What the Worst Case Scenario Cuts Would Mean to 4 Schools

We have been requested to provide information about what the impact would be on a few individual Madison schools if the June 3 referendum fails. The principals of four schools - Memorial High School, O'Keeffe and Sennett Middle Schools, and Elvehjem Elementary School - have listed what would occur at their school and its impact in the worst case scenario (no state revenue limit increase.)

FTE = Full Time Equivalent, or a full time job position; for example, 0.5 FTE = half of the hours in a full time job.

Memorial High School

Under any of the scenarios Memorial does not look like the school we want it to be. This is what will result in the worst case scenario:

Reduction in Service (if referendum does NOT pass)	Impact on Memorial HS students
Classes with less than 18 students enrolled will be eliminated. For example, Women's History, Fundamentals of Reading, Plastics, Community Studies, Developing Voice, Intro to Athletic Training. Some advanced level courses will have to be folded in together: for example, German 4 and 5.	Diminishes choices for students. Makes the school less comprehensive. Eliminates classes and information that are not available anywhere else in the curriculum.
Study halls will be fewer and larger	Our Neighborhood study center concept will suffer.
0.5 FTE Reading Consultant cut	Some reading classes will remain but services to individual students and teachers around reading issues will not be available.
Class sizes in the 28-30 range in all areas	Less individual attention. More difficulty in establishing meaningful relationships between teacher and student. Extremely crowded and uncomfortable classroom settings.
Elimination of a 0.5 FTE social worker	The percentages of students from low income and highly stressed family situations continues to grow. Social workers are critical in our efforts to help students survive.
Elimination of the athletic director	Duties would fall to an assistant principal, making that position unavailable to meet the needs of all students.
Elimination of the minority services coordinator	A key position in the MMSD's goal to eliminate the achievement gap.
Cut 0.6 FTE in driver's education	Students will access private lessons.
Some limitations on regular education support to English as a Second Language (ESL)	When content area teachers and ESL or Special Ed teachers work together, students really benefit. This would be curtailed.

- Pam Nash, Principal

O'Keeffe Middle School

The calculation that follows eliminates the effect of enrollment decline. The worst case scenario for us would produce:

Reduction in Service (if referendum does NOT pass)	Impact on O'Keeffe MS students
loss of 1.0 FTE teacher position	Program reduction - loss of exploratory class in Applied Math and Science
loss of 0.2 FTE Psychologist time	Fewer services for students with significant mental health/emotional needs.
loss of 0.1 FTE Social Work time.	Fewer resources to assist students with personal and family issues.
Special Education: loss of 0.5 FTE Cross Categorical Teacher and loss of 1.0 FTE of Special Educational Assistants	Negatively affect Special Education students' educational opportunities. We will likely not be able to have as much inclusion in regular education classes. Inclusion is when Special Education students participate in regular education classes with their grade level peers.
Our Educ. Learning Materials budget would be reduced from approx. $12,900 to $0.	Purchase of books and related materials to support current curriculum and replacement of dated materials will be delayed or not filled.
The school formula budget would be reduced by 5-10%.	Fewer resources for programs like Music and Art.
30 fewer hours of Educ. Asst. time than would existing allocation formulas.	Loss of staff in our library - a heavily used school resource.

The reductions cited above cause a domino effect when a school then prioritizes services. For us, this means trading in Educational Assistant time from the Library Media Center to support more psychologist/ social work time.

- Pat Delmore, Principal

Sennett Middle School

Under the worst case scenario, these would be our cuts and the impact these cuts would have on the students we serve:

We would face the reduction of three (3) special education teachers/case managers. In order to address this loss, we felt it would be necessary to convert the equivalent six (6) full-time special education assistants (SEA's). This conversion of SEA's would allow us to keep the three special education teachers/case managers.
This is a major concern for us given our large special education population. Our resources are stretched very thin now in providing support for these students in their classes.

