OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Emerging Youth Achievement Advisory Council Meeting - May 14, 2026

Common Council — Thursday, May 14, 2026
BodyMilwaukee, Wisconsin
SessionCommon Council
DateThursday, May 14, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:39:29
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Good morning, everyone.

0:02

I'd like to morning.

0:04

Emerging Youth Achievement Advisory Council.

0:07

It is approximately 9.06 a.m.

0:10

on Thursday, May 14th.

0:12

I am the chair, Joseph Edis.

0:15

Uh I'm joined at the table by Alderman, Vice Chair, Russell Stamper the second.

0:20

Uh Amber Danius.

0:23

Uh Marcus, uh Marcus Hogans.

0:28

Who's on the board?

0:31

Okay.

0:34

Uh Brad Cooper.

0:36

Dr.

0:36

Kupa's on the board.

0:38

Uh Dr.

0:39

Lucy Hardness is excused.

0:40

Dr.

0:41

Anthony Cruz is present.

0:43

And Steve Mahan and myself, and uh we have John Ortiz as our staff assistant.

0:51

And uh we'll go right into the agenda with the review and approval of previous meeting minutes.

0:57

Did I say you?

0:58

No, and and Brian Litsky.

1:00

Isn't that where's he on my list here?

1:03

Oh, he's at the top, my bad.

1:04

Alright, you're here.

1:06

Okay.

1:07

Um, a review and approval of previous meeting minutes.

1:10

Any questions, concerns?

1:11

Everyone's had an opportunity to look them over.

1:15

Yes.

1:18

Alderman Stanford moves approval of the uh the previous minute uh meeting minutes.

1:26

Hearing no objections, so ordered.

1:28

Now we'll have a communication presentation by MPS career and technical education presentation.

1:35

And I want to just thank you.

1:36

Last time we ran out of time, and so uh we had to pump you to this meeting, so we'll appreciate your patience.

1:41

No problem, no problem.

1:43

Morning, everybody.

1:44

Good morning.

1:46

Thank you for uh allowing me to present about uh North Division High School and Washington High Schools Career and Tech Ed programs.

1:56

I was asked originally to talk about uh the trades at the schools.

2:01

Okay, just have to give this some time.

2:05

I'll be patient like yes.

2:07

Thank you, thank you.

2:11

But uh North Division is the only school that actually has uh traditional trades.

2:16

They have a construction program, but I will talk to you about the career tech ed pathways that both of the schools have.

2:24

As we wait, I'd just like to take a minute to kind of go over the uh scale and scope of career in tech ed across the district to give you some some context.

2:34

So as you can see, we have just under 3200 uh career in tech ed concentrators.

2:39

Those are students that are juniors and seniors that have passed at least two courses within a given career pathway.

2:47

We have certainly more uh freshmen and sophomores that take career tech ed courses, but this is kind of our barometer that we use.

2:54

The we look at the juniors and seniors, it's more persistence, right?

2:57

There they've made it to junior and senior year, and those are the numbers that we use uh when we're looking at our goals with the DPI.

3:04

So we look at those concentrator uh metrics and happy to say that we've met all of our goals that we have with the DPI.

3:11

So we're doing a we're proud of what we're doing in career tech ed.

3:14

You can see we're in 16 different high schools.

3:16

We have 11 unique pathways, and among those 11 pathways, for example, there's health science at um six different high schools, they look a little different at each high school, so quite frankly, it's 11 different areas, but a lot of different pathways.

3:30

Okay, so everything from agriculture to automotive to construction, manufacturing, information technology, business marketing, all the different pathways you could you can imagine.

3:40

We probably have it.

3:42

So we have offer a lot of different opportunities for students to do dual enrollment, uh, mostly with METC uh as well as industry recognized credentials, and we have a very robust work-based learning program.

3:55

So we do internships and youth apprenticeships for students.

3:58

We've started the internship program back in 2017.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Workforce Development█████████████████████████████████████████████60%
Youth Programs███████████████████████30%
Community Engagement███4%
Procurement and Contracts██2%
Public Education Funding██2%
Procedural██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Emerging Youth Achievement Advisory Council Meeting - May 14, 2026

The Emerging Youth Achievement Advisory Council met on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 9:07 AM in City Hall, Room 301-B. Chair Ald. Jose Perez presided. The meeting featured presentations on MPS Career and Technical Education (CTE) and the MPS COIN (Communities in Need) program, updates from Project Kindred, and reports from the Data/Research and Education & Workforce Development committees. The council approved previous meeting minutes and adjusted the July 16 meeting start time to 1:00 PM to accommodate a youth-led event.

Consent Calendar

  • Review and Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes (4/23/26): Approved unanimously on a motion by Ald. Russell Stamper, with no objections.

