Madison School District ACFR Profile
This page is designed to help residents walk into budget meetings with a grounded, apples-to-apples view of how Madison compares with the six other districts on our ACFR dashboard. The rankings below are based on verified 2025 per-pupil figures unless otherwise noted. A rank of 1st means the highest per-student spending in that category among the peer group.
1. Total District Overview
Madison sits in the upper half of the peer group on overall cost per pupil, but its pattern is less about being highest everywhere and more about a mix of middle-tier spending with several sharp spikes in selected categories. That is why residents should look past the top-line number and ask what is actually driving it.
Top-Line Position
- Total Cost Per Pupil: 3rd of 7 ($28,958)
- Instruction (All Categories): 4th of 7 ($9,876)
- Total Administration: 5th of 7
Questions Residents Can Ask
- If Madison is 3rd overall but only 4th in total instruction and 5th in total administration, which categories are pushing total cost per pupil upward?
- Which of Madison’s 1st-place categories reflect deliberate priorities, and which may reflect coding, structure, or one-off costs?
- How does Madison’s spending pattern compare with district performance and student outcomes?
2. Core Instruction & Classroom Spending
This section looks at general classroom instruction and related instructional support lines. Madison’s picture here is uneven rather than uniformly high.
Where Madison Ranks
- Regular Programs: 5th of 7
- Staff Training: 7th of 7
- Textbooks: 4th of 7
- Improvement of Instruction: 1st of 7
What Stands Out
Madison is not near the top in regular programs, staff training, or textbooks, but it does rank 1st of 7 in improvement of instruction. That is not something to celebrate on its own. It is a line residents should examine closely, especially if the district is not clearly pulling away from peers on outcomes.
3. Special Education Services
Madison shows several upper-tier special education rankings, especially in child study teams, other support, autism, and learning/language disabilities. That may reflect real need, but it also makes these lines worth pressing on.
Where Madison Ranks
- Special Education (Total): 3rd of 7
- Resource Room: 4th of 7
- Autism: 2nd of 7
- Child Study Teams: 1st of 7
- Speech, OT, PT & Related Services: 3rd of 7
- Learning & Language Disabilities: 2nd of 7
- Other Support (Extra Services): 1st of 7
- Other School Placement: 4th of 7
What Stands Out
Madison ranks 1st in child study teams and other support (extra services), while also landing 2nd in autism and learning/language disabilities. Total special education is still only 3rd overall, which suggests the district’s cost profile may be concentrated in specific service buckets rather than being the highest across the board.
4. Student Activities & Support Services
These categories shape student life outside the core classroom, including athletics, counseling, health services, library/media, bilingual support, and remedial programs. They still reflect district priorities, not free passes.
Where Madison Ranks
- Athletics: 4th of 7
- Guidance: 5th of 7
- Health Services: 4th of 7
- Educational Media Services (Library): 3rd of 7
- Bilingual Education: 2nd of 7
- Cocurricular Activities: 2nd of 7
- Basic Skills / Remedial: 5th of 7
What Stands Out
Madison is not at the top of the peer group in most student-support lines, but it does rank 2nd of 7 in both bilingual education and cocurricular activities, and 3rd of 7 in educational media services. Those are not automatic problems, but they are still spending choices that should be read in light of district need, outcomes, and what is happening in more core academic lines.
5. Administration & Technology
This section separates different kinds of overhead and administrative support. Madison’s administrative profile is mixed, with several very high line items but a lower total administration rank overall.
Where Madison Ranks
- Gen Admin (Total Sub-Account): 2nd of 7
- Employee Benefits: 7th of 7
- Admin Information Tech: 5th of 7
- Legal Fees: 1st of 7
- School Administration: 2nd of 7
- Central Services: 6th of 7
- Gen Admin (Misc): 1st of 7
What Stands Out
Madison ranks 1st in legal fees and gen admin (misc), and 2nd in both school administration and the general administration total sub-account. Those are not categories to admire by default. But it also ranks 7th of 7 in employee benefits and only 5th of 7 in total administration, which means this is not a simple “overhead is high everywhere” story. It is a category-composition story.
