A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

"Safe Schools/Healthy Students"
Madison, Wisconsin

Partners:

Madison Metropolitan School District Dane County Department of Human Services Madison Police Department

The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) serves approximately 25,000 students attending 29 elementary schools, 11 middle schools, four main high schools, one alternative high school and a variety of small alternative programs. Between 1990 and 1998, the percentage of students at a low-income level rose from 20% to 25%. Of the 2,114 net additional students enrolled since 1991, 83% were low income. The suspension rate has risen dramatically, and there are increases in the rates of truancy, violent and disruptive behavior, drug and alcohol use, low birth weight babies, and crime.

In addition to the core agencies, participants include the Mental Health Center of Dane County, the Dane County Parent Council, and the Dane County Juvenile Court Program.

The Safe Schools/Healthy Students partners will expand the availability of quality childcare, promote early detection and treatment of disruptive behavior and provide transition to the K-12 educational setting. These goals will be accomplished through a home visitation program, an alternative intervention preschool program, coordination of early childhood transitions, professional development for child care providers, books and materials for preschools, and the development of a city-wide initiative to develop high quality child care in under-served areas of the city. The MMSD will establish and extend programming that minimizes and controls disruptive behavior during school and protects and engages students during peak hours of youth delinquency activities. These alcohol, other drug, and violence prevention and early intervention activities include the expansion of a safe haven at three high-poverty schools, the establishment of a community learning center, augmentation of after school programs for middle school students, coordination of out-of-school placement options, increased staff training, an extended anti-violence fine arts program, and expanded service learning initiatives. The school and community will enhance mental health preventive and treatment intervention services through the implementation of positive behavior teams at the elementary school level, the employment of an ombudsman, establishment of a "safe space" at every school facility, and the expansion of training related to mental health issues for "fronting" personnel. The MMSD will implement its new code of conduct and design an automated security information management system to achieve a safe school environment. Educational reform objectives will be achieved through an expanded summer learning program, staff development, and the replication of existing peer-led math tutoring programs in the middle and elementary school setting. To enhance and expand efforts to prevent and immediately respond to acts of violence in its schools, the MMSD will assign educational resource officers to all middle schools. Security equipment, partitions, and locks will be integrated into the existing security plans.

The evaluation of the proposed initiative will be conducted and overseen by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families (WCCF), a statewide, nonprofit, child advocacy organization

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