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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 February 13, 2006 |
Doyle Administration Building 545 West Dayton Street, McDaniels Auditorium Madison, Wisconsin |
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Special Meeting of the Board of Education was called to order by President Carol Carstensen at 5:07 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Carol Carstensen, Bill Keys, Lawrie Kobza, Ruth Robarts, Shwaw Vang, Johnny Winston, Jr.
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE
PRESENT: Jesse Ayala
MEMBERS ABSENT: Juan José López
STAFF PRESENT: Sue Abplanalp, Bonnie Augusta, Mary Gulbrandsen, Kurt Kiefer, Pam Nash, Tim Potter, Roger Price, Joe Quick, Art Rainwater, Clarence Sherrod, Barbara Lehman-Recording Secretary
OTHERS PRESENT: Bond Counsel Julie Ebert
1. Approval of Minutes
It was moved by Bill Keys and seconded by Johnny Winston, Jr. to approve the minutes from the Special meetings dated October 17 and November 9, 2005 as distributed. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried by those present.
2. Memorial/West Attendance Area Demographics and Long Range Facility Needs Task Force's Recommendations of Three Final Options and the Other Final Options that were included in the Task Force's Final Report
The members of the Task Force introduced themselves. They informed the Board about how they worked, research and evaluation support, communications with respective communities, taking their role very seriously, working hard to be informed, no hidden agendas, never got to the perfect answer, did not address buying land in Fitchburg, urgency at Leopold, great opportunity, how capacity is calculated, impact on middle and high schools, careful decision making, respectful and thoughtful process.
Discussion with Board members: Worked very well together. Recommendation is Plan CP3A with others as examples of what could happen. Other options were inadequate and consensus could not be reached. Unanimous on CP3A; every option received comments from everyone on the task force. Considerations were honored as guidelines realizing that school size has an impact on learning. No research to support optimal school size; Leopold needs a quick fix and economics was the other factor. Task force did not believe it realistic to ask for two new schools. Focused on balancing low-income levels at schools that would have significant impact on the low-income levels at Leopold. Madison currently has some combined campuses. Representation of people of color and people who do not have children in the schools. Length of bus ride and low-income status were higher priorities. Considerations classified as guidelines and not prioritized. The task force members were concerned about how their work is going to be used and valued.
They were asked for their suggestions about how to improve the process: They did raise some concerns about the size of the group but agreed that all elementary schools should be represented. On-line forum was excellent. Transfer to the East side was answered as too contentious and involving too many students. Conclusions were that more space would have to be found within existing schools, movement to the East side, or building capacity. Could move toward more balanced equity over time. Space requires transportation; did not get into those things. Separate by attendance area and involve La Follette and East. Visit different schools, hold more community forums, visit with the minority communities, and ask neighborhood associations to set up e-mail, get some input from developers and City Council members. Tried not to take children away from schools they could walk to. Nervousness about changes that involved busing children past Leopold to Midvale/Lincoln. Issues best addressed by looking at communities' decisions. Bus ride too long across the Isthmus and did not stand up to long range planning scrutiny. Real problem is growth, not overcrowding at Leopold and not with the Midvale/Lincoln pair. Purchasing land elsewhere in Fitchburg was more costly and Fitchburg Planner responded that there was no place available to put a school. Fitchburg Planner may have responded that way based on the fact that there is no place platted for a school as opposed to no available land.
Advice was sought on the timing of a referendum if the Board follows the recommendations for building: Go to referendum in September and create a communication plan with the East side and explain the work of the task forces, their reasons, and ramifications. Do it right away so boundary changes do not pit people against each other. One school and one addition might be more manageable in April but a new school in Fitchburg should wait until September. Communicate about when the school would be done and the cost for taxpayers. Waiting will constrain the Board or increase class sizes. People need to know how it will affect them if it does not pass. April not so good if talking about budget cuts at the same time. Do not want a special election; operating budget is key. How long the increased capacity at Leopold would last. Using the plan for the two schools on the Leopold site did not advance because of last year's failed referendum and did not have full Board support. Capacity is needed in Fitchburg. District is losing parents to the private schools.
