In Christman’s case, the reasons were “affordability and convenience.”
Eliza’s “day care, 4K program and future after-school care are significantly less expensive in McFarland,” she said. “Since she was already attending day care there, it made the most logistical and financial sense for our family to continue with McFarland moving forward.”
Eliza has never attended Madison schools, so the decision to opt for McFarland “wasn’t based on dissatisfaction with Madison,” Christman said, “but rather on the practical benefits McFarland offered in terms of child care cost and ease of transition.”
In Morris’ case, it was dissatisfaction with Madison — both the schools and the high property taxes.
She recalled one incident in which there was a disruptive student in her now-12-year-old’s class and, instead of simply removing the student from the classroom, her child and the rest of the students in the classroom were removed so that the disruptive student’s needs could be addressed.
She also was not a fan of some of the district’s COVID-19 protocols, such as requiring students to wear masks while outside. She thought that the academics at Memorial High School could have been more rigorous, although she acknowledged that she doesn’t have a basis of comparison yet as her two youngest children haven’t entered high school in Verona.
She emphasized that her criticisms were not of teachers, but of some of the policies they were forced to work under.
“And just the amount of money that the community has been putting into these schools, and not sure where the money’s going,” she said. “It’s a combination of those things.”
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Where have all the students gone? Commentary.
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