Gena Kittner posted a useful article on the growth, both in student population and facilities of suburban Dane County School Districts.
Eleven of 16 school districts in the county have shown increased enrollment between 2001 and 2004, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.Madison is grappling with growth in more than half of its district and declines elsewhere.
Madison’s enrollment has been flat for quite some time, though the population is moving around:
Two task forces, including parent representatives from each of the district’s schools [East] [West, are working to find ways to accommodate a projected increase of more than 500 elementary school students over the next five years in the West and Memorial high school attendance areas – where several housing developments are in the works.
The groups are also wrestling with high enrollment at some elementary schools and under-enrollment at others, in the East and La Follette high school attendance areas.
Based on last year’s figures, the district projects that by 2010, it will have 192 more students than it has seats for on the district’s west side, and 989 more seats than students on its east side.
To follow the progress of each task force a special location on the MMSD website has been created:
http://mmsd.org/boe/longrange/
If this link does not work, you can log onto http://www.mmsd.org; click on Long Range Planning found in the blue band in the middle of the display.
Click on each date and you will find the previous meeting minutes and all the information presented. The new enrollment numbers are not out yet. They will be available at our next meeting. This data is acquired using the 3rd Friday in September.
All meetings are open to the public. Come observe and contact a representative if you have feedback, concerns or recommendations.
West/Memorial next meeting = October 20th at Toki Middle School 6:30 pm.