Recessed at 6:49 p.m.
Reconvened at 7:01 p.m.
3. Public Appearances
Don Severson, Active Citizens for Education, appreciated the work of the task force members and recommended that the Board make use of that to assist with identifying public policy issues that deal with the challenges. He asked that the Board take this information and talk about it in terms of transparency, completeness, and communication within the context of budgeting, long range planning, and future development beyond five years and how it will be managed fiscally. He asked for a plan that will cover the transition period from now until when the new buildings are constructed in this way instead of saying to people this is what will happen if there are no new buildings.
Deborah Gilbert, resident of the Swan Creek subdivision, stated that the numbers indicate a need for 655 more seats in 2010. The back-up example takes that need down to 523. That is too many children to bus to the East side. Build-build is a good option. It is tight. Have to build-build now. Leopold has six lunch periods. Have to build an addition. Need another school south of the beltline. The kids are there.
There was some clarification that the numbers did include platted areas but not the rest of the new developments.
FOLLOW UP: The administration was asked to provide the cost of building-out the cafeteria at Leopold and adding two rooms and the cost of a seven-room addition.
Beth Zurbuchen was frustrated to hear people say that there has been no planning. They asked for a solution to the overcrowding at Leopold in February of 2002. It was decided to build the addition it now has and to then have a paired school. She felt the Board should listen to the task force.
Kathryn Burns, kindergarten teacher at Leopold and in 2000-02 taught in a shared kindergarten room. Students were very adaptable and every inch of space was sued. Hall areas were used and there were dividers up everywhere. She supported the build-build plan but with careful thought about creating spaces. She was concerned about consistency between East and West. She asked the Board to determine what it means for the whole district, particularly what SAGE should be on the East and West sides. Morale is good in the school and the community wants to stay together. Leopold has the land to pair the schools and balance income.
There was some discussion about the need for a long range plan districtwide that includes the La Follette area. It was suggested that the Board should look at the attendance areas where there is a projected decline in seats in five years.
Randy Smith, Swan Creek resident, made the decision to purchase his home when it was in the Oregon School District. They were moved to the Leopold attendance area and they chose Leopold. He stated that the seven classrooms will only alleviate Leopold's problems. He thought another school was needed and that all the capacity consideration should be abided by.
There were no written registrations.
4. Announcements
There were no announcements.
5. Alternative Uses of the DoyleAdministrationBuildingincluding the Possibility of Selling or Leasing the Building
(Packets included a Doyle Property Analysis (2/8/06). A copy is attached to the original of these minutes.)
Deferred to a future meeting.
6. Memorial/West Attendance Area Demographics and Long Range Facility Needs Task Force's Recommendations of Three Final Options and the Other Final Options that were included in the Task Force's Final Report
(Packets included a report detailing the long range planning process used by the District to address both facility usage and facility Maintenance (2/9/06). A copy is attached to the original of these minutes.)
It was moved by Johnny Winston, Jr. and seconded by Shwaw Vang to direct the Administration to investigate possible land purchases in the Leopold Attendance Area or near the Leopold Attendance Area, including Oregonand VeronaSchool Districts.
Discussion: Buildings are too close together in the district. Disadvantage to having people know that the district is searching for land. Land is already owned. Separate or paired schools have not yet been explored. Short-term plan vs. long-term plan for Leopold. Cost to taxpayers for addition onto Leopold with an average $223,000 home is $5.84. Cost to taxpayer to build a new school at $17,700,000 on the far west side $23.86 at the high point then diminishes from that point on.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion carried 5-1 with Bill Keys voting no and Juan José López absent.
