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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 April 24, 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 5:01 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Carol Carstensen, Lawrie Kobza, Lucy Mathiak, Ruth Robarts, Arlene Silveira, Shwaw Vang, Johnny Winston, Jr.
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES
PRESENT: Connor Gants
STAFF PRESENT: Sue Abplanalp, Frank Crisafi, Mark Evans, Mary Gulbrandsen, Pam Nash, Roger Price, Joe Quick, Art Rainwater, Mary Ramberg, June Wilson, Barbara Lehman-Recording Secretary
OPEN SESSION
1. Swearing in of newly elected MadisonSchoolBoard Members
Arlene Silveira and Lucy Mathiak took the official oath of office officiated by Carol Carstensen.
It was moved by Ruth Robarts and seconded by Shwaw Vang to go into executive session pursuant to Wis. Stat. Sections 19.85(1)(a)(c)(e)(f)(g); 118.125; and 120.13(1)(c); and Subchapter IV of Chapter 111 for the purpose of approving executive session minutes and reviewing disciplinary action recommended to be taken against six students. Motion unanimously carried.
MEETING CONTINUED IN EXECUTIVE SESSION
OPEN SESSION
June Wilson left at this time. All seven board members were present. Student Representative Connor Gants joined the meeting at this staff as well as the following staff: Sue Abplanalp, Mark Evans, Mary Gulbrandsen, Jack Jorgensen, Bob Nadler, Pam Nash, Doug Pearson, Roger Price, Art Rainwater, Mary Ramberg.
4. Approval of Minutes
It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Ruth Robarts to approve the minutes from the special meeting in open session dated April 10, 2005 as distributed. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
5. Public Appearances
Theresa Stuesser, Studio School representative, Madison resident and educator, asked for support for the planning grant for the Studio School so that the project could continue and this school of choice could be made available in the community.
Nancy Donahue, Studio School, wanted to work with the district to continue developing plans for the charter school. She thought Madison would be receptive to the school.
There was some discussion regarding the board commitment at this juncture. DPI would not award the research funds until the district is on board. There was also concern about maintaining the same student population representation in each school and transportation. This motion would only allow the Studio School to plan. Charter proposes to use fine arts in the regular classroom to give students a variety of experiences as opposed to creating a product.
Sarah Groessel supported the Studio School noting that the curriculum is new to this district but has been in several other schools and has worked very well. Her daughter has thrived in this system. They wanted to have some choices and support the public school system.
Arthur Richardson works with an after school program in Madison. He has a production company and partners with MSCR. He is doing work now at several high schools. He just finished a song with some students using a computer with recording equipment on it. He was informed about the Studio School and thought it sounded great. He indicated that the group is very passionate and he supported them and their request for $10,000 to do more research.
Kristin Forde, former teacher, supported the Studio School as well. In her last year of teaching she played Hip Hop music and the response from the students was phenomenal. She kept seeing the same things over and over for children in a traditional setting and it does not work for them. She felt frustrated so she left. She believed the work could be done to answer all the board's questions and she hoped it would be supported at this level.
Bryan Grau asked the board to support the Studio School indicating that it is becoming more obvious to Madison the commitment the board has to this community and to take a risk. The community wants more choices. Their first two years at Nuestro Mundo have been really successful and he indicated that the board would be hearing more from them. Nuestro Mundo has been chosen as one of three charter schools in the state to be showcased to the nation.
There were eight written registrations in support of the Studio School grant application and one opposed to any further cuts to the MMSD Library Pages.
6. Announcements
There were no announcements.
7. Application for CharterSchoolPlanning Phase Funds for the Proposed StudioCharterSchool
(Packets included the application from The Studio School, Inc. for a charter school planning grant. A copy is attached to the original of these minutes.)
It was moved by Johnny Winston, Jr. and seconded by Shwaw Vang to approve the application for Charter School Planning Phase Funds for the proposed Studio Charter School.
Discussion: Want the group to think about a little disconnect by starting K-2 when giving children opportunities outside the regular classroom happens a little later. Want to think about new programming from the very beginning. Want to avoid sorting process for kids who are non-traditional learners and doing some kind of remedial thing. Initial concern with cost of set up is significant. Arts are part of classrooms now and help all children to have some of these experiences. Also have to look at cost of not having choices for parents and programs that get students off to a good start. Good experiment.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion carried 6-1 with Carol Carstensen voting no.
8. Financial Transactions
(Packets included Contract Compliance statements. Copies are attached to the original of these minutes.)
a. It was moved by Johnny Winston, Jr. and seconded by Shwaw Vang to approve the sale of the La Follette Trades House at 6625 Broad Creek Boulevard.
(Packets included background/recommendation information (4/19/06) and an Offer to Purchase. Copies are attached to the original of these minutes.)
Discussion: Net profit will go back to purchasing the next lot and materials for the next house.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
Johnny Winston, Jr. recused himself.
b. It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Ruth Robarts to approve the sale of a 1.4 acre parcel situated at the corner of Sprecher Road and Wyalusing Drive to the City of Madison for use as the site of a new fire station.
(Packets included negotiation information from Business Services (4/20/06) and outside Legal Counsel (4/10/06). Copies are attached to the original of these minutes.)
Discussion: Cooperative process. District has 24 acres and will need about 12-15 acres for a future school. There is a park to the East. District would have to put in a street. Lots would be available for future trades houses. An assessment was done and the Offer exceeds that range. Opens this area up to be marketed.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried 6-0 with Johnny Winston, Jr. recused.
