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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 May 8, 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 Johnny Winston, Jr. at 5:13 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Carol Carstensen, Lawrie Kobza, Lucy Mathiak, Ruth Robarts, Arlene Silveira, Shwaw Vang, Johnny Winston, Jr.
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE
PRESENT: Connor Gants
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
STAFF PRESENT: Sue Abplanalp, Liz Fritz, Mary Gulbrandsen, Pam Nash, Doug Pearson, Roger Price, Joe Quick, Art Rainwater, Barbara Lehman-Recording Secretary
1. Announcements
Mr. Winston acknowledged the passing of former Madison School Board President Ruth Bachhuber Doyle and the contributions that she made to the school district and the community. Condolences were offered to Governor Doyle.
2. Financial Transactions
(Packets included background/recommendation information (4/27/06), elevations and a site plan. Copies are attached to the original of these minutes.)
a. It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Carol Carstensen that the bid of $898,249 from Magill Construction for East High renovations be approved with funding from the 2006-07 General Operating Budget (referendum) and a QualifiedZoneAcademyBond (QZAB).
There was some discussion about the changes from the original project and the redesigns it took to take scale it down to something that could be afforded. The principal shared the information with parents and the PTO; there were no negatives.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion carried 6-1 with Lucy Mathiak voting no.
3. It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Carol Carstensen that the Board approve a resolution designating officials authorized to declare official intent, under reimbursement bond regulations. Student Representative abstained. Motion carried 6-1 with Shwaw Vang voting no (packets included a background information and a letter from bond counsel and resolution language and copies are attached to the original of these minutes).
4. Extension of Teacher Emeritus Retirement Plan (TERP)
(Packets included a background memorandum from the Superintendent (5/4/06). A copy is attached to the original of these minutes.)
It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Carol Carstensen that the Board approve the extension of the Teacher Emeritus Retirement Program (TERP) deadline to June 9, 2006.
Discussion: Qualifications will not change. Gives people an opportunity to apply (actual deadline is March 17). Enables the district to keep some young teachers in the system and salary savings. There was a suggestion to take up TERP in the Human Resources Committee or Finance and Operations this year to talk about the economics of it and the district's policy of hiring teachers back at their highest wage.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
5. The Madison School Board President's presentation regarding: 1) his expectation and vision of how the school board members will work cooperatively, effectively and respectfully together during the 2006-07 school year; 2) the appointment of school board members to the school board's standing committees for the 2006-07 school year; 3) the responsibilities of and possible agenda items for the board's standing committees; and 4) possible agenda items for future school board meetings
Mr. Winston gave a PowerPoint presentation (a copy is attached to the original of these minutes) highlighting board expectations; committees and assignments; possible agenda items for future board meetings; the June 19 brainstorming/planning session; and questions. The Superintendent noted that there would a couple changes to the board liaisons for next year: Performance and Achievement would be Lisa Wachtel and Jack Jorgensen, Communications would be Ken Syke, and Community Partnerships would be the person who replaces Diane Crear who is retiring.
6. Creation of a MadisonSchool Board Communications Committee to Replace the Board's Legislative Committee
It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Shwaw Vang that the Board create a reformed Legislative Committee into the Board's Communications Committee.
Discussion: Offer of friendly amendment to change the name to "Communications/Legislative." Offer of a friendly amendment to change the name to "District Relations Committee." Current citizen members will continue their terms and two more people will be added. At this time the citizen members are voting members of the committee.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion carried 6-1 with Ruth Robarts voting no.
FOLLOW UP: High school attendance areas of current members will be provided to the chair.
7. Public Hearing on Plan CP1a to address the overcrowded student population in the West and Memorial Attendance Areas if there is no addition built onto LeopoldElementary Schooland no new elementary school is built on the LindenParksite
Angeleah Schaefer, Whitehorse Middle School student, supported the strings program. Did not want anything valuable to the students to be thrown away.
