Madison Metropolitan School District

As of the 2020-2021 school year, the district serves 26,121 students,^[2][3] making it the second largest in Wisconsin. It has 52 schools, including 32 elementary schools (grades K-5), 12 middle schools (grades 6–8), and 6 high schools. The district also has early childhood programs and alternative programs at the secondary level.^[4]

The district covers about 65 square miles (170 km²), including all or part of the cities of Madison and Fitchburg, the villages of Maple Bluff and Shorewood Hills, and the towns of Blooming Grove and Burke.

In an effort to encourage the involvement of students, the Madison Student Senate (MSS) was formed. It allows eight representatives from each high school (including affiliated alternatives) to meet bi-weekly with members of the board to discuss and change district policies for the benefit of Madison students.

The first public school in Madison held classes in 1838 in a room of the home of Isaac H. Palmer, with schoolteacher Louisa Brayton.^[5] The school district was recognized by the territorial government in December 1841.Following the incorporation of the city of Madison in 1846, a board of education was organized and the first superintendent was chosen: Damon Kilgore, a teacher who had begun teaching in Madison two years earlier.^[6]

According to the Dane County Historical Society, the county’s first public high school (Madison Central High School (Wisconsin)) began in 1853 in the basement of a Methodist Church, with 90 students and just one teacher. In ensuing years, it had several names, starting as Madison High School, with graduates including noted architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Then in 1922 it was renamed as Madison Central High School after a new school -- Madison East High School—became the city's second high school. Noted artist Georgia O'Keeffe attended Central High School. In 1965, the name was changed to Central-University High School until its closure in 1969.^[7]

In December 1983, the Madison School Board adopted a desegregation plan that was implemented on August 28, 1984. The plan aimed to reduce the disproportionate number of minority students at Lincoln and Franklin elementary schools, both on the south side of Madison, to approximately 30%. Franklin Elementary was paired with Randall Elementary and Midvale Elementary with Lincoln Elementary.^[8] Since then, Lapham Elementary School and Marquette Elementary School have also joined as sister schools. Franklin, Midvale and Lapham serve grades K-2, and Randall, Lincoln and Marquette serve grades 3–5.

The district allows students to use the pronouns they prefer, something the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld.^[9]

The district is run by a seven-member school board. Members are elected in April for staggered three-year terms.^[14] The superintendent of the district is chosen by the Board.

The Madison Metropolitan School District has many partnerships in the area.^[21] "At Home In Madison" is a partnership of business, community, school and city leaders that provides information to home buyers and relocating families about Madison's schools, neighborhoods and resources for home ownership.^[22]

Several before and after school programs are offered by local business and organizations. The local YMCA provides services for several of the local schools, including before and after school programs at Elvehjem, Gompers, Kennedy, Sandburg, and Schenk Elementary schools. Madison School and Community Recreation (MSCR) offers after school programs known as The Safe Haven Community and Learning Center,^[23] to which students must apply in order to participate. The Playful Kids Learning Clubhouse offers after school programs at Crestwood and Muir Elementary schools, and the Red Caboose does so at Lapham and Marquette Elementary schools. The Wisconsin Youth Company offers both before and after school at specific locations.^[24]

Madison Metropolitan School District also has a partnership with the local universities and colleges. Forward Madison is a partnership between Madison Metropolitan School District and UW-Madison’s School of Education. As well, students from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, Edgewood College, and Madison Area Technical College are welcomed into the classrooms of several schools within MMSD as a part of their degree program. Additionally, the schools are a resource for research and information for the universities.

In 2019, Madison West High School received international attention after the school fired Marlon Anderson, the school's security assistant, after he asked a student not to call him the N-word, while repeating it himself. Students at the school participated in a walk out, American singer Cher offered to pay Anderson's legal fees if he choose to peruse legal action, and national pushback was received. MMSD rescinded his firing a week later.

In February 2020, the school district was sued by a group of parents, represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, alleging that new policies regarding "gender identity" were a violation of federal law.^[25][26] The new policy instructs teachers how to assist children as young as five in "social transition" to another gender, and prohibits notifying the parents without the child's permission. This assistance could involve using different names and pronouns, or could include allowing access to opposite sex restrooms, changing rooms, and sports.^[27] The plaintiff parents allege this is a violation of parental rights and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), particularly given that the teachers received instructions on how to avoid triggering FERPA requirements.^[25] In September 2020, a Dane County judge issued an injunction prohibiting MMSD from implementing the policy in a way that "allows or requires District staff to conceal information or to answer untruthfully in response to any question that parents ask about their child at school."^[28]

In 2021, a controversy developed around an East High School teacher's use of hidden surveillance cameras in hotel bathrooms on a field trip. ^{[29][30][31][32]}

In early 2022, a controversy happened at La Follette High School when a teen was attacked by a group of kids and the school administration was accused of not acting appropriately.^[33]

• Official website