The Madison Metropolitan School District is considering a new middle school on the west side as part of a broad redrawing of school attendance areas that could also create an east-side elementary school and alter boundaries for dozens of schools. The district owns land near the Acacia Ridge residential area, close to Olson, Stephens and Anana elementary schools, that could be used for the middle school. A proposed east-side elementary school would be built on district land off Sprecher Road, near Kennedy and Ada Deer elementary schools. District officials presented the second round of draft boundary scenarios at community sessions that began last week. The plans include options both with and without the two new schools; neither building has been approved. The district plans to collect feedback on the current scenarios through early next week, then develop another round of draft maps. More community sessions are scheduled for December, followed by a districtwide town hall in January. The School Board is expected to vote on new attendance areas in February. Changes would begin in the 2028-29 school year and continue through 2030-31. The boundary review is intended to ensure every elementary school can offer five full days of four-year-old kindergarten, expand options such as STEM, arts and dual-language immersion, and bring schools’ utilization rates — a measure of students living within attendance boundaries compared with building capacity — into a target range of 75% to 85%. A west-side middle school could serve areas expected to grow as new single-family homes are built and reduce pressure on other schools. A district consultant estimated Madison schools gain about 20 students for every 100 new detached homes. With a new middle school, its projected utilization in about a decade would be 66%, below the district’s target, while Gillespie Middle would be at 59% and the other three middle schools would fall within the preferred range. Without a new school, Toki Middle is projected to reach 100% utilization in about a decade. Cherokee, Gillespie and Hamilton are now within or above the district’s target, but are projected to move into the recommended range by 2035. The potential east-side elementary school would ease enrollment pressure at Kennedy, Lori Mann Carey and Schenk, which are near or above capacity. Without the new school, Ada Deer, Lori Mann Carey and Schenk are projected to be near or above capacity a decade from now. The district notes that many children in the area attend Nuestro Mundo, a dual-language immersion charter school without a defined attendance area. Other schools face the opposite challenge. Regardless of whether new buildings are added, Stephens, Lapham and Marquette, Jeffrey Erlanger, Mendota, Lowell and Sandberg elementary schools are projected to be below 65% utilization in 10 years. Black Hawk, O’Keeffe, Sennett and Sherman middle schools are also projected to fall below that level. District officials have said underused buildings could host additional programs, and that the next round of maps will explore programming options. Community responses point to competing preferences. In a consultant’s survey of more than 900 people, 38% supported building new schools to address enrollment and capacity needs. About 51% favored changing boundaries, 49% supported expanding or renovating existing schools, and 25% backed adding specialized programs to draw students to schools with available space. Assistant Superintendent Cindy Green described the current scenarios as deliberately unfinished, saying the district wants feedback on what families support and oppose before preparing the next set of options. Building new schools could require a property tax referendum and lead to higher taxes. Superintendent Joe Gothard has said he wants changes to state school funding before recommending new buildings to the School Board. The district’s current draft maps and information about public input sessions are available on its website.