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Madden School underenrollment flagged by state; district pushes recruitment to protect magnet grant
Summary
District officials told the board that Madden School was flagged by the state after an apparent coding discrepancy put the school's in-district percentage at 76% (limit 75%). After corrections the district says numbers are back in line, but officials said continued recruitment is needed to protect magnet grant funding as enrollment remains fluid.
District staff reported that the Madden School was flagged by the state for exceeding an in-district student percentage threshold and described active recruitment efforts to stabilize enrollment and protect the school's magnet grant.
According to the presentation, the state's count showed Madden School at 76% in-district as of Jan. 1, exceeding a 75% threshold; district staff said the discrepancy resulted from coding errors that were corrected after providing data to the state. The presentation recorded that the corrected enrollment figures included 237 in-district (neighbor) students and a total of 327 students overall. Officials said roughly 15 students have left the school this year, a fluidity that can quickly change percentage calculations.
District staff said the lottery for out-of-district seats opened on Jan. 6; as of close of day the district reported 349 applicants and said 21 out-of-district applicants had applied (the transcript records a higher number of in-district/Amherst applicants but the exact count of that subgroup was unclear in the record). Staff described targeted outreach by the Madden principal and staff, including visits to surrounding-town daycare centers, open houses and handing out materials at multi-town sports events. Miss Jackson (principal outreach lead) was specifically credited for community recruitment work.
Board members and staff said underenrollment could threaten the magnet grant that supports staff at Madden; officials signaled the district will pursue additional recruitment efforts and said the forthcoming budget may include resources for centralized recruitment support.
No formal board action was recorded on the enrollment item; the transcript shows the board requested ongoing reports and described plans to continue outreach and consider budget requests to support recruitment.
