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| Madison Metropolitan School District Madison, Wisconsin Art Rainwater, Superintendent | ||
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| BOARD OF EDUCATION Minutes for Special Meeting - Open Session March 15, 2004 |
Doyle Administration Building 545 West Dayton Street, Room 103 Madison, Wisconsin |
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The Special Meeting of the Board of Education was called to order by President Bill Keys at 6:05 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Ray Allen, Carol Carstensen, Bill Clingan, Bill Keys, Juan José López, Ruth Robarts, Shwaw Vang
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
STAFF PRESENT: Jane Belmore, Mary Gulbrandsen, Doug Pearson, Roger Price, Joe Quick, Art Rainwater, Barbara Lehman-Recording Secretary
A revised chart of the 2004-05 Balanced Budget (3/15/04) and a chart of all staff at Doyle and Pflaum Road by location and by job classification for 2003-04 (3/15/04) were distributed (copies are attached to the original of these minutes).
1. Public Appearances
Don Severson, representing Active Citizens for Education, submitted a statement indicating that the board abdicates its responsibility with respect to the fiscal affairs of the district and does not meaningfully consider ideas and recommendations from citizens which are different from or in conflict with those held by the majority. He stated that the district is performing below average even though it has been "proud to spend money" and asked for the Board's consideration of ACE's equitable funding proposal for extra-curricular activities and requested further information in this area. He listed some specific questions with regard to moratoriums and Fund 80 and called for a freeze on hiring, salaries and benefits for all administrative positions (a copy of his statement is attached to the original of these minutes).
Pat Smith, President of Local 60 representing the district's Grounds Workers, Equipment Operators, and Custodial Workers, spoke about the proposed cuts to the Grounds Crew and the plan to have alternate cleaning of the schools. He stated that Local 60 is committed to working with Roger Price and Doug Pearson but they are not happy with the cuts.
Discussion: Cleaning schedule would be every other day rather than having a split shift. A custodian would be on duty every day but not during the evening hours. Staffing analysis was included in the packet that looked at square footage per FTE.
Written registrations included one in opposition to cuts to Educational Assistant/Library Media Center positions.
FOLLOW UP: Staff will report back with a plan for dealing with clean-up after evening activities.
2. Announcements
There were no announcements.
3. Financial Transactions
(Packets included Contract Compliance statements and background memoranda relative to the air handling unit (3/3/04) and solar water heating panels (3/9/04). Copies are attached to the original of these minutes.)
a. It was moved by Juan José López and seconded by Bill Clingan that the proposal of $16,811 from Commercial Air to replace the air handling unit at West High School be approved with funding from the 2003-04 General Operating Budget in accordance with BOE Policy 5000.2.a.1. Motion unanimously carried.
b. It was moved by Juan José López and seconded by Ray Allen that the bid of $1,694,376 from Joe Daniels Construction for electrical upgrades and renovation at Lowell Elementary School be approved with funding from the 2004-05 General Operating Budget, Maintenance Referendum. Motion unanimously carried.
c. It was moved by Juan José López and seconded by Bill Clingan that the proposal from Solar Mining, Inc. for installation of solar water heating panels for the pool at Memorial High School be approved for a cost of 7% below the monthly cost of natural gas. Motion unanimously carried.
4. 2004-05 Proposed Budget
(Packets included a summary of the budget process; administrative budget cut recommendations to balance the budget (3/11/04); narrative supporting the administrative budget cut recommendations (3/11/04); and a chart of 2004-05 Revenues (3/11/04). Copies are attached to the original of these minutes.)
The Superintendent described how the budget cuts were arrived at and how the Board's priorities were interpreted. Roger Price described how the gap was derived. Highlights included the implementation of the revenue cap in 1993, the 1995 presentation of what was happening and the prediction of the inevitable "train wreck." Several things happened over time that have not been as bad as quickly as was first thought; the revenue cap changed over time and things were built in to keep the districts solvent (especially for districts with declining enrollment – only losing 25% of a student over 3 years), recreation was moved out from under the revenue cap and given its own tax levy. The Board of Education has reduced the budget every year without going to referendum except for one year. One other time was for operating budget relief as Chavez Elementary School was built. Without any change, the district will have to continue to reduce service by about $6-$7 million per year in order to keep doing what is being done now. MMSD enrollment has remained flat instead of the predicted decline. The $9.9 million is a gigantic cut. The Governor's Task Force on school finance is not expected to report out until late in the spring or summer.
