School district seeks solutions for overcrowded Leopold Elementary

Tamira Madsen  —  5/21/2008 6:18 am

Troy Dassler, a first-grade bilingual teacher at Leopold Elementary School, wore a Band-Aid across his forehead at the May 12 Madison School Board meeting.

The low-key protest was a nudge to School Board members to focus on a long-term solution to deal with overcrowding issues at his south side school on Post Road. A short-term fix -- at the very least -- appears to be a given.

Over the last six weeks, Assistant Superintendent Sue Abplanalp and Chief Information Officer Kurt Kiefer have created an array of options based on research and surveys of faculty and parents. The options include remodeling classrooms, increasing the size of fourth-grade classes, relocating the computer lab to the library, or incorporating music and art in one classroom, since each room currently is scheduled for use only 50 percent of the school day. The project to remodel and reconfigure the classrooms would cost $20,000.

The administration will decide on one of several available options, and Abplanalp anticipates that decision will be made in the next few weeks.

But teachers and parents have hopes for a much broader solution for the school, which serves a large number of students in nearby apartments.

With an enrollment of 718 students (99 percent of its capacity), Leopold is the largest elementary school in the district and has twice as many students as many of the other elementary schools. It even has more students than each of the district's middle schools except for the west side's Hamilton, which has 736.

After transfers were approved to send students to other schools, an estimated 720 children are expected to enroll at Leopold this fall. Based on anticipated population growth in the attendance area, approximately 794 students could enroll by the 2012-13 school year.

"The board needs to direct the administration to make this the top priority because I think we need an answer sooner than next spring," School Board President Arlene Silveira said at a School Board meeting. "People need to know what we're looking at" with long-range goals.

Likely long-term options include instituting attendance boundary changes, proposing a referendum this fall to build another school, or "outposting" a grade level -- sending students and teachers who would ordinarily be at Leopold to a different school that has more space.

Superintendent Art Rainwater said the long-range initiative needs to be in place by the 2011-12 school year.

Silveira designated board member Johnny Winston Jr. as the point person for the Leopold overcrowding problem until a committee is formed to oversee the project when new Superintendent Dan Nerad begins his job on July 1.

The school district has made a number of efforts over the past five years to deal with Leopold's enrollment, with mixed results. Eight classrooms were added in 2003, a $14.5 million referendum to make upgrades to the existing school and build a second school on the site failed in 2005, and the cafeteria and several areas of the campus were remodeled in 2006.

Third-grade teacher Nancy Werlein, who has taught at Leopold for 20 years, said she appreciates the School Board's current efforts and is confident that it is committed to finding a long-term solution.

According to Werlein, parents and faculty have been frustrated for many years with overcrowding, yet the two groups remain close-knit and work well together.

"We're splitting at the seams. More kids are projected to come, and we don't know where we're going to put them," Werlein said. "We keep adding on and growing, but how big do you want us to get?"

Tamira Madsen  —  5/21/2008 6:18 am