Forward Collective’s estimates, not a district-approved financial plan. The case for consolidation, Morgan argues, should rest on what students gain — not simply on reducing the number of buildings. He says communities affected by closures must share in any savings and that academic performance should factor into decisions, alongside enrollment, building condition and finances. MPS Superintendent Cassellius has said very small enrollments can make it difficult for schools to provide services and enrichment. “When you have 65 kids in a school and you have a building that holds 500, that makes it really difficult to give them the social worker, the counselor, the co-curriculars, the nurse, the librarian,” she said, according to Morgan’s piece. The decisions will be personal for families and neighborhoods, Morgan wrote, but he argues that attachment to a school’s history cannot substitute for a plan that improves students’ futures. Any student whose school closes, he says, should have a better educational option waiting.