Equal Funding for LaFollette

Sharing this via the LaFollette Booster Club from the LENA Facebook page:

Long but important post ahead:

We are a group of La Follette parents (current, future, and past) who want to bring your attention to some serious inequities in funding within our district. We were elated when the MMSD funding referendum passed in November as it will allow La Follette to receive some much-needed improvements to its facilities. The referendum designates equal funding to the four Madison high schools which gave us hope as La Follette High School consistently comes up short in terms of district support in the areas of capital improvements, courses offered and staffing of courses.

At the January Board meeting, we learned that the MMSD Board approved a $10 million request in capital improvements for Memorial High School. This funding is coming from private fundraising and will be above and beyond the funding received from the referendum. In addition, much to our disbelief, it is our understanding that an additional $10 million capital improvement proposal will be considered for both Memorial and West High Schools at the Board’s meeting on February 22nd.

What does this mean for our students?

In simple terms, this means the westside high schools stand to gain $20 million in additional new buildings which translates to potential new fine art centers for Memorial and West students. This action completely contradicts MMSD's mission to promote equitable learning and close achievement gaps among our students. MMSD cites Building Excellence as a tool it is using to provide resources to identify and prioritize needs through a cyclical process that will allow for greater transparency and accountability, and this new approach will ensure that our facilities equitably serve teaching and learning needs district-wide.

We need your help to have La Follette voices heard!

There are several ways you can help us help La Follette.

1. Read this letter / letter in espanol addressed to the MMSD School Board and Dr. Carlton Jenkins and fill out this form to sign in support.     https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSfHFIIAhgf.../viewform...
2. Attend the MMSD School Board Meeting on Monday, Feb 22nd at 6 pm to register your support of equitable funding for La Follette.
3. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! WE NEED LA FOLLETTE PARENTS' VOICES HEARD. Register to speak at the Board meeting.
   • To register to speak, you must log in 30 minutes before the meeting.
   • The link to speak will be on https://board.madison.k12.wi.us/ under Board Meeting Access
   • When you register you will have to include your name, email, agenda item number, and indicate whether you are in favor or opposed to the agenda item.
   • If you speak you are limited to 3 minutes.
4. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! WE NEED LA FOLLETTE PARENTS' VOICES HEARD. Send your own written support statement: Written Support or Written Statement

To register a written statement, go to https://madisonmetro.az1.qualtrics.com/.../SV...

You can submit a statement starting at noon on Friday, Feb. 19 until 3 pm on Monday, Feb. 22.
To reach all seven board members, please use the following group e-mail address: board@madison.k12.wi.us

Please reach out to Corey and Katy Finkelmeyer, La Follette Booster Club Presidents at finkelmeyer@outlook.com with questions or comments.

Thank you for your support of La Follette!