Up to 23 elementary schools could add sixth grade classrooms this fall if enough families show interest, under a plan approved by a Milwaukee School Board committee Feb. 10.
Currently, about 40 elementary schools stop after fifth grade while others continue through eighth grade.
Of the schools that end after fifth grade, 23 currently have space for adding sixth grade, Milwaukee Public Schools officials said.
The goal is to stop families from leaving MPS after fifth grade, MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said. She said the district seems to lose students at that transition point to private schools, charter schools or other districts.
A consultant for MPS, 4MATIV Technologies, recently found that the district’s student enrollment tends to drop about 7% between fifth and sixth grades. Most other grades change by about 1% or 2%, the consultant found.
Under Cassellius’ plan, any of these 23 schools would be allowed to add a sixth-grade class this fall if they can get 20 students on board:
The plan, approved unanimously Feb. 10 by the School Board’s Committee on Strategic Planning and Budget, is expected to be up for final approval at a regular School Board meeting Feb. 26.
Principals at the 23 schools have been asked to meet with their School Engagement Councils and survey fifth-grade families by early March, MPS Chief Communications Officer Tony Tagliavia said.
The move could be a first step as part of a broader reconfiguration of grade bands in the district. Cassellius has expressed interest in adding seventh and eighth grades to some high school campuses, though she has also said some middle schools will remain just middle schools.
Rory Linnane is an education reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at rlinnane@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: These 23 MPS schools could add sixth grade this fall
Reporting by Rory Linnane, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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