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| Madison Metropolitan School District Madison, Wisconsin Art Rainwater, Superintendent | ||
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| BOARD OF EDUCATION Minutes for Other October 21, 2007 |
University of Wisconsin Memorial Union 800 Langdon Street, Tripp Commons Madison, Wisconsin |
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"Times New Roman"'>Meeting began at 3 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Carol Carstensen, Maya Cole, Lawrie Kobza, Lucy Mathiak, Arlene Silveira, Johnny Winston, Jr.
MEMBERS ABSENT: Beth Moss
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE
PRESENT: None
STAFF PRESENT: Barbara Lehman-Recording Secretary
The Members of the Madison School Board agreed to attend and participate in the Northside Planning Council and the East Attendance Area Parent/Teacher Organization Coalition (NPC/EAAPTO) Forum held on Sunday, October 21, 2007. This joint meeting of the NPC/EAAPTO Coalition and the members of the School Board constituted an open meeting of the members of the Madison School Board for which public notice was given pursuant to Wisconsin Statute § 19.82 through § 19.84.
School Board members who attended this public meeting gathered information on and discussed the following topics:
1. State-Level School Funding Reform and the Local Response to Possible Reform
2. Neighborhood Schools and the District's Long-Range Budget and Planning
3. School Equity Issues, including the Equity Task Force Report and a Potential Equity Allocation Policy in the
District
4. Communication with the Community to Convey Priorities and Build Trust
More than a majority of the members of the School Board were present at this meeting. However, the School Board members who attended this meeting did not make any motions related to, or take any votes on any of the items on the agenda.
Each of the board members had one minute to respond to the following questions. Ms. Moss provided written responses that were read during her allotted time.
1. What are you doing to address school funding reform at the state level?
Themes of board member responses: efforts to lobby the state legislature, coming together with other school districts, contact with the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, the resolution being proposed by Sondy Pope-Roberts, last year's efforts by the Communications Committee to inform the public, working with the Dane County Consortium of School Boards, efforts on the part of individual board members, voting for candidates who support changes to the system, support of the district's full-time legislative liaison, holding meetings with Madison's state delegation, attending meetings at the Capitol, encouraging people to join the parent/community group on the web.
2. How will you work to integrate into long-range plans our community's social and economic investment in our existing schools? Do you feel that the School Board should rely on closing schools to balance the budget?
Themes of board member responses: difficulty reaching the 70 percent of Madison's population who do not have children in the district, people's strong belief in neighborhood schools, budget constraints, long-range plans, reflecting the neighborhoods in the schools, defining partnerships, necessity for changing boundaries for the new school, maximizing the use of under-utilized space, willingness or unwillingness to take anything off the cut list, balancing the priorities of the district, putting children first, analyzing population trends and growth patterns, options for holding referenda, how neighborhoods change over time, strength of diversity.
3. In addition to discussing your thoughts on equity, we'd like you to comment on the School Board addressing the Equity Task Force report this year and getting an equity allocation policy in place for the next budget process?
Themes of board member responses: universal commitment to equity, implementing the current policy, responding to the Task Force recommendations, connection to race and poverty, student support at home, policy vs. allocation policy, transparent process, student discipline and behavior policies and the impact on children of color, inadequate funding issues, community support, measuring all the outcomes, full access to all district resources, Code of Conduct, expulsion process, value of assessment discussion, information on what programs are working and on those that are not, improving school climate, implementation of Value-Added system of data collection.
The Equity Task Force report is currently scheduled on the board agenda for December 3.
4. How can you communicate the School Board's priorities in a way that builds the community's trust throughout the budget process and year round?
Themes of board member responses: perceptions vs. reality, need for defining what needs to be communicated and how, tremendous amount of information that is available, variety of things that have been tried, need for suggestions from the community, everyone very busy--information goes out but may not sink in, looking for a mechanism to fit everyone's needs (people who do not speak English, those who do not have e-mail, people who are working, etc.), commitment to better understanding and meaningful communications with the public, keeping track of board goals, pod casts, not being able to rely on the media, citizens' budget, earlier processing of the budget, two-way street, having to pay attention to the information when it is provided, Superintendent search meetings, location of meetings, television coverage, open meetings law constraints, better meeting formats.
Wrap up comments by the sponsoring organizations:
One minute is a very short time to respond to issues of this complexity and
depth. Community is not organized in
terms of communicating amongst themselves.
There is much information that people do not take advantage of. Seeking common ground and encouraging more
people to take advantage of the information that the board and administration
already put out there. Madison wants more than public-funded
education; it wants more participation in education in the way the district
operates. Search consultant report and
meetings showed that the community wants the system to reflect its values. Changing nature of the community, financing
and demographics; community needs to find a way to keep its finger on these
things and keep the channels of communications open and get involved.
8. Adjournment
It was moved by Lucy Mathiak and seconded by Johnny Winston, Jr. to adjourn the meeting at 4 p.m. Motion unanimously carried by those present.
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