INTRODUCTION
        In this paper, we hope to clarify the various issues surrounding our efforts to
create a new school district. This effort has been and will continue to be a work in
progress. The field of education is dynamic and evolving. As such, if we are ultimately
successful in creating a new district, we hope that same sense of constantly trying to
create and recreate, the best possible district for the students, the teachers, the staff, and
the taxpayers of this district will continue.

Reasons for Creating a New School District ?
                        A Brief History - This process began on June 6, 2000 at a
“town hall” meeting at the Cross Plains Legion hall. This meeting was held in response
to a referendum that was passed, which called for an addition to the Middleton High
School. This referendum that passed by a mere 300 votes, had been the result of a hard
fought and hotly contested campaign. It was decided at that meeting to try to take
advantage of a new Wisconsin Law that allowed for the creation of a new school district
from an already established district. After that meeting, enthusiasm was high, and that
enthusiasm along with lots of hard work, allowed this group to accomplish what many
predicted would be impossible. Gathering over 2,600 signatures in 9 days was an
awesome accomplishment done by people committed to a dream.
        In a letter to the Middleton Cross Plains School Board that accompanied those
petitions, it was explained why this drive was successful. Quoting in part from that letter,
“The desire to have our children educated in a medium sized community school is not just
the whim of a few from downtown Cross Plains. In fact this petition drive proves that the
desire to have our children taught, formed, and socialized in a medium sized school is a
hope that is held by people throughout this School District.
        Since that time, much considered thought, and research has validated in our minds
the necessity of creating a new district. In our second district-wide newsletter, that
position was further explained. “There seems to be a misconception that the efforts by
the “Community Schools for Kids” committee, is in fact a criticism of the Middleton
School District. We are not being critical of the results and achievements produced
within the current district. In fact many of us have had our own children graduate from
MHS, and have been quite pleased with its academic results.
        So, while not being critical of the past, we are in disagreement with the vision, or
what we see as the lack of vision, for the future. Specifically, we agree with the
assessment of Richard Riley, Secretary of Education, who says, “When it comes to
quality education, SIZE MATTERS!”

     RESEARCH
        What does all of this research show, and what is so important about “size” as
referenced by Secretary Richard Riley? In a compilation of research done by the
Educational Research Information Center (ERIC), the studies concluded that the
optimum size for High Schools is between 300 and 900 students. Most research will
evaluate the issue of size based on one or more of the following criteria:

1. Achievement ? Measuring achievement can be difficult and rather subjective, but
more schools continue to give more tests in trying to make valid comparisons. In
quoting from the Center for Rural Affairs Newsletter, August 1999, we hear, “Bright,
motivated, and well taught students will likely succeed in any school. But are there
advantages to smallness that lead to academic achievement? Policymakers assume
that large schools are superior due to technology, resources, and curriculums that
provide a deeper and broader education. Yet a review of research literature exposes
this assumption as a fraud. Out of 22 major studies examining academic achievement
by school size, none finds that large schools are superior to small schools. Fourteen
studies find equivalent achievement, and 8 studies find small schools superior.”
2. Sense of belonging ? In an article written by Stacy Mitchell, a researcher with The
New Rules Project of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, she states: “Small school
students are less likely to feel alienated and more likely to report a strong sense of
belonging. Teachers in large schools might have 150 students each semester.
Students tend to be relatively anonymous and easily slip through the cracks. Small
schools enable teachers to work more closely with a smaller number of students. This
encourages teachers to go the extra mile and enables them to respond to individual
needs. The result is that both students and teachers have a more positive attitude
about school.”
3. Parental involvement ? When children have a sense of belonging as indicated
above, it is only to be expected that parents will follow in that involvement. Stacy
Mitchell points out that “large schools function like bureaucracies, small schools
more like communities”. In an October 13, 1999 speech given by U.S. Secretary of
Education, Richard Riley, “In a small school more young people get involved in
activities and parents are more involved as well. These are very important
considerations.”
4. Extracurricular Activities - In a study of co-curricular participation and school size,
Shoggen and Shoggen (1998) found that, on average, students in small high schools
participate in co-curricular activities at a higher rate than do their counterparts
in large high schools. Especially noteworthy is the higher percentage of students
in larger high schools who, relative to those in smaller schools, show no
participation in any school activities. The largest schools have about five times as
many available co-curricular activities as the small schools, but evidence suggests
that students in large schools do not take advantage of those opportunities. Although
small schools may not provide a wealth of activities, the average student in a small
school has a greater degree of involvement in the activities available.
        Most studies do not establish whether participating in co-curricular
activities leads to success, whether successful students are more likely to participate,
or whether both theories are correct. However, co-curricular activities appear to•provide
all students, at-risk and gifted students alike, an academic safety net. Students
involved in activities often experience heightened interest in academic courses, have a
platform on which to practice leadership and fellowship skills. Have opportunities to
socialize with students and interact with teachers outside the classroom, are
recognized for their involvement and achievement and have a healthy use of their
leisure time. The co-curricular program can be viewed as a training ground for
adolescents for participation in fundamentally similar organizations as adults.”
(Schoggen, P. and M . Schoggen. 1988. Student voluntary participation and high
school size. Journal of Educational Research 81 (5): 288-293).
This study of co-curriculars confirms what many other studies have shown
as well, that students in small schools have a greater sense of belonging and will act
on that sense of belonging, by being involved in their school.
5. Curriculum ? There is no doubt that the curriculum and teaching programs within
the Middleton Cross Plains School District are exceptional. However, that does not
mean that exceptional programs cannot be replicated in small schools. Anecdotally
we know that many of the best scholars come from a small school background.
Quoting again from Stacy Mitchell, “small schools may not be able to offer many
advanced or specialized courses, but bigness does not guarantee breadth. Researcher
William Fowler concluded, “Above 400 students, increases in enrollment made little
difference in improving students’ access to courses or in offering teachers the
opportunity to teach more specialized classes.” Collaboration and advances in
technology continue to broaden curriculum at small schools. Three rural schools, for
example, can each hire a language teacher and, by broadcasting classes through fiber
optic connections, enable their students to choose among three languages.
Collaboration is even more feasible in urban areas, where schools can share course
materials and even teachers.” Commenting on Stacy Mitchell’s last point, only 7
miles separates Middleton and Cross Plains.
6. Safety - "There is now a compelling body of research showing that, on a wide range
of measures, when students are part of smaller, more intimate learning communities,
they are more successful," Michael Klonsky writes in his 1998 publication, "Small
Schools: The Numbers Tell a Story." Klonsky gave a presentation to representatives
from the three school districts and his conclusions indicated that the current student
enrollment at Oak Park and River Forest High School and the growth that will occur
when sixth graders are added to the new junior high schools may not be in the best
interests of students.
        "When it comes to student engagement in learning, anonymity is the
enemy," he said. "Large schools, which often process students with bar codes and ID
numbers, sacrifice a sense of community and caring, in big schools-whether urban or
suburban-students who need supportive relationships often turn to cliques or gangs."
After the Columbine High School shooting, we have all heard the
Principal admit, “I did not know their names (referring to the boys who did the
shooting) or anything about them”. (From the June, 1999 Center for Rural
Affairs Newsletter.)
        Anecdotally we know that large numbers, close quarters, and teenage
anonymity can only lead to problems. Former Superintendent of the MCPASD,
Ralph Neale, has been superintendent and principal of both large and small High
Schools throughout his career. In that time he has come to understand that,
“when you are the principal of a High School, and know the names of all of your
students, your chances of controlling their behavior is much more effective”.
Not only are academia excited about the benefits of smaller schools. Both the
Federal Government and the Bill Gates foundation are making available substantial
money to help school districts throughout the country, to downsize their High Schools