The conversion plan would mean additional support duties for the special education teachers/case managers. The result would also mean less time for them to plan curriculum and lesson modifications with the general education and exploratory staff. The students would receive less individualized assistance and less support when they are in mainstream classes.
We would have to cut at least fifty (50) percent of a classroom allocation. The result would mean larger class sizes and an increase in the number of study halls. This is a major concern. The research is clear that the goal should be the reduction of study halls and the maintaining of small class sizes in academics and exploratory classes. This research comes from a study by the Carnegie Foundation - Turning Points 2000.
Students would need to be assigned to study halls during the periods when they are currently assigned an Exploratory Class; they would have fewer exploratory opportunities (art, computers, music, etc.). The academic teachers would supervise these study halls during the times they are currently planning with their academic team including special education teachers/case managers, working with students who are behind in their class work, and communicating with parents/guardians.

- Jan Dowden, Principal

Elvehjem Elementary School

Reduction in Service (if referendum does NOT pass)	Impact on Elvehjem ES students
Loss of 0.5 FTE Cross Categorical (Special Education) Teacher	Remaining 5.5 teachers will serve more students. In essence, fewer teachers will serve the same number of students in 18 classrooms. Fewer adult educators to cover the wide range of K-5 behavioral, social/emotional and academic needs of students receiving special education services. Fewer teachers to respond to health/safety and crisis needs of students. Because of fewer teachers, there will be an increased focus on health/safety needs and crisis response vs. a focus on proactive strategies and interventions. (An increased focus on reacting vs. preventing). Increased Individualized Educational Program (IEP) responsibilities (meetings and paperwork) for remaining 5.5 Cross Categorical Teachers. Increased responsibility for general education teachers to provide IEP modifications and services with fewer cross categorical teachers. Increase population density of students receiving special education services within regular education classrooms so that 5.5 cross categorical teachers cover within 2-3 environments.
Loss of 7.5 hours per week of Clerk/Receptionist (reduction of hours by 50%)	Clerk/Receptionist will only cover essential functions of basic attendance such as Safe Arrival calls and recording of daily attendance only. Phone calls to Elvehjem will be sent to voice mail more frequently due to the increased workload to the secretary and reduction of time for Clerk/Receptionist. Supplies for classrooms will be ordered less frequently. Field Trip scheduling/transportation and scheduling of substitutes will be arranged less frequently.
Loss of 5 hours per week Library Media Center Educational Assistant(reduction of EA hours to LMC by 50%)	Decreased support to and supervision of students as they select appropriate books to read. Re-shelving of returned books will happen less frequently. Limit the flexibility of student use of the library. Example: allow less opportunity for students to do research projects, fewer opportunities to assist students in "the teachable moment." New library books will take longer to process and they will take longer to get to the shelves for students to actually use.
Reduction of Special Education Assistant hours	Fewer adult educators to cover the K-5 behavioral, social/emotional and academic needs of students receiving special education services. Fewer assistants to respond to health/safety and crisis needs of students. Decreased numbers of assistants available to help with bus duty and loading/unloading of students requiring specialized transportation. Decreased numbers of assistants doing before school playground duty. Decreased levels of supervision in the lunchroom and on the playground during noon lunch and recess. Decreased assistance to kindergartners and younger students going through the lunch line and opening hot lunches and food packaging within the designated amount of eating time. Fewer adults assisting with cleaning tables, handing out lunches and entering hot lunch data. An increased focus on health/safety needs and crisis response vs. a focus on proactive strategies and interventions. (An increased focus on reacting vs. preventing).
Ready Set Go (RSG) Conferences Eliminated	Teachers and families will not have the opportunity to meet each other and exchange information prior to the start of school about: child/family needs, academic strengths/challenges and classroom routines. RSG Conferences will no longer serve the purpose of easing the transition to schools and minimizing any anxiety that may come with the start of a new school year. RSG Conferences brought families and children into the schools early and gave them an opportunity to meet teachers and see their classroom. This will not happen if RSG Conferences are eliminated.

- Lisa Kvistad, Principal

Madison School District Referendum - June 3, 2003