Madison school community presses board over proposed teacher, special-education and support-staff cuts; asks for clearer allocations

Dozens of parents, teachers and district staff told the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education on March 17 that proposed cuts to teaching and support positions will push classrooms past safe and developmentally appropriate sizes and weaken special-education services.

Speakers at the board’s public-input session pressed the board to change how allocations are set and to give schools “slack” so incoming enrollment growth does not immediately trigger overfull classes. They delivered specific examples from East Side elementary schools — Lapham, Marquette, O’Keeffe and East — that are slated for reductions.

Rudy Moore, a Lapham parent, asked the board to “direct the staff to not allow allocations that are maxed out this early in the planning for next year,” saying his daughter’s cohort of 54 students would be split into two second‑grade classes of 27 if a teacher position is removed. "Ninety percent of the max class size would make a reasonable number for this early in the planning for next year," he said. Moore and other parents said the cohort experienced pandemic-related disruptions and will need smaller classes to regain lost instructional and social development time.

Multiple speakers said Lapham faces additional cuts to special‑education staff. Catherine Howley, a Lapham parent and PTG board member, told the board that the…