Parents, teachers and students urge MMSD to restore staff allocations after referendum

More than a dozen parents, teachers and school staff told the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) operations work group on March 10 that proposed allocation cuts will reduce access to music, increase class sizes and strain services for English learners and students with individualized education plans.

Speakers described specific enrollment-and-staffing changes they said are affecting their schools and urged the district to revise its allocation methods and communicate more clearly. "Music is an important part of a 20 first century well rounded education," said Jen Stripe, who said she was representing "over 200 Bell Phillips Memorial High School families, students, alumni, Madison Taxpayers" who support the BPM music program. "Residents of Madison voted to pass the 2024 operational referendum expecting school curricula to be fully funded, not cut," Stripe said.

The public comments included classroom teachers, building department chairs and bilingual resource staff. West High science department chair Jen Carlin told the board she was told West would be cut "6.451 FTEs" for next year and warned the science, math and special education departments will lose staff. A parent and sixth‑grade teacher who said she represents O'Keefe reported that the school is expected to lose "3 FTE," and described the likely loss of art, gym, orchestra and specialist positions. A Blackhawk Middle School teacher told the board two seventh‑grade core positions will be cut despite projected enrollment growth to about 340 students next year.

Speakers framed the reductions as equity and retention issues: canceled music classes, larger ensembles and fewer specialized teachers, they said, will disproportionately harm students without means to pay for private lessons or outside programs. East High bilingual resource specialist Sylvia Gomez de Soriano described increasing numbers of immigrant students who speak languages beyond Spanish and warned that cuts to bilingual staffing and special education allocations will make it harder to deliver required modifications and services.

Several speakers pressed the board and administration for transparency about the surplus and evaluation process. A teacher who said the surplus rubric is not shared with staff called the process "unprofessional" and asked for the rubric and for supportive professional development tied to evaluations. Michael Jones, speaking as an MTI union representative, apologized to colleagues for trusting earlier administration statements that referendum funds would protect staff and urged clearer public accounting of referendum expenditures.

District leaders acknowledged the community concern and described the allocation and conversion process (see separate article on staffing and budget). Dr. Catherine Gothard and other district staff repeatedly said allocations are driven by enrollment projections, class‑size policy and legally restricted funding streams (for example Title I and special education). They also said the workbook allocations released in mid‑February were a working snapshot that have changed through building‑level conversion requests and staff review meetings.

Speakers asked the board to: restore classroom and specialist positions; review or change the allocation process; publish the rubric used for surplus decisions; and hold public forums where staff and families can ask questions about allocations. The board heard many requests to prioritize protections for core instructional staff, bilingual supports and music programs.

District staff invited board direction on whether to reallocate district (non‑school facing) positions to school sites and said they will return with more detailed budget options at future meetings. The operations work group did not take a formal vote on policy changes during the March 10 meeting.

The public comment period concluded before the board moved to the scheduled business items; the meeting continued with an operations agenda that included food and nutrition, referendum updates, benefits and staffing allocations.