Park School   K - 3      319 Students
Glacier Creek 4 - 8       428 Students
High School   9 - 12    460 Students

        TEACHER STAFFING
        Assuming the first foundation stone in quality education is a smaller school, then
the second stone is the teachers. We will look to hire teachers who are willing to work in
a collaborative effort with each other, with students, with the School Board and with the
Administration. We realize that continuity of staffing is a very important consideration in
the creation of our new School District. As such, we intend to work with the present staff
to make the transition to our new district as seamless as possible for the students.
However, there are certain Legislative procedures that need to be followed in setting the
new staff in place. , Wis.Stats. 117.105, addresses the job continuity of those employees,
        “Any employee of a school district from which territory is detached by the reorganization
who is laid off as a result of the reorganization has priority over other persons for 3 years
after their effective date of the reorganization for new positions and vacant positions for
which he or she is qualified in the school district that is created by the reorganization.
Any person who wishes to exercise his or her priority shall notify the school
district that is created by the reorganization, in writing, that he or she wishes to be
considered for any new position or vacant position and shall include in the notice the
address to be used by the school district to notify the person of such positions.”
        Teacher salaries will directly impact both our abilities to attract and retain quality
teachers, as well as impact the ability of our taxpayers to fund our newly created district.
Job satisfaction is a potential plus for teachers in small school settings. In a study by
Tom Gregory (Dec. 2000), it recommended, “… after studying the working lives of 115
reputedly very good teachers in a wide variety of public and private settings, was that
schools must be smaller.” After looking at the social climates of schools of all sizes in
22 states, Gerald Smith and I (Gregory & Smith 1987) came to view small high schools
as being good places for teachers, a point remade a few years later by Seymour Sarason
in his influential book, The Predictable Failure or Educational Reform (1990)”. Our
school is not a Big 8 School, and we will not try to compete with those schools in setting
a salary scale. Instead, we have taken the average salaries for the three surrounding
school districts of Verona, Mt. Horeb, Waunakee, and Wisconsin Heights in setting our
pay scale.

        CURRICULUM
        The third foundation stone of a quality School District is the curriculum. The
educational research that has been done, shows conclusively that “breadth of curriculum
providing better education” is a myth. A broad curriculum can in fact become a diluted
curriculum. At this time, our group has no authority to set up a curriculum. However,
we feel that our curriculum coordinators will be able to set up a dynamic, vibrant
curriculum that can take advantage of such unique environmental features such as the
Black Earth Creek, and the Ice Age Trail, along with collaborative efforts from the local
business and agricultural communities.

        EXTRA-CURRICULARS
        Student participation is the fourth foundation stone of a successful school district.
Participation will enhance a student’s sense of belonging, and that sense of belonging will
enhance that student’s self-esteem, and a higher self-esteem will enhance his/her
academic performance, and social integration. Whether that participation is found in
league participation, intra-mural sports, clubs, drama, forensics, etc., is not important.
What is important is participation! Please review the “research section” of this paper
regarding the benefits of small schools in the area of participation.

        CONCLUSION
        The complete “Reorganization Study” concludes that creating a new school
district is feasible. It is feasible based both on academics and on economics. The
creation of a new smaller school district will allow all of the students of the current
Middleton Cross Plains School District to participate in the advantages of smaller
schools.