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| Madison Metropolitan School District Madison, Wisconsin Art Rainwater, Superintendent | ||
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| BOARD OF EDUCATION Minutes for Board of Education - Common Council Liaison Committee February 28, 2007 |
Doyle Administration Building 545 West Dayton Street, Room 103 Madison, Wisconsin |
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Common Council/Board of Education Liaison Committee meeting was called to order by Chair Lucy Mathiak at 4:35 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Board of Education Member Lawrie Kobza; Board of Education Member Lucy Mathiak; Mayoral Assistant George Twigg; School District Chief of Staff Mary Gulbrandsen (left 5:55 p.m.)
MEMBERS ABSENT: Alder Isadore Knox, Jr.; Alder Cindy Thomas
OTHER BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: None
STAFF PRESENT: Jeannette Deloya (MMSD Social Work Program Support), Ann Wilson (MMSD) - Recording Secretary
1. Approval of Minutes
It was moved by Mary Gulbrandsen and seconded by George Twigg to approve the minutes dated December 13, 2006. Motion unanimously carried by those present.
2. Public Appearances
There were no public appearances.
3. Announcements
There were no announcements.
4. 2005-06 Municipal Court Truancy Report
(Written materials provided in advance - Madison Municipal Court Truancy Report for Fall 2005-Spring 2006 and page 5 of 5 of the Truancy and Habitual Truancy Ordinance. Materials distributed at the meeting: Attendance Improvement Scaffold K-12 Overview 2006-2007, Habitual Truancy Conference (High School) Instructions, Habitual Truancy Plan Form - all attached to the original of these minutes.)
Mary Gulbrandsen introduced Jeannette Deloya, the school district program support person for social work services, who is leading the project to implement the Board of Education's goal to have 94% attendance. She also took part in a recent Channel 3 series about attendance.
Ms. Deloya noted that the school district includes both excused and unexcused attendance in its data. The truancy ordinance includes only unexcused absences. Younger children who are truant are referred to the county; older children go through municipal court. When the school district reports on truancy, it is in conjunction with attendance and usually is presented to the Board as a whole in October or November. The data reported at this meeting is only that from the municipal court.
Ms. Deloya showed samples of a staff development tool (PowerPoint) and reviewed the steps in an Attendance Improvement Scaffold for grades K-12. Work is being done (last year at the high schools, this year at middle and elementary schools) to make sure the same protocols are being used district-wide (letters, practices). She showed an example of the information available to staff on the MMSD web page about protocols and best practices. Some high schools are expressing concern about the high amount of work; staff is working to focus efforts where there is most impact.
DISCUSSION:
· Need to pay attention to appropriate staffing during budget discussions. Important issues; important for students to be able to come to school.
· City interaction comes through Police Department, EROs, Metro bus. EROs ticket (face-to-face) students. Resources issue; meeting with captains to develop strategies for using other officers. Analyzing students who are ticketed; recidivism rate very high. Working with Judge Koval regarding what happens in court. Don't know yet how much of a deterrent court is.
· Truancy connected to other ways students get into trouble; starts the downward spiral.
· United Way initiative regarding disconnected youth - just beginning to put together a delegation.
Jeannette Deloya noted that every four years a municipal team meets to review truancy and that this meeting is due this year.
5. Structure and Function of the Common Council/Board of Education Liaison Committee
Lucy Mathiak posed questions about the purpose and membership of the committee. Would it function better as an information sharing group, or should the focus be on joint areas of policy concern?
DISCUSSION:
· Found information sharing to be helpful and useful. Helpful when considering other issues. Allied information was very helpful for long range planning.
· Found it most useful when discussion focused on a specific topic or issue. Value in being better informed about the mechanics of another branch of government. Fundamental question of every liaison committee is "to what end"? By nature, liaison committees do not have much power, tend to be informational.
· Does the committee discussion inform policy decisions?
· Sometimes raising an issue moves toward changing policy (example - safe routes to school).
· Challenging to find practical areas of common interest. In retrospect, might have focused on one area (like transportation) and gone more in-depth to address policy changes.
· Information would be useful to all Board members.
· Would the discussion be more effective if the county was represented on the committee? Need clear mission. If it is to share information, state it clearly. More difficult to deal with policy. Could be a place where staff could engage policy bodies.
· Topics of interest might be what each body funds that impacts the youth in this community. Look at funding across all agencies.
Mary Gulbrandsen left the meeting at this point.
George Twigg noted that new alders would be assigned to this committee beginning in April/May. Lucy Mathiak noted that she would like to continue discussion at the next meeting, perhaps developing some recommendations about how to proceed and finding out what the Board of Education sees as the purpose for this committee.
6. Other Business
There was no other business.
7. Adjournment
It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by George Twigg to adjourn the meeting at 5:57 p.m. Motion unanimously carried by those present.
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Previous: 2006-11-15 || Board of Education - Common Council Liaison Committee || Next: 2007-03-28