Deb Gilbert, mother of two who will be starting at Leopold in the fall of 2007, has spoken about her concern with overcrowding and how hungry the kids are. She asked that the cafeteria addition be kept in the budget. She wanted the board to communicate to the public what will come back in the budget if the referendum passes. Regarding plan CP1a, she felt it should be discarded entirely. She wanted the board to direct the administration to develop a five-year plan so the public understands the consequences if the referendums do not pass (e.g., unacceptable bus ride lengths, changing student-teacher ratios). She did not want the parents who are vested in their schools to be responsible for this communication. Plan CP1a does not show what happens if the referendum fails.
Inna Larsen, Spring Harbor parent, would welcome the boundary change. Some parents do want to keep their children at Stephens and, therefore, those should be grandfathered in. They really do not have a neighborhood elementary school. No schools other than Stephens and Crestwood have such a wide academic area. They do not want a long bus ride either. They should have other options for elementary school. (A copy of her statement is attached to the original of these minutes.)
Toni Coles had concerns about plan CP1a. Chavez will be over capacity next year; the numbers on the web site are not correct. A new school is needed at Linden Park. They did not like the idea of having a lot of programmatic changes. Wanted the referendum to be sold.
Michael Maguire, member of the Memorial/West Task Force, observed that the task force did not put forth recommendations for referendum. It indicated that more space was needed and how that gets done is the role of the board. They only had a fraction of what the board has to deal with. He supported a comprehensive, long-range plan that goes beyond five years that involves city planning, etc. He added that if a referendum is the only answer then they have not done enough homework. The plan does not last long.
Annette Montgomery supported Leopold. She stated that the vote was 4-3 in favor of borrowing the funds. Ms. Robarts stated that she wanted the vote to be reconsidered with the new board members. Ms. Montgomery responded that this was not a good way to about building trust. The vote was taken and voters expect the board to keep that up. The Superintendent told them relief was coming at last and hopes and expectations are high. She asked that they keep Leopold as it is in the current budget.
Kathryn Burns, teaches at Leopold, stated that they desperately need a new cafeteria. They have taken steps so that the children do not have to come and get their lunches and staff opens them. They do a lot of things but it is not enough. She hoped the renovation stays in the budget. Regarding Plan CP1a, she noticed that there was not a lot of teacher input on the task forces. She was also concerned about the loss of SAGE and that needs should be determined districtwide.
Fern Murdoch, alternate task force member from Wright Middle School, felt the issue was one of growth. She has a child at Leopold. She thought the overcrowding was something that could be solved with boundary changes but came to be persuaded that that would not work. Plan CP1a is a short-term solution. It does not address the growth south of the Beltline. This is not different than the growth around Linden Park. While that growth is occurring, she felt a plan should be in place for people to join the MMSD. She added that the growth needs to be embraced and the district needs to build for it.
Dawn Crim and Annette Miller, appreciated being able to give input into the operating budget. They hoped the board realized that these parents have been carrying the torch regarding Leopold overcrowding issue since 2000. They wanted to continue to do that and wanted the issues solved. Plan CP2a is not available yet. They did not want the funding to come out of a referendum.
It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Shwaw Vang to suspend the rules to take up Item 10 of the agenda. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
10. Public Appearances
Pat Smith, Local 60, spoke on the issue of privatization. He noted that the board has been against it since 2001 and hoped they would be now. He indicated that the district could not live with privatization. Both garbage trucks are junk. Last week the garbage was picked up every day and now it is every other day. He stated that the bids were misleading with only three pulls per week. The person who currently drives the truck would not be cut but someone at a lower level and a cheaper salary. Waste Management and Green Valley are large companies who have private contractors. He also disputed the proposed cost of the new trucks. Commented about the funding for a new computer system and time clocks.
Dave White, AFSCME Local 60 staff representative, also spoke to the issue of contracting out for garbage services. Believed that many of the concerns raised four years ago were still relevant today—not being able to regulate when and how often pulls are made with a contractor; lack of accountability. He referenced a memorandum from Doug Pearson to Roger Price from November of 2005 which identified comparisons of costs. Mr. White gave specifics on what the costs would be for three pulls per week for the low-bid contractor vs. internal costs. He indicated that Mr. Pearson's numbers were not honest.
