Madison board hears update on community schools staffing, full‑service sites

The Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education’s instruction work group heard a progress update on the district’s community schools strategy and related staff investments Wednesday evening.

Superintendent Dr. Gothard and Cindy Green, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, introduced a presentation showing the district has expanded roles such as village builders, student engagement specialists and family liaisons and is funding eight “full‑service” community school sites. Adam Clawson, director of engagement, equity, diversity and inclusion, told the board the district has “resourced nearly two thirds of our schools” with community‑school staff and aligned the work with the Coalition for Community Schools’ transformation model.

The presentation gave board members examples from multiple schools and early outcome data. La Follette High School Principal Matt Thompson described two student engagement specialists on his campus who run mentoring groups, extracurricular teams and attendance supports; he said attendance for students on one specialist’s caseload is “up a little over 5%.” Thompson called the specialists “invaluable” and…