Johnny Winston, Jr. returned.
c. It was moved by Johnny Winston, Jr. and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the bid from Forward Electric in the amount of $856,925 for an electrical upgrade at Sennett Middle School be approved with funding from the 2006-07 General Operating Budget.
Discussion: Reason for difference between bid and estimate - increased scope, increased labor and material costs. The changes were described. Concerns were expressed with having no other bidders and the timing of the RFP.
Mr. Winston withdrew his motion. This was not accepted.
Discussion: Option to reject the bid and re-bid and consequences for waiting until next year. Referendum project list will have to be readjusted. Serious need at Sennett. Additional cost to scaling back and staying within budget. Staffing losses at Building Services and Purchasing. Trying to do as much as possible once the contractor is there.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion carried 5-2 with Shwaw Vang and Johnny Winston, Jr. voting no.
d. It was moved by Johnny Winston, Jr. and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the bid from SRI Consultants for consulting services for roofing districtwide, with a total score of 359 points, be approved with funding from the 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09 General Operating Budgets.
Discussion: Future packets will contain more information about the financial transactions. Confirmed that SRI scored second cheapest and that the district has worked with them before.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
e. It was moved by Johnny Winston, Jr. and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the bid from Onyx Special Services, with a total score of 91.3, for environmental services work districtwide be approved with funding from the 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09 General Operating Budgets.
(Packets included information on the scoring process. A copy is attached to the original of these minutes.)
Discussion: Second least expensive. They have been used before. Impossible to estimate 2006‑07 price because used for asbestos abatement and emergency response.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
f. It was moved by Johnny Winston, Jr. and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the bid from BJ Electric for electrical light fixture replacement at Sandburg Elementary School be approved with funding from the 2006-07 General Operating Budget. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
Recessed at 7:35 p.m.
Reconvened at 7:47 p.m.
9. Proposed 2006-07 MMSD Budget
(Packets included the 2006-07 Budget PowerPoint presentation, an Executive Summary of the 2006-07 school year budget, Financial Summaries, and the Department & Division Detailed Budgets. Copies are attached to the original of these minutes.)
Mr. Rainwater distributed a matrix of "Chapter 9 Source Definitions" and a chart entitled "Proposed Operating Budget Cuts Summary Cost-to-Continue to Balanced Budget" (copies are attached to the original of these minutes). He offered to provide any analysis or reports the board needed. The presentation highlights included: the budget process, understanding the accounting system, the proposed superintendent's budget, reading the budget document, and highlights of the budget itself.
Additional information requests/Questions:
Robarts ●p. 11 2004-05 and 2005-06 balanced budget and Fund 80, complete list of administrative or non-classroom positions that come from grant money and what the range of what that money can be used for; changes made to this budget. From the Executive Summary, budget side, same information for the same years, Fund 80 is broken out separately - please put all in one place (before and after).
●p. 7 of Executive Summary - increases in fees - separate exploration of the activity fees, what goes to the schools, and how it gets there?
●p. 6 of the Executive Summary under high schools comprehensive course offerings - definition of that (oral answer given).
●Technology high schools - reduce discretionary teacher staff? (Unallocated staff - reducing one teacher at each high school at their discretion.)
●Community Service increase in middle school activities fees - legal analysis to charge an additional fee to kids who do sports - what are after school activities? (Strictly general fund revenue, not offsetting any cost for MSCR. Please provide formal breakdown.
Gants Matrix of middle and high school fee changes - will be charged to all students. Increase going to activity or the district? (To the district to fund the activities.) What about a general fee? (Costing so much to track that.) Still have fee waivers.
Mathiak ●FTEs and budget - numbers in between were not adding up. Would like difference between revised 2005-06 and balanced budget--p. 10-11 of the executive summary.
Kobza ●pp. 10-11 of Executive Summary chart of expenditures - athletics - why $900,000 increase. (Clean ups.)
●p. 42 of chapter 2 - athletics - purchase services change, supplies and materials. Please provide something that shows how that was cleaned up.
●Funding custodians from Fund 80 - (target was 6, funding rather than cutting, would have to close buildings after school every other day). Please provide analysis of how many activities/meetings, time spent, etc.
●p. 66 activity fees, chapter 1 expenditures by function co-curricular activities - where does the activity fee show up on the revenue side of this and how does that compare to the cost of the activity being funded? (One lump sum under general options, p. 43, chapter 1). We are not collecting more money than it costs? (no)
●Food Service - last year $50,000 - where did funding for $200,000 loss come from? (Operating budget out of equity - balanced at the end of the year)
Carstensen ●How much of elementary and secondary non-salary items are formula items (p. 6 of main budget under chapter 2). Provide a breakdown of the formulas by building.
Vang ●No conditions or requirements for participating in activities. Attendance is one. Except in athletics.
Roger Price distributed some new inserts/replacements, etc. for the budget book.
Discussion: May 8 meeting is scheduled to get public input on the task force recommendations. How to schedule upcoming meetings and/or public hearings. Presentations vs. questions. What happens to items funded by grants when positions are moved to grant funding? What the IDEA grant funds paid for.
10. Other Business
There was no other business.
11. Adjournment
It was moved by Ruth Robarts and seconded by Johnny Winston, Jr. to adjourn the meeting at 9:19 p.m. Motion unanimously carried.
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Previous: 2006-04-10b || Special Meeting - Open Session || Next: 2006-05-01