Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes Studies is one of four Milwaukee Public Schools facilities where lead hazards have been found. (Photo by Julius Shieh)
By Julius Shieh
This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.
This week, Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes Studies became the first Milwaukee Public Schools building to close because of unsafe lead work and high lead levels.
Will it be the last?
The school, one of four Milwaukee Public Schools facilities where lead hazards have been found, was already undergoing cleaning and remediation work to address lead hazards before its closure March 3.
But continuing high levels of lead indicated that “lead dust was moved around while children or staff were present,” said Tyler Weber, deputy health commissioner at the Milwaukee Health Department.
According to a letter sent to Trowbridge Street School families, the school building “does not meet the health and safety standards required for a child-occupied facility serving young children.”
Why is this happening?
Trowbridge Street School, originally built in 1894, is one of the over 85% of Milwaukee Public Schools facilities constructed before lead-based paint and interior plumbing were made illegal in 1978 and 1986, respectively.
Sean Kane, senior director for facilities and maintenance services at Milwaukee Public Schools, said the school district “assumes that there is lead in a building that’s been constructed before 1978.”
Lead poisoning cases among students have caused the Milwaukee Health Department to investigate four Milwaukee Public Schools facilities so far – Golda Meir Lower School, Kagel Elementary School, Maryland Avenue Montessori School and Trowbridge Street School – with lead hazards found at all four.
Investigations from the Milwaukee Health Department also show that there is no prior record of lead risk assessments at any of these schools.
Although a Milwaukee Public Schools Lead-Based Paint Compliance Program requires annual inspections to monitor the condition of lead-based paint in school facilities, investigations from the Milwaukee Health Department have found lead levels that they say indicate shortfalls in lead-safe maintenance.
Will other schools be closed?
No other Milwaukee Public Schools facilities have been closed for lead poisoning.
The Milwaukee Health Department has issued health orders to clean and repair existing lead hazards at Golda Meir Lower School, Kagel Elementary School and Maryland Avenue Montessori School.
Trowbridge Street School was ordered to close because of concerns with Milwaukee Public Schools’ lead cleaning practices, Weber said.
“Work had been done at Trowbridge, including cleaning,” Weber said. “The areas that (Milwaukee Public Schools) did some of the work still came back very high, so lead dust was moved around. It has us very concerned.”
Additionally, the Milwaukee Health Department found that unsafe lead work was being conducted at Trowbridge Street School.
“There was work that was happening when the students were in the building,” said Michael Totoraitis, health commissioner at the Milwaukee Health Department.
Safe lead work requires contaminated areas to be properly contained, typically through practices such as taping off an area with plastic sheeting, according to a guide published by the Environmental Protection Agency.
According to the guide, “unauthorized persons and pets must be prevented from entering the work area.”
During the closure, students from Trowbridge Street School will attend the Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning, located nearly five miles away on 1017 N. 12th St.
No end date has been set for the closure. Milwaukee Health Department officials initially said that the school may be reopened as early as the end of the week.
But in a letter addressed to parents and staff members on March 4, the Milwaukee Health Department and Milwaukee Public Schools said families should plan not to return this week.
Parents call for more transparency
Closing the Trowbridge Street School building was the right choice, said Kristen Payne, parent of a student at Golda Meir Lower School.
“This is a short-term disruption that may avoid a longer term and more serious disruption, such as lead poisoning,” Payne said. “It’s probably the right choice to make sure that children aren’t in these environments that are deemed unsafe.”
Removing her child from an environment with lead hazards, however, was not a choice available to Payne.
Milwaukee Public Schools denied any alternative options to in-person classes, such as virtual schooling, she said.
“As a parent, I did not want my child in that environment when I knew it was unsafe. It felt like I was forced to do something that was not in my child’s best interest,” Payne said.
“I wish we had that option at Golda.”
Payne, along with other parents, started Lead-Safe Schools MKE, a group organizing for lead-free schools in Milwaukee.
The group organized a petition that demands more transparency from the Milwaukee Health Department and Milwaukee Public Schools.
“It’s becoming clear that schools are a source of lead poisoning in Milwaukee in a way that the community did not know prior to this,” Payne said. “We really wish we would have been brought to the table . . . We’re asking to be included.”
Resources you should know about
Lead is a serious neurotoxin that is unsafe for children at any level.
Regular blood screenings for lead poisoning are recommended for all children in Milwaukee at the ages of 12, 18 and 24 months, and then once every year until the age of 5.
The Milwaukee Health Department plans to offer free lead screenings for Milwaukee Public Schools families that is “coming the week of March 10th,” but further details are still unavailable.
Blood testing for lead poisoning is free under BadgerCare Plus, Wisconsin’s Medicaid program, and it is covered by most private insurance plans.
Here are resources for free lead testing and lead-safe practices. https://milwaukeenns.org/2025/01/21/lead-poisoning-is-a-serious-health-threat-here-are-5-things-you-need-to-know/