Request for Education Operators to Submit Letters of Interest to Purchase Eligible Milwaukee Public Schools Buildings

Under the provisions of State Statute 119.61, certain Milwaukee Public Schools buildings are deemed eligible for sale to qualified education operators.  Letters of interest for these properties must be submitted to the Milwaukee City Clerk as described below.

Education operators

Under the provisions of s 119.61, only “education operators” may purchase eligible properties, unless the building has qualified as an eligible school building for more than 24 months.

“Education operator” means any of the following:

1. The operator of a charter school established under  s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x).
2. The operator of a private school.
3. The operator of a charter school established under s. 118.40 (2) or (2m) that is not an instrumentality of the school district, as determined under s. 118.40 (7).
4. An individual or group that is pursuing a contract with an entity under s. 118.40 (2r) (b) or the director under s. 118.40 (2x) to operate a school as a charter school.
5. A person that is pursuing a contract with the board under s. 118.40 (2m) to operate a school as a charter school that is not an instrumentality of the school district.
6. An entity or organization that has entered into a written agreement with any of the operators identified in (1) through (4) above to purchase or lease a building within which the operator identified in (1) through (4) above will operate a school.

Properties available for sale

Note: The “Facility Condition Index” is derived from the Milwaukee Public Schools Facilities Master Plan, published in 2011.  The Plan contains the following definition of this term:

The Facility Condition Index (FCI) is a widely used indicator that provides a relative scale of the overall condition of a given facility or group of facilities within a facility portfolio. The index is derived by dividing the total repair cost, including educational adequacy and site-related repairs, by the total replacement cost for the set of facilities. Based on previous district experience and consultation with district staff, the following scale was implemented:

Less than 5%: Best
6% to 10%: Good
11% to 20%: Average
21% to 30%:  Below Average
31% to 50%:  Poor
51% to 65%:  Very Poor
Greater than 65%:  Replacement Candidate

* Determination of whether parties submitting letters of interest are "education operators" will be made following receipt of letters of interest.

Procedure to submit a letter of interest

Any education operator who wishes to purchase any listed property must submit a letter of interest (LOI) to notify the Milwaukee Common Council or its agent of its interest in purchasing a school building. A separate LOI must be submitted for each property. 

Each LOI must include the following information:

1. Name and address of the property
2. Legal name of the entity submitting the LOI
3. Mailing address, email address, and telephone number of the entity submitting the LOI
4. Category under which submitting party qualifies as an education operator
5. Documentation  verifying the party’s status as an education operator
6. Contact information for attorney representing education operator

LOIs and supporting documentation must be mailed or hand-delivered to:

Jim Owczarski
City Clerk
City Hall
200 E. Wells Street, Room 205
Milwaukee, WI 53202

Documentation submitted with LOIs will be evaluated to determine whether the submitter qualifies as an education operator.  Submitters will be notified in writing of the results of this evaluation.  LOIs submitted by parties that do not qualify as education operators will be returned to the sender.

Showing of properties

In accordance with the provisions of s. 119.61, property showings will be arranged after letters of interest have been received from education operators.  Submitters that qualify as education operators will be notified of the time and date a property is available for viewing.

Sale of properties

In accordance with the provisions of s. 119.61, if, by the stated deadline, only one party determined to be an education operator submits a letter of interest, that party will be required to submit the following:

1. A proposal summary and public disclosure statement
2. Information regarding plans for repairs and renovation at the property, including estimated dollar amount to be invested in renovation
3. Documentation of  operator’s financial capacity to purchase, renovate and operate the building
4. Any other information required by the Common Council.

In accordance with the provisions of s. 119.61, if multiple letters of interest are received for the same building from parties determined to be education operators, the Common Council shall initiate a competitive request for proposal process for the sale of the building.  Notification regarding the RFP process will be posted on this web site.

Notification of changes to this web site

Parties wishing to be notified of changes to the information on this web site should subscribe to the City of Milwaukee’s e-notify system.  Sign up for the category titled “Surplus MPS properties.”