Schools

School Board Review Start of Year

MIDDLETON–The Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District Board of Education met for the first time since the start of the new school year and reviewed the successes and challenges while continuing to operate under COVID-19 safety protocols and staffing shortages.

Superintendent Dana Monogue said the year is off to a great start, but many students are needing more support, love, attention and guidance as they transition back to a structured schedule. 

“Our educators are being patient and kind while they help anxious students acclimate while they are also dealing with the realities of the ongoing pandemic,” Monogue said.

MIDDLETON–Students and staff of the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District (MCPASD) will be required to wear face masks indoors at district facilities, on school buses and at as spectators at indoor athletic events, the Board of Education mandated Monday.

In-person instruction will begin Sept. 1, five days a week with about 100 students participating in the district’s fully virtual program.

The mask mandate was made retroactive to August 2.

Superintendent Dana Monogue said it is “our ethical and moral obligation to continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, care for our most vulnerable students and staff, and keep everyone as safe as possible.

“Our operations will likely be able to continue largely without interruption if we continue to require masks in all of our schools,” Monogue told the Board.

Some parents asked the board not to impose the mask mandate and questioned their authority to do so absent an emergency public health order.

MIDDLETON–The Middleton Cross Plains Area School District Board of Education reviewed a presentation and recommendations from the School/Community Partnership which was formed to find ways to create a more equitable school district.

Superintendent Dana Monogue explained to the board that the School/Community Partnership is an open working group which began in January 2020 to respond to and prevent hate and racism. The working group had broad participation from district staff and parents as well as city staff and officials, Monogue said.

Five action teams were formed to address five topics including: raising next generation of change leaders; deepening and strengthening curriculum; attracting, retaining and developing staff; developing an incident response system; and examining police in schools.

MIDDLETON–After nearly two years in the making, the Middleton Cross Plains Area School District (MCPASD) Board of Directors passed a sustainability resolution prompted by Middleton High School (MHS) junior Daphne Wu and a small group of students. 

Wu, a student representative on the City of Middleton Sustainability Committee said she wanted to initiate a resolution after learning about other districts in the area drafting similar documents.

MIDDLETON–The Middleton Cross Plains Area School District (MCPASD) Board of Education discussed changes to the instructional model for all students in the fall. District administration presented a preliminary recommendation which would provide five full days if in-person instruction alongside a fully virtual option at all grade levels.

Deputy Superintendent Sherri Cyra explained to the board that families will need to select the fully in-person or fully virtual option by the end of the May. Cyra said the board will have to decide whether families will be allowed to change models at the end of the first semester or commit to their choice for the year.

Communication will begin going out to families the third week of May to gage interest in the different options. The board will review the feedback before voting on the model change at its next meeting on May 24. 

MIDDLETON–The Middleton Cross Plains Area School District (MCPASD) Board of Education approved the district’s first evaluation of the school resource officer (SRO) program and the recommended changes to the program proposed by the district administration.

The SRO program at MCPASD started in the mid-1980s at the high school and later expanded to the middle schools. The program has never been formally evaluated or changed since implementation.   

In June 2020 students, parents and community members called on the City of Middleton to suspend its contract with the MCPASD while the SRO program was reviewed. The Middleton Common Council tabled the contract with MCPASD, which provided police officers at Middleton High and Kromrey Middle School, until the district reviewed the program. 

MIDDLETON–This pandemic year has been full of altered and interrupted plans in the academic and extracurricular lives of students and teachers. Since it has not been possible to bring audiences to the Performing Arts Center, Middleton High School (MHS) Theatre has presented several virtual performances this year.  

MHS Theatre is excited to present its spring musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” on a virtual platform, available for viewing from April 16-18 only.  But while the performance will be virtual, the creation of Cinderella allowed some in-person gathering of students and staff in socially-distanced, masked cohorts, working together to produce a visually stunning, filmed performance.  

MIDDLETON–The Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District (MCPASD) Board of Education reviewed its first time evaluation of the school resource officer (SRO) program which embeds a police officer at each of the middle schools and the high school.

In June 2020 students, parents and community members called on the City of Middleton to suspend its contract with the MCPASD while the SRO program was reviewed. 

The Middleton Common Council tabled its agreement with MCPASD to provide police officers at Middleton High School and Kromrey Middle School. School district administrators said they would undertake a thorough review of the program to be completed by January.

Superintendent Dana Monogue presented the evaluation to the board noting it was the first evaluation since the program began in the mid 1980s.

MIDDLETON–The Middleton Cross Plains Area School District (MCPASD) Board of Education voted to increase in-person instruction for middle school students to four days a week beginning April 19. High school students will continue with two days of in-person instruction through the end of the 2020-21 school year. 

Superintendent Dana Monogue explained the administration recommendation to have middle school students attend four days a week. The start date of April 19 is intended to provide a buffer to limit the potential spread of COVID-19 from traveling during spring break. 

Wednesday will remain as a planning day for staff and virtual independent instruction for students. Educators have to plan for in-person and virtual instruction because they are teaching students in the room and over Zoom simultaneously.

MIDDLETON–The Middleton Cross Plains Area School District (MCPASD) Board of Education reviewed the latest updates to the district’s in-person blended instruction as the next grade level of students is phased in. While elementary students began Feb. 1, middle school students had their first day back on the day of the board meeting Feb. 22. High school students are set to begin Mar. 11. 

Superintendent Dana Monogue said the blended instruction model at the elementary level has been going great since it started. While 20 students reported testing positive for COVID-19 there are no cases reported that are associated with MCPASD as of Feb. 23.

Virtual instruction is also going well for families that are choosing not to return to in-person instruction, Monogue said. She noted families will not be able change models after high school students begin on March 11.