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| Madison Metropolitan School District Madison, Wisconsin Art Rainwater, Superintendent | ||
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| BOARD OF EDUCATION Minutes for Regular Meetings February 5, 2007 |
Doyle Administration Building 545 West Dayton Street, Auditorium Madison, Wisconsin |
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I CALL TO ORDER
The Board of Education meeting was called to order by President Johnny Winston, Jr. at 7:16 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Carol Carstensen, Lawrie Kobza, Lucy Mathiak, Ruth Robarts, Arlene Silveira, Shwaw Vang, Johnny Winston, Jr.
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE PRESENT: Jacinth Sohi
STAFF PRESENT: Sue Abplanalp, Mark Evans, Mary Gulbrandsen, Mark Lea, Bob Nadler, Pam Nash, Doug Pearson, Bob Pellegrino, Roger Price, Art Rainwater, Marcia Standiford, Ken Syke, Barbara Lehman-Recording Secretary
LEGAL COUNSEL PRESENT: Attorney Clarence Sherrod
Martha Vukelich-Austin highlighted successes as the Foundation for Madison Public Schools kicks off its annual employee giving campaign for 2007. She asked the Board to join the campaign through their Building Captain, Johnny Winston, Jr. A videotape was shown of what has already been accomplished in the schools. The response from staff has been very encouraging.
II APPROVAL OF MINUTES
It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Arlene Silveira to approve the minutes of the Regular meeting dated January 8, 2007. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
III PUBLIC APPEARANCES
Marisue Horton did not support the removal of the SAGE (Student Achievement Guarantee in Education) program. She felt this would tend to create certain schools for certain types of children. It was her contention that if 70 percent of the community supported the referendum, it also meant the voters support SAGE. She encouraged the Board members to visit the schools in question and ask the teachers what they need around the issues of overcrowding, low-income, enrollment, etc.
T.J. Mertz indicated that there is a misperception in the community that all MMSD schools have SAGE. There are different types of funding for lowered class sizes at different schools. He urged the Board to keep K-3 class sizes in mind as one of the last things to cut. He wanted to see an analysis of class size reduction items similar to the graduated analyses produced by the administration for the other possible $24 million budget cuts. He wanted it to be clear for the community. He also hoped the Board would consider a possible referendum for the operating budget next year on the February primary date.
Board Officers and Administration are scheduling different departmental meetings to look at programs that were part of the potential cut list. Requests for analyses can be submitted either to the chair of the Finance and Operations Committee or to the Administration. It was suggested that the monthly financial summaries may reflect some of the analyses.
There were no written registrations.
IV BOARD PRESIDENT'S ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REPORTS
Launching into Literacy is a series of workshops for early childhood educators and care providers sponsored by the MMSD and a coalition of area agencies. The recently expanded Launching into Literacy and Math workshops are now in their 7th year. The most recent series, held on January 13, hosted a record number, 325 attendees. Congratulations to Rita Kehl and partners in this initiative.
Gompers Elementary recently kicked off an artist-in-residence program with the Ballet Folklorico of Mexico. Members of the troupe will work with classrooms and students in music, dance and cultural exploration.
Sennett Middle School has been busy this past month. Highlights of January include geography and spelling bees, an all-school assembly and effective education program, and a Positive Behavior Incentive Dance, with increasing numbers of students eligible to attend! February at Sennett will feature family events, a Pennies for Pasta Food Drive competition, and Student Council Spirit Week.
A copy of the report is attached to the original of these minutes.
VI COMMITTEE REPORTS AND ACTION THEREON
A Performance and Achievement
1 It was moved by Shwaw Vang and seconded by Ruth Robarts to approve the Evaluation of Learning Materials adoptions in the amount of $58,971.57. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
No report. The next meeting is scheduled for February 12 to receive a presentation on the 2006 summer school report and the 2007 summer school budget recommendations. They will also discuss the possible expansion of the Nuestro Mundo charter school.
