One parent is outraged after finding out her child’s school had no heat for an entire day.
On Monday, Jan. 6, parents and families of students at Alexander Mitchell Integrated Arts School, 1728 S. 23rd St., were informed by email that the school’s boiler was out and being worked on.
The temperature that day was 29 degrees.
The email sent out at 11:01 a.m. said: “We have issues with our boiler and have crews working to restore. This was discovered upon our return over the weekend.”
A parent, who asked not to be named to protect her child, reached out through our News 414 community engagement initiative and said her child spent the school day sitting in a classroom in her coat as the issue was not addressed efficiently.
“I didn’t find out until my child got home from school,” she said. “And we are working parents. We don’t always have the luxury of checking our personal emails in the middle of the day.”
Stephen Davis, the media relations manager for Milwaukee Public Schools, echoed the email sent to parents and said, “adjustments were made allowing students to use other learning environments.”
The parent said the email was not well-written or understandable.
“I’m pretty sure that not everyone knows what a ‘boiler’ is, so some parents didn’t even understand the issue,” she said. “The school did not have heat in the classrooms. That wasn’t made clear or communicated effectively.”
In the past, the parent said, the school has called, texted and used an online platform to communicate. But in a situation that she felt was important, the school opted for a midday email, she said.
“How confident can I be in my child’s education at a school when this is how the school handles situations,” the parent said. “I’ve considered switching schools, but from what I hear, none of them are better.”
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