6. Operations, Safety & Maintenance
These are the operating costs of running the district: transportation, safety, facility maintenance, custodial services, and grounds. High rankings here are costs to explain, not accomplishments.
Where Madison Ranks
- Care & Upkeep of Grounds: 1st of 7
- Transportation: 2nd of 7
- Facility Maintenance: 2nd of 7
- Security: 5th of 7
- Custodial Services: 5th of 7
What Stands Out
Madison’s operations profile is most elevated in grounds, transportation, and facility maintenance. Grounds ranks 1st of 7, while transportation and facility maintenance both rank 2nd of 7. Those are not flattering facts on their own. They are cost signals that deserve explanation.
Trend Charts
These visualizations show not just where Madison ranks in 2025, but where spending has been moving over time relative to the seven-district average. Higher spending is not a point of pride by itself.
Total Cost Per Pupil
Madison ranks 3rd of 7 overall and remains above several peers on total per-pupil cost.
Instruction (All Categories)
Total instruction ranks 4th of 7, which makes Madison’s sharper spikes elsewhere more important to examine.
Regular Programs
Madison ranks 5th of 7 in regular classroom instruction.
Staff Training
Staff training is Madison’s lowest-ranked instructional category at 7th of 7.
Textbooks
Textbook spending lands 4th of 7 in 2025.
Improvement of Instruction
Madison ranks 1st of 7 in this instructional support line, which makes it a category residents should press on rather than wave through.
Special Education (Total)
Madison ranks 3rd of 7 in total special education spending.
Resource Room
Resource room spending places Madison 4th of 7.
Other School Placement
Out-of-district placement lands 4th of 7 and is not Madison’s clearest special education spike.
Child Study Teams
Madison ranks 1st of 7 in child study teams, making this one of the district’s clearest cost outliers.
Autism
Autism services rank 2nd of 7 in 2025.
Speech, OT, PT & Related Services
Speech-related services rank 3rd of 7.
Learning & Language Disabilities
Madison ranks 2nd of 7 in this category.
Other Support (Extra Services)
This category places Madison 1st of 7 and deserves a concrete explanation from the district.
Cocurricular Activities
Madison ranks 2nd of 7 in cocurricular spending, which should be treated as a priority choice, not a built-in positive.
Athletics
Athletics lands 4th of 7 among peers.
Guidance
Guidance spending ranks 5th of 7.
Health Services
Madison ranks 4th of 7 in health services.
Educational Media Services
Library and media spending ranks 3rd of 7.
Basic Skills / Remedial
This is a lower-ranked category for Madison at 5th of 7.
Bilingual Education
Madison ranks 2nd of 7 in bilingual education, which should be read in light of student need and structure.
Gen Admin (Misc)
Madison ranks 1st of 7 in this line item, making it one of the clearest overhead categories residents should question.
School Administration
School administration ranks 2nd of 7.
Central Services
Central services is one of Madison’s lower-ranked admin categories at 6th of 7.
Admin Information Tech
Administrative information technology ranks 5th of 7.
Legal Fees
Madison ranks 1st of 7 in legal fees, a category that should be explained with specifics rather than glossed over.
Employee Benefits
Employee benefits rank 7th of 7 in 2025.
Gen Admin (Total Sub-Account)
Madison ranks 2nd of 7 in this broader admin bucket.
Total Administration
Total administration ranks 5th of 7 overall, which is why the sub-accounts matter here.
Transportation
Transportation is a high-ranking operations category at 2nd of 7 and deserves explanation, not applause.
Security
Security ranks 5th of 7 and uses a 2022-2025 per-pupil trend.
Facility Maintenance
Facility maintenance ranks 2nd of 7 in 2025.
Custodial Services
Custodial services places Madison 5th of 7.
Care & Upkeep of Grounds
Madison ranks 1st of 7 in this operations category, which should prompt questions about what is driving that cost.