B Finance and Operations
Ms. Kobza reported that the committee met on January 22 and staff presented the forecast relative to the proposed 2007-08 budget which shows expenditures and projections if no cuts were made. There is a gap of $10.5 million that will need to be cut from the same-service budget. That will be the number the committee will be working with for the 2007-08 budget. There was a joint meeting on the same date with the Long Range Planning Committee to talk about elementary class sizes and options for this in the budget. The committee also met on January 24 to get input on the Citizen's Budget. She was very pleased that they had 25 participants and got excellent feedback. She is working with staff on that input to improve the budget document for future use. The next meeting will be held February 19 to look at athletics and extra-curricular programs from a budgetary aspect and to see where they are with the Citizen's Budget.
C Human Resources
Ms. Robarts reported that the committee met on January 29 and brought forward the following motion:
1 It was moved by Ruth Robarts and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the full Board put out a Request for Proposals to conduct the administrator pay analysis similar to the written information provided at the January 29 committee meeting by Ms. Kobza. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
The next meeting will be in March regarding the annual report on minority recruitment.
D LongRangePlanning
Three meetings were held on January 10, January 18, and January 31, 2007 with one more to be held tomorrow, February 6, to look at possible ways of dealing with overcrowding at Chavez and Lake View Elementary Schools. The meeting with the Chavez community resulted in a request by the community to work within their school to handle the overcrowding and to come back to the Board with some ideas. The two meetings in the East Attendance Area, and the third tomorrow, are looking at 10-11 possible changes that affect enrollment areas for different schools. The administration has been asking for feedback from the participants at every meeting. Attendance at all the meetings has been very good. People have been very pleased to get a chance to respond to the proposals that are being put before the Board. There has been much discussion and understanding is fairly high of the issues to be faced. The committee met with the Finance and Operations Committee on January 16 and talked about final revisions to the Considerations that the Board has when redrawing boundary lines.
It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Lawrie Kobza to approve the Considerations when Redrawing Boundary Lines containing revisions as reflected from the January 16, 2007meeting.
Discussion:
· Keeping children from the same families together.
· More specifics were given about the changes.
· No priority order; serve as guidelines.
· Limiting movement as much as possible.
· Model looks at neighborhoods vs. individual students.
Ms. Carstensen amended the motion, accepted as friendly by Ms. Kobza, to state that no area will be required to change schools as a result of boundary line changes more than once during a five-year span.
Discussion:
o There was a request that the Long Range Planning Committee specifically address the issue of student mobility and keeping student populations at one particular school as buildings become overcrowded.
o There was an additional request to look at assigning children in the Allied area by building rather than on a space-available basis. Mobility is still an issue even within a building. They will be placed in only two schools when the new school is built.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion, as amended, carried unanimously.
Ms. Carstensen stated that the next meeting would be held on February 12 to get a report on the comments collected from the community meetings and to review administration's recommendations for the East Attendance Area and narrow them down.
E Community Partnerships
Ms. Mathiak reported that at the January 22 meeting the committee spent time talking about what to do about the district's funded partnerships with community organizations. With community service funds around $532,000, there are a number of questions about how decisions will be made to fund which groups at what level, etc., based on program evaluations. There are current organizations that will need answers about their funding for their next annual budget cycle. The process must address funding for groups in a fair way and also address procedural concerns that the committee is sorting out. Because this fund does not affect the MMSD budget deficit, the committee wants to hold open the option of funding these organizations at the current level for 2007-08. These organizations will be making presentations to the committee on how they have used the funding and plans for the future so that it is not an automatic renewal. Four groups are coming February 12 and the other four in March. The committee would like to have recommendations for funding these eight organizations by the end of that meeting in March.
It was moved by Lucy Mathiak and seconded by Arlene Silveira that the sum total budgeted for Fund 80 Community Service Grants in the current budget ($532,800) be at least the same for the 2007-08 budget.
Discussion:
§ Total adds up to the funding for the eight organizations that will be presenting but not a guarantee if there is no accountable report. Motion preserves the money, not the groups.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion carried unanimously with Mr. Vang recused.
The February 12 meeting will also include an opportunity to hear from Lucy Chaffin on MSCR's supervision at school social activities.
