Today will be the last day for students, families and community members to take the Madison Metropolitan Schools District’s “Building for the Future” community survey.
The survey looks to gauge family, staff and community members on their perspectives to help guide MMSD’s short- and long-term district planning. It is a comprehensive two-year review of MMSD’s boundary and school attendance areas.
The survey comes in anticipation of an expected growth of over 100,000 residents of Madison by 2050, according to the City of Madison’s population projection published in 2023. The projection, coupled with the survey, will help the school district prepare for new housing developments, understand the current and future needs of MMSD and learn what families believe is most important for their child’s education.
“Participation in this survey is vital,” said Cindy Green, MMSD’s assistant superintendent of strategy and innovation, in a press release. “It will provide us insight into what families value in their child’s educational experience and guide the development of principles that shape our planning priorities. Just as importantly, it will give the community a clear view into how decisions will be made as we move forward.”
The survey consists of four questions. First, it will ask about your relationship with the school district, followed by a logistical question on whether you’ve heard of its Attendance Boundary Review Study before.
The third will ask you to select five important issues to you regarding MMSD from class size, school choice, time spent on buses, school safety and more.
The final question will prompt an open-ended question on if you would like to share anything else related to the Attendance Boundary Review.
Review of the survey will help assess current attendance areas, plan for growth in developing neighborhoods and help MMSD make sure that its programs continue to serve its diverse and evolving student population.
It will also help guide plans for two plots of land — Acacia Ridge and Sprecher Road — that could be potentially used for future school sites and programming.
After the survey’s end, data will be analyzed between October and February. Plans for community forums and feedback are slated for February 2026-January 2027. More information for Building for the Future can be found on its website.
The survey will remain open until 5 p.m. on Sept. 26.
