On August 6, parents packed into Madison Elementary’s parent meeting — a room thick with tension — expecting answers. Instead, they heard district leaders recite policy, sidestep specifics, and shift blame to teachers who’d already left and couldn’t respond.
Independent post-meeting analysis documents:
Live parent testimony on non-enforcement of rules and worsening school climate.
Multi-year stability in proficiency before leadership upheaval.
A concrete accountability plan the district could adopt immediately.
What changed:
ELA: 53% → 61% Proficient/Advanced (2018–19 to 2023–24).
Math: Held roughly flat.
Decline began with 2023–25 leadership/climate shift and mass staff exits.
Parent testimony (selected):
“Bullying not addressed.”
“Concerns over special-needs continuity.”
“Concerns being dismissed.”
“I’ve met several times with the principal… she doesn’t even know my kid’s name.”
Leadership response & Policy 9130 shield: Superintendent Means directed parents to Policy 9130 — the complaint process requiring concerns to be routed through the Superintendent before the Board will engage. Analysis calls this process over substance: testimony is sidelined unless funneled through the office under scrutiny.
The binary framing: Means presented a false choice — either “oppositional language… or rally for the kids.” The report calls this a narrative trap that reframes accountability as anti-student.
Why it matters: As the administration itself said, “So goes Madison, so goes the District.” What’s playing out at Madison is a microcosm of the broader district collapse documented by the 2030 Task Force.
Means said several times “the community is worried about cost” suggesting dollars simply aren’t available to Madison; when one audience member pointed out the nearly 100% increase in the superintendent’s personal budget as a potential funding source, while schools are cut across the board, the room erupted.