F Communications
Ms. Silveira reported that on January 9 the committee met with many of the district's Legislators to review the district's 2007-09 list of state legislative issues. It was a very positive meeting with a lot of information sharing. The Legislators now know the district's issues and where changes need to be made. The main point was to focus efforts on one specific topic and how to move forward with that. They also discussed the need to clarify Wisconsin Statute Section 118.24(1) with regard to what administrative employees the district must offer contracts to. Senator Risser took that back as an action item to look into that matter.
The January 16 meeting looked at a new part of the district's web page that is being developed for getting citizens involved in the district. It will be a place for people to provide feedback and to get involved. This will be promoted as a way of helping the community be more informed and to get more involved in district issues. The Legislative issues were reviewed again and a suggestion made to re-clarify the list with one major item and the rest as supporting issues. Joe Quick, the district's legislative liaison, will then move in that direction of fixing the funding of public education. Staff will go back and make the changes expressed during the January 16 meeting and will bring back a revised format to the Board.
It was moved by Arlene Silveira and seconded by Lucy Mathiak to table the motion to direct staff to incorporate changes to the format and content of the legislative agenda as recommended in committee and bring them to the Board of Education as the Communications Committee's recommended legislative agenda for 2007-09. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
The next meeting will be on February 26 to review the changes to the legislative agenda and talk more about community conversations.
VII AUDITING, PURCHASING, TRANSFERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS
A Auditing
1 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Arlene Silveira that interim bills be approved amounting to $16,744,995.66 and covering the period of January 4, 2007 through January 31, 2007. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
2 There were no School Building Fund bills.
B Purchasing
1 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Arlene Silveira that the Board award a one-year contract to Gabriel Roeder Smith & Company (GRS) in the amount of $15,000 to provide actuarial services to the district based on their vendor proposal and interview associated with Request for Proposal #3100. The contract may be renewed for two additional one-year periods if mutually agreeable. Source of funding is the 2006-07 General Operating Budget. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
2 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the bid of $124,640 from Lueck's, Inc. for replacement exterior doors at Cherokee Middle School be approved with funding from the 2007-08 General Operating Budget (referendum - estimated at $140,000). Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
3 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Arlene Silveira that the bid of $337,605 from Lueck's, Inc. for replacement windows and doors at Toki/Orchard Ridge be approved with funding from the 2007-08 General Operating Budget (referendum - estimated at $487,850). Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
4 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the bid of $99,637 from Experimental Systems, Inc. for the Climbing Wall and Ropes Course at La Follette and West High Schools be approved with funding from the U.S. Department of Education Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) Grant (estimated at $105,000). Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
5 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the bid of $5,055.50/month from U.S. Cellular for cellular telephone service districtwide be approved with funding from the 2006-07, 2007‑08, and 2008-09 General Operating Budgets (estimated at $5,482.71 per month).
Discussion:
· Land lines vs. cell phones. People with more than one cell phone. Number of spare phones. People on the list who are not with the district anymore. Some schools have many phones, some do not. Radios in vehicles.
· E-rate vs. contract issue.
· District can adjust the number of phones it has in use.
A substitute motion was made by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Lucy Mathiak to adopt the bid for the contract from U.S.Cellular for cell service districtwide with funding from the 2006-07, 2007‑08, and 2008-09 General Operating Budgets and that the Finance and Operations Committee take up the subject of phone service, both land lines and cellular phones. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
FOLLOW UP: Provide updated list of phone users.
6 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the Board approve an expenditure totaling $311,202.80 for purchase of second semester student bus passes and ticket booklets from Madison Metro Transit System. The district provides bus passes to high school and middle school students who meet transportation requirements for indigent students. Purchase was funded through the 2006-07 transportation Services budget (reference requisition #55016). Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
FOLLOW UP: Provide information showing variances by school.
7 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the Board award a contract to Follett Software Company in the amount of $72,271.84 to replace the District's Central Library Automation System based on their vendor proposal and the product demonstrations associated with Request for Proposal #3109. Source of funding is the 2006-07 General Operating Budget. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
8 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Shwaw Vang that an award be made to WiscNet in the amount of $16,869.44 for Internet access for fiscal year 2008 with funding from the 2007-08 Technical Services budget. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
C Transfers
1 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the Board approve the transfer of $7,000 from the Reserve for Contingencies to cover expenditures related to security and bomb threats.
