Madison schools have implemented 76 out of 84 recommendations in recent years to improve student health, safety and wellness, according to a school district report released this week.
The changes were recommended by several ad hoc committees since 2018, with many stemming from heated deliberations over how to approach school security. For the last two years, a nearly 50-member body of students, staff, families and community members called the Superintendent’s Wellness Advisory has gathered quarterly to monitor the district’s progress.
The oldest recommendations stem from a 2018 committee report on school resource officers, also known as SROs. Two years later, the School Board voted to end its contract with the Madison Police Department to have SROs in schools. The decision followed national scrutiny of policing after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The Superintendent’s Wellness Advisory is also monitoring progress on proposals from a 2021 committee created following the vote, as well as ideas proposed by a committee convened in 2022-23 in response to safety concerns…