Madera Unified School District
Encyclopedia
Madera Unified School District is a public school district
serving Madera
, California
.
. The school district settled out of court without admitting guilt but agreeing to change how school board trustees were elected, according to The Madera Tribune daily newspaper in 2008.
On Jan. 13, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled the state's budget proposal, which featured drastic across-the-board cuts to nearly every area that receives government funding. The trickle-down effect has an impact on school districts throughout the state. In the case of Madera Unified, the district is being forced to cut nearly $9 million from its 2008-09 operating budget as a result of the state's budget reductions.
School district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
serving Madera
Madera, California
Madera is a city in and the county seat of Madera County, California, United States. It is a principal city of the Madera–Chowchilla Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Madera County, and Metropolitan Fresno. It is located in California's San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2010...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
History
The district was first incorporated in 1966 to consolidate administration of schools in and around the City of Madera. The district has 25 schools (13 K-6 elementary schools, 3 K-8 country schools, 3 middle schools, 2 high schools, 2 alternative education centers, 2 charter schools). In recent years, M.U.S.D has added 4 new schools (3 elementary schools and 1 middle school) and completed Madera South High School (formerly named Madera High School - South Campus).Elementary Schools
- John Adams Elementary School
- Alpha Elementary School
- Berenda Elementary School
- Caesar E. Chavez Elementary School
- Lincoln Elementary School
- James Madison Elementary School
- Millview Elementary School
- James Monroe Elementary School
- Nishimoto Elementary School
- Parkwood Elementary School
- John J. Pershing Elementary School
- Sierra Vista Elementary School
- George Washington Elementary School
Middle Schools
- Jack G. Desmond Middle School
- Martin Luther King Jr, Middle School
- Thomas Jefferson Middle School
Alternative Education
- Furman High Continuation/Adult Education
- Eastin-Arcola Continuation *(Closed as a K-8 school during the 2008-2009 school year, now a merger school of Mountain Vista Continuation and Ripperdan High Continuation)
New High School
In late 2008, Madera Unified purchased land for a new high school in the northern part of town, the school will be named Madera South High School.Voting Rights Act lawsuit
Madera Unified's capitulation when faced with a 2008 lawsuit about the manner in which school board trustees were elected, as well as a judge's related ruling on the matter, has reportedly influenced other California school districts and other governmental bodies to change from at-large representation, which dominates the state's school districts, to a by-district system. Four Madera plaintiffs, represented by San Francisco-based Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, alleged that the at-large voting system resulted in racial polarization that resulted in the city's Latino majority of 82 percent being politically marginalized, which they said violated the state's 2002 Voting Rights Act. That statistic is slightly misleading, however, as only 44 percent of those eligible to vote in an MUSD election were Latinos, according to a press release by Anayma DeFrias of the aforementioned LCCR. The Madera case was one of the first to be filed under the California Voting Rights ActCalifornia Voting Rights Act
The California Voting Rights Act of 2001 was signed into law on 9 July 2002. The act expands on the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, making it easier for minority groups in California to prove that their votes are being diluted in "at-large" elections. In 1986 the U.S...
. The school district settled out of court without admitting guilt but agreeing to change how school board trustees were elected, according to The Madera Tribune daily newspaper in 2008.
MUSD Attendance Areas 2009-2010
- http://www.madera.k12.ca.us/dmdocuments/APP_0809ELEM.pdf (Elementary School Attendance Areas)
- http://www.madera.k12.ca.us/dmdocuments/APP_0809MID.pdf (Middle School Attendance Areas)
- http://www.madera.k12.ca.us/dmdocuments/APP_0809HS.pdf (High School Attendance Areas)
2008-2009 School Year Budget Cuts
The Madera Unified School District held a workshop on Feb. 15 to inform staff and the community about budget reductions MUSD is facing in light of a state budget proposal that includes billions in cuts in K-12 education.On Jan. 13, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled the state's budget proposal, which featured drastic across-the-board cuts to nearly every area that receives government funding. The trickle-down effect has an impact on school districts throughout the state. In the case of Madera Unified, the district is being forced to cut nearly $9 million from its 2008-09 operating budget as a result of the state's budget reductions.