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Parents and teachers urge board to reduce class sizes and reinstate surplus staff at eastside schools
Summary
Multiple parents, school staff and PTA leaders urged the Madison school board to change policy and budget choices to reduce class sizes—especially in second and third grade—and to reinstate surplus staff at several schools.
Parents, a classroom aide and PTA leaders told the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education on April 28 that rising class sizes and early-season staff surplusing are harming students and urged the board to revise policy 3450 and approve budget amendments to return staff to classrooms.
"I urge you to take up policy 3450 to reduce max class sizes, and also pass board member Vander Meulen's budget amendments 1 through 5 that would reinstate surplus staff at our East neighborhood schools as well as La Follette and West," said Grace Van Berkel, a parent and early childhood special education assistant at Lapham. She said large class sizes are especially harmful to students with individualized education programs.
A student speaker, Evelyn Van Berkel of O'Keefe Middle School, described crowded classrooms and a teacher's hope that some students would be absent because of insufficient seating: "We need enough teachers and chairs for all our friends in the Madison School District. We need to stop surplusing our teachers," she said.
Catherine Howley, speaking on behalf of the La Follette PTA and as a parent of a first grader with an IEP, asked the board to reduce the second- and third-grade maximum from 28 students to a level more aligned with kindergarten and first grade, which she said have maximums of 23. She also asked that classroom maximums be held at 90 percent capacity through the start of the school year so that "maximums can actually mean something and not starting points."
Speakers said district staffing decisions and allocation processes must be more transparent and urged the board to consider restoring surplus staff at specific schools. Several public commenters thanked board member Vander Meulen for proposing allocation-focused budget amendments.
The board received the public input but took no formal vote on class-size policy or the specific budget amendments at this meeting; those items were mentioned as topics for upcoming budget discussions and work-group reviews.
The board previously directed operations and budget work groups to continue reviewing allocations and budget priorities; community speakers asked that the board prioritize classroom staffing and class-size limits when considering those changes.
