Tuesday, August 25, 2020 - 9:59 am
Deputy Superintendent Sherri Cyra noted District enrollment is about 200 students below projections as part of her regular update to the School Board at its regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 24.
Board president Annette Ashley presided over the meeting at the District Services Center, while other Board members participated remotely. The School Board has been meeting virtually since mid-March.
The District has lost nearly 100 students since July, Cyra noted. While some families moved out of the District and some have decided to home-school because of the District's decision to start the school virtually at all grade levels, the majority of students who have left MCPASD have moved to area parochial schools, which had planned to start in-person before Public Health Madison Dane County's announcement on Friday that grades 3-12 must start virtually at all schools in the county.
Cyra noted the elementary level is about 100 students below projections. The middle school level is 70 about students below projections, while the high school level is about 30 students below projections.
Cyra also reviewed a separate spreadsheet that wasn't a part of the School Board's expanded agenda. It cointained six columns:
- Column 1: Total enrollment by school
- Column 2: Students registered for Universal instructional model
- Column 3: How many original sections by grade at each school
- Column 4: How many sections in the Universal instructional model
- Column 5: What class sizes in each grade at each school orginally were
- Column 6: What class sizes in each grade at each school are now, with students who selected the Fully Virtual instructional model removed
Cyra noted the number of sections at the elementary level has dropped because some staff in each grade level were assigned to the Fully Virtual model. In addition, there were some changes due to sections at some schools falling below the District's class size guidelines.
Cyra did note that Fully Virtual students are still assigned to a home school. Teachers are also still assigned to a home school. She noted one teacher did switch grade levels but the goal was to make the changes as little disruptive as possible for staff.
Cyra said 4K gained three more students on Monday and is now up to 300 students.
The Board had questions about the budgetary impact of the loss of students. Assistant Superintendent of Operations Lori Ames noted District enrollment is based on the Third Friday September count. Any students who enroll or re-enroll before then count toward that number. It was noted that per pupil aid is based on a three-year average of enrollment so the impact won't be as great in any single year.