Discussion:
o Requests are submitted for restitution.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
2 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the Board approve the transfer of $291,984 from the debt service operating budget to the Reserve for Contingencies. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
3 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the Board approve the transfer of $291,984 from the Reserve for Contingencies to Salary Savings.
Discussion:
· Voters were told that referendum funds would be put into the Reserve for Contingencies.
· If not enough in salary savings at the end of the year, will have to come out of the Reserve for Contingencies.
· Less tendency to spend money out of salary savings.
Both mover and seconder agreed to withdraw the motion.
It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Shwaw Vang to table the motion that the Board approve the transfer of $291,984 from the Reserve for Contingencies to Salary Savings. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion carried 6-1 with Ruth Robarts voting no.
D Other Financial Transactions
1 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the Board authorize the District to participate in the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials' purchasing card program. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
2 It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Shwaw Vang that all grants and other donations received by the MMSD since January 8, 2007 be approved. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
VIII HUMAN RESOURCES TRANSACTIONS AND REPORTS
It was moved by Ruth Robarts and seconded by Shwaw Vang to approve Item VIII 1-90 in its entirety with the exception of any item a board member may wish to have separated out. There were no separations. Student Representative vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
IX REPORTS TO THE BOARD
A Common Council/Board of Education Liaison Committee
Ms. Mathiak reported that quorum was not achieved at the January 17 meeting so there was no formal meeting, but it was decided to go with the City Council policy which allows informal discussion without action or note taking. Discussion was around working on ways for children to walk and bike safely to school. The next meeting is scheduled for February 28 at 4:30 p.m. to take up the annual truancy report from the Circuit Court and to talk about the purpose and function of this committee as requested by Ald. Cindy Thomas. If possible, the committee will also get a preliminary report from District Security Coordinator Luis Yudice on police calls by school and type of call to report back to the full Board as informational and to help with the work on the Student Code of Conduct.
B Student Representative Report
Jacinth Sohi reported that the Senate met and discussed restorative justice. They watched a video called "Burning Bridges" and discussed how such a program could work on a large scale and how it could be implemented at the large high schools. At the meeting on January 30 they drafted their recommendations that they will present to the Board at a later date on suspension and expungement. They also talked about the Shabazz lunch program proposal. Unfortunately, the meeting between Frank Kelly and the principal did not happen yet. The larger problem is that Shabazz students have very little time in the Sherman cafeteria. If they could get an extra 10 minutes, they would be able to enjoy their lunch. The next meeting focused on high school redesign, Academics for Excellence, homogeneous and heterogeneous classes, as well as the charter school proposal from The Studio School. The Senate expressed quite a bit of opposition on the basis of not having enough money, how arts programs in other schools are going to be cut, and that there is not enough actual data on the philosophy to make it worthwhile. The Senate now has their own student-designed web site! The next meeting is February 3 to meet with Representative Spencer Black to talk about his proposal to remove funding for school safety and security expenditures out from under the revenue cap and the Senate can work on lobbying for that.
C WisconsinAssociation of School Boards 2007 Resolutions
WASB made a good modification to start the assembly at 1 p.m. instead of 8:30 a.m. so that people do not have to stay overnight. They adopted all the resolutions except for two: one that Ms. Carstensen was directed to vote no on was the math and science graduation credit requirements, which was resoundingly defeated. One that the Board actually voted yes on, after a lot of discussion and amendments, Ms. Carstensen ended up supporting the majority which was a no vote on academic credit for participation in sports. One of the problems with this resolution was the fact that if a district gives credit for something, a fee cannot be charged, and MMSD sports are supported, at least in part, by fees. She felt that would be a strong problem for the district. All the rest were adopted fairly resoundingly. The only one that was close was the proposal to exempt fuel and utility costs from under the revenue cap. Most of the discussion indicated that this resolution was a mere band aid and, if the problem is to resolved, the funding issue has to be dealt with and not by little pieces of trying toe exempt this thing or that thing. This resolution passed as well. The charter school appeals resolution passed; the MMSD Board did not have a majority no vote.
