Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Keith Posley gets $160,000 severance

Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Keith Posley will leave the district with a $160,000 severance payment, according to a separation agreement released to the Journal Sentinel on Tuesday.

Posley and board also agreed not to disparage each other. Posley also agreed not to disparage any past or present MPS employees.

Posley’s resignation, which is effective June 30, was approved by school board members after a closed-door Monday night meeting that went into the early hours of Tuesday.

Community members have been calling for Posley to lose his job after state and federal officials raised alarms about failures of MPS leaders, including their financial reporting practices and oversight of the district’s Head Start preschool programs.

The severance payment will go to Posley in a lump sum, after excluding taxes, in July.

Posley will continue receiving his salary through June. His annual salary is about $303,000.

The agreement also notes that Posley is eligible to continue receiving health insurance payments from MPS for six months, unless he becomes eligible for insurance through another employer before then. 

MPS will also pay $38,500 into Posley’s retirement plan on June 30.

The agreement also notes that the resignation is not an “acknowledgment or admission by the Board or Dr. Posley of any liability or wrongdoing whatsoever under federal, state or local law.”

MPS has not granted interview requests with Posley.

Contact Rory Linnane at rory.linnane@jrn.com. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @RoryLinnane.