Discussion Items

MPS Career & Technical Education Presentation

Eric Radomski, Manager of Career & Technical Education (CTE) at North Division High School, presented on CTE programs across MPS. Key points:

  • Nearly 3,200 CTE concentrators (juniors/seniors passing at least two pathway courses) district-wide, meeting all DPI goals.
  • CTE offered in 16 high schools across 11 broad pathways.
  • Internship program started in 2017; participation expected to exceed last year's 834 credited placements.
  • CTE concentrators' 4-year graduation rate updated to 91.3%; ~90% have positive follow-up outcomes (employment, postsecondary, advanced training, military/Peace Corps).
  • North Division (280 students) and Washington High School (380 students) face attendance challenges: April year-to-date rates under 50% (North) and just over 50% (Washington).
  • North pathways: Construction, Health Science, Information Technology. Washington pathways: Hospitality & Tourism (culinary arts) and Information Technology.
  • Board-approved $2.4M investment at North to restore/expand CTE with MATC; new courses include CNA, dental assistant, IT, and welding.
  • Opportunities: grow internships, dual enrollment, credential attainment, and advisory board at North (currently lacking). Challenges: enrollment, attendance, instructional staffing, and fiscal constraints.

MPS COIN Program

JaQuinta Polen (Manager, Contract Compliance Services) and Claudia Garcia presented on the district's three programs: Historically Underutilized Business (HUB), Student Engagement, and the Communities in Need (COIN) workforce preference program.

  • Student Engagement Program: Open to freshmen through one year post-graduation; paid internships at City of Milwaukee living wage. Serves ~300 students/year; last fiscal year served 212. Currently 55 students active, 90 signed up for summer.
  • COIN Program: Workforce preference for City of Milwaukee residents 18+ on general construction projects. Adopted 2003; annual target 25% of workforce hours. Last year: 36% COIN-certified hours (9,225 of 24,962 total hours).
  • Certification: no cost, through Michael Staffing or WRTP Big Steps; valid 3 years with possible 2-year extension.
  • Financial sanctions for non-compliance: $100/hour (student employment), $250/hour (career education), $30/hour (COIN). Collected amounts described as "not that much."
  • Challenges: funding for instructors, staffing capacity, and navigating emergency procurement exemptions (e.g., lead abatement).

Project Kindred Updates

Yaa Engel, Executive Director, presented on a youth-led July event:

  • July 7–10 at Marquette University: youth identify a root cause (likely health disparities) with support from partners.
  • July 16: youth come to City Hall for a "fun scavenger hunt debate" to engage city departments; lunch at noon, formal meeting at 1:00 PM.
  • Council members invited to participate as chaperones and resource persons.

Committee Updates

  • Data/Research Committee (Dr. Gabe Velez): Conducted outreach to 11 youth-serving organizations receiving CDBG funds. Key findings: evaluation is under-resourced; measurement driven by funder reporting; little longitudinal tracking; limited methods for social-emotional development and complex skills (leadership, identity, creativity); youth/community rarely engaged in evaluation design. Organizations expressed interest in a shared data platform, training/technical assistance, and better alignment across funder requirements.
  • Education & Workforce Development Committee (Dr. Anthony Cruz): Met twice, moving toward a pilot at North Division to strengthen industry connections and job pipelines. Potential funding from Fund Milwaukee. State policy barriers: lack of state funding for CTE and dual enrollment; MATC does not receive state credit for courses taught in high schools. Chair indicated these issues could be included in the city's legislative packet for November.

Key Outcomes

  • Previous meeting minutes approved.
  • July 16 meeting time changed from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM formal start (with lunch at noon) to accommodate Project Kindred youth event.
  • Committee updates noted; Education & Workforce Development committee to continue developing pilot at North Division.
  • Next meeting scheduled for June 25, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning, everyone. I'd like to morning. Emerging Youth Achievement Advisory Council. It is approximately 9.06 a.m. on Thursday, May 14th. I am the chair, Joseph Edis. Uh I'm joined at the table by Alderman, Vice Chair, Russell Stamper the second. Uh Amber Danius. Uh Marcus, uh Marcus Hogans. Who's on the board? Okay. Uh Brad Cooper. Dr. Kupa's on the board. Uh Dr. Lucy Hardness is excused. Dr. Anthony Cruz is present. And Steve Mahan and myself, and uh we have John Ortiz as our staff assistant. And uh we'll go right into the agenda with the review and approval of previous meeting minutes. Did I say you? No, and and Brian Litsky. Isn't that where's he on my list here? Oh, he's at the top, my bad. Alright, you're here. Okay. Um, a review and approval of previous meeting minutes. Any questions, concerns? Everyone's had an opportunity to look them over. Yes. Alderman Stanford moves approval of the uh the previous minute uh meeting minutes. Hearing no objections, so ordered. Now we'll have a communication presentation by MPS career and technical education presentation. And I want to just thank you. Last time we ran out of time, and so uh we had to pump you to this meeting, so we'll appreciate your patience. No problem, no problem. Morning, everybody. Good morning. Thank you for uh allowing me to present about uh North Division High School and Washington High Schools Career and Tech Ed programs. I was asked originally to talk about uh the trades at the schools. Okay, just have to give this some time. I'll be patient like yes. Thank you, thank you. But uh North Division is the only school that actually has uh traditional trades. They have a construction program, but I will talk to you about the career tech ed pathways that both of the schools have. As we wait, I'd just like to take a minute to kind of go over the uh scale and scope of career in tech ed across the district to give you some some context. So as you can see, we have just under 3200 uh career in tech ed concentrators. Those are students that are juniors and seniors that have passed at least two courses within a given career pathway. We have certainly more uh freshmen and sophomores that take career tech ed courses, but this is kind of our barometer that we use. The we look at the juniors and seniors, it's more persistence, right?

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