MPS leaders, neighbors discuss ways to improve Bay View schools

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Public School District on Tuesday, November 13th offered the public the chance to discuss changes to Bay View Middle and High Schools with district leaders.

Although most of the chairs at Burdick Elementary School in Bay View sat empty Tuesday night, the few that were full included Britt Hall. 

"There's going to be five or six other meetings, then there's a handful of people there.  It's encouraging them to go out and have conversations with their neighbors and the people that they still know that are left in the community. That's what's going to transform this," Hall said.

Hall and others talked with MPS officials about improving Hall's Alma Mater -- Bay View High School.

"The most important piece is to think about this in the big picture, not just what happened in the last couple weeks," Hall said.

In October, several fights broke out at the school, prompting a lockdown and ending with the arrests of 30 students.

MPS spokesman Tony Tagliavia said MPS took aggressive action after that incident.

"All the students that were involved in causing the trouble in October have been permanently removed from the school," Tagliavia said.

Tagliavia and Hall agreed Tuesday night's meeting was about more than just the October incident.

"We're here tonight to address, not only the behavior issue, but the broader issue of how we improve the school and how we improve student achievement," Tagliavia said.