Discussion: Addition onto Leopold will take 18 months (2007-08) then open mid-year. Operating budget has to be a separate question. Administration has an interim plan. Outposting is not zero cost. Hoyt is not set up as an elementary school. Difficult to outpost an entire grade because of lack of space. Leopold can handle the situation for one more year. Pressing issue tonight is an April referendum and set a timeline. Cannot go to State Trust Fund. Whole decision was not delegated to the task force. Have to match capacities to growth over the next 5-10 years. Solutions may have to do with program changes. Have not heard from the Equity Task Force. May be able to use busing and boundary changes to better balance low income. Might get better community input from moving resources to the neediest schools even if it means increasing class sizes.
If there was agreement to go before the voters in April, a decision had to be made tonight. None of the proposed boundary changes or busing problems were generated for the purpose of balancing income. Need to face Leopold directly. Whether people are attracted through program or through changing boundaries, the problem remains that there is not enough space for the anticipated number of students.
Wright and Spring Harbor Middle Schools were to deal with the overcrowding. Cost of magnet schools - they are niche schools, transportation has to be provided, depends on the magnet made, usually a market study is done, very difficult to predict what an individual population will want, more expensive, requires much planning, difficult to sustain over time.
Ms. Kobza introduced two other options she asked to have run that were handed out this evening (copies are attached to the original of these minutes). Both of them have children moving across the Isthmus. Both may work but cause concerns with parents. She indicated that if a building were to be located in South Fitchburg, then a permanent solution by redistricting may not be wanted. She felt a decision would need to be made within the next couple months.
Discussion: Long negotiations to get a piece of property; length of time from a referendum until a new school can open (28 months); restructuring the inside of Leopold rather than building on to it; supporting something less than the seven room addition; making a decision within a certain timeline; need for looking at middle and high school enrollment changes as well; rationale for deciding by April 15 - budget and need for certainty on the part of parents.
Mr. Winston attempted to make a motion to direct the Administration to investigate possible donors in exchange for naming rights to future buildings, but this was not relative to the agenda.
FOLLOW UP: Include in the executive summary not renovating the existing building and cost to the taxpayer. Administration will provide an analysis of how students would be assigned when a new school is built. Administration will also provide a binder that contains all the long range planning processes and accompanying documents that can be reviewed annually.
Next steps: By April 15, 2006, decide on a plan for Leopold and for the Memorial Attendance Area and on what is to be put in place if the referendum fails.
The remaining items on the agenda were not taken up. Other documents provided for this meeting were: options I and II of the initial resolutions, revenue limit resolution, and referendum resolution; potential numbers of students living straight south of the beltline; administration thoughts about when to schedule referendum; projected vs. actual enrollment, sorted by Memorial and West attendance areas for elementary only; options with development numbers added to data sheet if new development moved; responses to questions from Carol Carstensen; illustration of 1 mile radius around each elementary school; Lawrie Kobza request to maps and data sheets moving the Coliseum area to Lapham/Marquette and Leopold to Midvale/Lincoln and moving the Coliseum area to Franklin/Randall, Bayview to Lapham/Marquette, and Leopold to Midvale/Lincoln (copies area attached to the original of these minutes).
7. Referendum election regarding the Memorial/West Attendance Area Demographics and LongRangeFacility Needs Task Force's recommendations to build a new school on the far west side and to build an addition onto LeopoldElementary School
8. Initial Resolution Number I authorizing general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $17,700,000 (new elementary School: LindenParkSite)
9. Initial Resolution Number II authorizing general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $4,350,000 (addition: LeopoldSchool)
10. Initial Resolution Number I authorizing general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $22,050,000 (new elementary school: LindenParkSite and addition: LeopoldSchool)
11. Resolution authorizing the School Districtbudget to exceed revenue limit by $593,165 for recurring purposes
12. Resolution providing for a referendum election on the questions of the approval of initial resolutions authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds in an amount up to $22,050,000 and a resolution authorizing the School Districtbudget to exceed revenue limit by $593,165 for recurring purposes.
13. Other Business
There is no other business.
14. Adjournment
It was moved by Bill Keys and seconded by Ruth Robarts to adjourn the meeting at 9:34 p.m. Motion unanimously carried by those present.
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