Mr. Price referenced the updated version of the budget as distributed at the beginning of the meeting. He reviewed the changes (a copy of the talking points were distributed during the presentation and is attached to the original of these minutes). He indicated that an updated version of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers would be included on the web site. The budget will be ready within one week. Information is being brought out two months earlier and new budget software is being implemented. All the numbers have been gathered to produce the information and will be formatted by department by division. He added that the cuts have to be deeper, that the revenue caps were welcomed in the beginning and were supposed to sunset within five years. Districts have become more efficient but there has been no relief in the last few years. The train wreck is ongoing. He reviewed the talking points and referenced the staffing chart distributed at the beginning of the meeting.
Discussion: Allocations go out March 24 and reflect the budget cuts before the public hearings are finished. Spending does decrease next year's state aid but does not affect anything related to revenue limits. Dollar amount of FTEs included on the recommended cut list. Why there has been a decrease in local revenues. Look for partnerships with other municipalities for areas of efficiencies, especially on the business side. Number one priority -- protect class size in the elementary schools of math, reading, science, and social studies. Board priorities came into play after class size.
Review of the Cuts: Elementary allocation factor will affect those schools that have 15:1 all day. Trying to find a way to fund the IRT outside of the district. Reduction of one social worker at O'Keeffe. Many students become homeless in the district. Middle school discretionary allocation factor will raise the ratio from 1:100 to 1:122 students. Amount of high school extracurricular activities about the same as reduction in athletics. Rest of high school is reducing athletics about $500,000 involving five people. Moving people back into the classroom. Secretarial staff is a reduction at the high schools. Fee increase goes to $100 per participant. Gate receipts will be charged for everything. Educational Services case load will go from 9.5 to 10.5; staffing levels will remain good. District did a good job of meeting with those parents that were affected. TAG reduction from 8 to 6 staff members. Part of ESEA moved from operating budget to the grant; will have people but not as much to pay the stipends for teachers to come to staff development. EA time is hours for the LMCs; still support at the elementary level. Moratoriums--will balance off on two-year cycles. Trades positions are vacant now. Maintenance workers reduced from three to two. Reduces maintenance to $3 million. Human Resources will absorb the work in their staff. GLBTQ down to .5.
Discussion: Rationale for reducing the GLBTQ position.
Review of Cuts continued: Actively seeking a grant for the Stress Challenge program. District clerical staffing is out of the Superintendent's Office. Parent/Community Response is the elimination of Marianne Moss' position. Race relations now funded by a grant. No more movement to Fund 80.
Discussion: MSCR programming not meant to fill the 9th grade no-cut program. Very similar to last year's three different scenarios. Special education gets first access. Prevalence rate is now going down some due to the Centrally Coordinated IEP Team. This will be the last summer the district can use matching dollars for wiring under TEACH.
Recommendation to hire a private consultant to do a business analysis of the district administrative structure to make recommendations on ways to save money; have to put this issue to rest. Problem is spending money to do it. Could work with the UW business school. Virchow Krause functional analysis covered only a small scope and became a small part of the board's dialogue. People should expect a budget cycle longer than one year so that administrative contracts can be reviewed. Analysis could cover both areas separately; educational and business. Education side boils down to how much support people want at the schools. District currently has two administrators supervising 46 schools.
Seems one-sided if Board is being asked to suggest cuts when the budget is not available and allocations are going out to schools. Still remains a long period of time before the budget is passed and several forums happening within the next few weeks. Amendments are not proposed until May or June. Setting up a discussion after the public hearings and after the budget is released to get consensus around the cuts. Suggestions from Board members can be made any time and analyses can be made.
FOLLOW UP: Provide information supporting the fact that elimination of all of Human Resources and Business Services will not realize the gap. Update the chart that tracks administration reductions. Provide the impact of this year's spending on next year's state aid. Provide information on TIFs. Cost to the district of the Milwaukee voucher program. Amount of money lost from the TEACH program. Board members will ask to have questions added to the FAQ list as things progress. Provide the amount of increase the city is charging to use of park facilities. Develop a recommendation for increasing district rental fees for its facilities and for handling exclusions. Apply for a grant from the Foundation for student leadership. Add cut list to the website. Explain how the QEO has become the floor instead of the ceiling; settlement packages always described inaccurately in the press. Explain mandates vs. aids; how much is reimbursed and how much is actually assessed to the taxpayers because not getting fair share from the government (update the chart used last year in Finance 101). Include the fact that in 1993 the reimbursement rate was 43% and, if that had remained the same, it would have generated $10.3 million more than the district has today. Ms. Robarts was asked to provide a copy of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance report that refers to the administration-to-student ratios. Provide form for Board members to submit suggestions. Assemble past budget documents and Virchow Krause report for easy access. Provide the analysis done last year of the $28 million in the same format.
5. Other Business
There was no other business.
6. Adjournment
It was moved by Ruth Robarts and seconded by Ray Allen to adjourn the meeting at 8:02 p.m. Motion unanimously carried.
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