X OTHER BUSINESS
A It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Arlene Silveira that the Board approve entering into a two-year extension, for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years, of each regular education transportation contract with, respectively, First Student, Riteway, Durham School Service, and Badger Bus. The extensions would be on the same terms and conditions as the current three-year contracts which were approved by the Board, except for modifications to: 1) insurance requirements, to allow the District to immediately terminate the contract if the contractor fails to maintain the required insurance; 2) safety standards, to allow the District to terminate the contract if the contractor fails to maintain a drug testing program in accordance with Federal, State, and District standards; 3) the fuel escalator/de-escalator provision, to reflect current fuel prices and the actual costs to the contractor when fuel prices fluctuate; and 4) the daily bus rate, to more accurately reflect current costs for the contractor to provide this service.
Discussion:
· No adjustment for this year.
· Wait to approve as part of the budget.
· Was included within the ten possible items for reduction.
· Can keep what is in place for next fall.
It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Lucy Mathiak to table the motion for one week to make sure the contracts include language that allows the district to make route changes and to terminate any contract immediately for improper background check procedures. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
B It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Arlene Silveira that the Board approve the contract with the City of Madison whereby the city will provide space to and pay the district $23,500 for Madison School & Community Recreation's (MSCR's) administration of programming at the Warner Park Community Recreation Center (WPCRC) from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007. The contract also provides for the city to pay up to $6,000 in scholarships for low-income persons participating in MSCR activities at WPCRC, and the district to pay the city up to $1,500 toward the center's utility fee increases between 2006 and 2007. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
C It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the Board approve the contract with the City of Madison whereby the district will pay maintenance and preparation fees in the amount of $102/field/diamond/day for use of 2 baseball and 17 softball diamonds in city parks during the MSCR baseball and softball seasons. Source of funding is revenue from registration fees of participating teams. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
D It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Arlene Silveira that the Board approve the "Assignment as Interim Chief of Staff and Retirement Agreement." Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
E It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Carol Carstensen that the Board approve the proposed changes to Board Policy 6491 - Use of Buildings and Facilities.
A substitute motion was made by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Shwaw Vang to refer the proposed changes to Board Policy 6491 to the Partnerships Committee to get feedback from those who use district buildings.
Discussion:
· Concerned with requirements to have police officers and custodians and paying the costs for that.
· Add the word "charitable" before "nonprofit status."
· Asking people for identification numbers may be an obstacle for some organizations.
· Bumping provisions - how community organizations feel about that.
· Using kitchen facility provisions.
· Incorporate into the policy a date by which the district must notify people about summer time programming barring some emergency.
· Administration will codify current procedures and bring to the Board.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. The substitute motion carried unanimously.
F It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the Board approve the proposed changes to Board Policy 6493 - Use of Buildings and Facilities (tennis courts). Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
G It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the Board approve all four applications pursuant to the terms of the Administrators' Retirement Plan.
Discussion:
· A question was asked about whether it was in the best interest of the district in terms of the budget to extend the Administrator's Retirement Plan; depends on the circumstances of individual people.
· Administration will provide a list of who is in that situation right now.
FOLLOW UP: Provide an analysis of whether the administrators stay retired or come back as substitutes and their salaries.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
H It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Johnny Winston, Jr. that the Board award to Cadbury Schweppes, Coca Cola, Madison Coffee and Vending, and Pepsi Cola three-year contracts to provide vending services to the district. This award is to be based on each vendor's proposal associated with Request for Proposal #3105. The contracts may be renewed for two additional one-year periods if mutually agreeable. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
I It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Shwaw Vang that, pursuant to the provision of Section 118.15 of State Statutes, that the Board excuse 20 students from school attendance for the purpose of allowing them to enroll in programs for high school equivalency diplomas. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
J Old and New Business
There was no old or new business.
XI ADJOURNMENT
It was moved by Ruth Robarts and seconded by Lucy Mathiak to adjourn the meeting at 9:43 p.m. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Roger Price
Secretary to the Board of Education
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