MMSD introduces Family, Youth and Community Engagement office, outlines family-university plans

The Madison Metropolitan School District introduced its reconstituted Family, Youth and Community Engagement (FYCE) office at the June instruction workgroup meeting, outlining an organizational structure and several pilot programs intended to deepen family partnerships and increase student belonging and attendance.

Tyson, the FYCE lead, described an office organized around feeder-pattern teams that pair multicultural service coordinators (MSC) and student engagement specialists (SCES) with central office family coordinators. The FYCE team will use a family intake process and event-level engagement surveys to capture family needs and preferences and build a 104-family advisory council to act as school-level ambassadors. Tyson said the office piloted a Latino empowerment conference that served about 120 students and included an on-site internship fair.

Operational priorities include setting SCES caseload thresholds (Tyson reported plans for case-load rules that carry students for two years and proposed attendance-based thresholds, with targeted interventions for students below 705 attendance), expanding community-site summer programs at seven locations, and building a "family university" with tracks rotated across schools and community sites, including translation and child watch supports.

Board members asked for specifics about identification for direct student supports, how long SCESs would remain with students as they transition from middle to high school, and how FYCE would avoid duplicating existing roles (village builders, family liaisons). Tyson said the office will carry students for two years in many cases, will coordinate with existing roles (including an ombuds resource named Anna), and will produce implementation materials and training for principals and staff to scale family-engagement capacity in schools.

The presentation closed with requests from board members for a written "wish list" of resources and a clearer plan for staffing growth; Tyson said he would provide additional materials for board review.

No formal action was taken on FYCE during this meeting; the presentation was introductory and aimed at building the office's operational plan and relationships with schools.