Follow-up meetings set for ‘State of the Schools’

MADISON – Superintendent Robby Parker has scheduled follow-up meetings to allow residents to extract more details from his 2018 “State of Madison City Schools” report

Parker presented this status report for the MCS district on Jan. 23.

The first public meeting will be held Feb. 1 in the Central Office boardroom at noon.

“I encourage you to attend one of these meetings for an overview of the 10-Year Vision plan and to offer your input,” Parker said. “We’ve put a lot of information up on our website in case you missed the Jan. 23 ‘State of Schools’ address. Look it over if you want background before you come.”

To access that background information, visit madisoncity.k12.al.us. Then, click “Here’s the Vision for Madison Schools: Public Input Meetings Now Set For Input” in “District News” section. Also on this webpage, “Frequently Asked Questions” near the bottom of the page can answer most commonly asked questions about the proposed vision. MCS personnel will add questions/answers that people ask at community meetings.

Other public input meetings will be held on Feb. 15 at West Madison Elementary School at 6 p.m. and Feb. 26 at Columbia Elementary School at 6 p.m.

“The growth challenges will demand some bold solutions led by new schools, more Pre-K space and other initiatives if we want our system to remain a top performing school district for our kids,” Parker said.

“One issue on everyone’s mind apart from how we will plan for growth is, ‘Will we need to rezone for next year?’ We are looking at our school enrollment data now to determine how to make sure that each school in Madison continues to be outstanding,” Parker said.

“If rezoning is necessary, a proposed plan will be presented at the Madison Board of Education meeting on Feb. 22,” Parker said. “Public input will be sought prior to any approval of any rezoning plan. This is nothing new in Madison, and it is what keeps our system strong.”

For the meetings, Parker urges the public to dress casually and have questions ready for the school leaders. “We need your input,” he said.