FOLLOW UP: Mr. White was asked to share the notes he was referring to and a summary of his comments (these were made available at a later date and copies are attached to the original of these minutes). The administration was also asked for something comparable to Mr. White's analysis and to flush something more out if they have the proposal for contracting out.
Syrus R. Saltani, father of an autistic child who is performing outstandingly in strings and is also communicating better. He attends Orchard Ridge where the enrollment of underprivileged children is very high. He noted the high percentage of African-American, Latino, Hmong and others who are taking strings and indicated that strings is one of their only hopes. Cutting the program is the wrong way to go.
Michael Maguire, speaking for parents throughout the district who advocate for fine arts, opposed cuts to strings and the elimination of elementary school grading in some subjects on the report cards.
Barbara Schrank, parent and fine arts advocate, hoped for additional opportunities for public appearances relative to the budget in addition to tomorrow's public hearing. Speaking as a PTO board member, she had not seen anything on the budget timeline. In the area of fine arts, she hoped that board discussions would engage the community on this curriculum and go beyond some of the documents that have been received. She thought the community would benefit from a fine arts education committee as part of the Partnerships Committee and together with the Performance and Achievement Committee.
Mr. Vang indicated that strings would be a priority for the Performance and Achievement Committee.
Discussion: Budget forums have been communicated to PTO presidents multiple times. Holding one workshop and having public appearances at the rest of the meetings. Amendments are due on the 19th and the 31st is the final vote. Partnerships Committee interaction with larger fine arts community. Role of Fine Arts Coordinator in developing urban arts component. Looking at strategic priorities and getting specifics.
Written registrations included one opposed to outsourcing the garbage service, one opposed to cutting elementary strings, and two in support of the remodeling and addition at Leopold Elementary School.
Recessed at 7:03 p.m.
Reconvened at 7:16 p.m.
Items 8 and 9 were taken up together.
8. Plan CP1a to address the overcrowded student population in the West and Memorial Attendance Areas if there is no addition built onto LeopoldElementary Schooland no new elementary school is built on the LindenParksite
9. Plans other than Plan CP1a to address the overcrowded student population in the West and Memorial Attendance Areas if there is no Addition built onto LeopoldElementary Schooland no new elementary school is built on the LindenParksite
(Packets included plans CP1a (1/17/06) and CP2 (1/24/06) all numbers K5 only. Copies are attached to the original of these minutes.)
Topics: All based on programmatic and boundary changes. March meeting decided not to make changes but go to public hearing. Leopold renovation is in the budget as presented right now and will be built regardless. Can go forward with a referendum if the board decides. Plan CP2 has become moot; will have to be redesigned. Long-term plan to build a new school and communications with the public. Tonight's voting is on whether to go to referendum for a new school in the near future.
Plan CP1a does not reflect where the district is with the addition onto Leopold. That is the decision if a referendum fails. That plan will have to be re-worked. Question is what is the structure of the referendum and the date (September and November). Giving the public the plan up front if the referendum fails. Timing of decision in order for Bond Counsel to prepare for referendum. Plan CP2a needs one change before it goes out. Difficulty with voting on the referendum before or after the budget. Small attendance as an indicator of people being unaware of what is going on. Selling land for the fire station and applying that back to the outstanding debt; does not affect the operating budget and it is unavailable.
11. Proposed 2006-07 MMSD Budget
Some additional information was distributed regarding orchestra and band, general music and strings (copies are attached to the original of these minutes). There are now three options to consider. No staffing impact. A copy of the elementary music design team advisory committee purpose, charge, task/timeline, description of new K-5 general music program, staff development opportunities, focus group schedule and purpose, and reporting of data/recommendations was distributed (attached to the original of these minutes.) There was some discussion about the new plan's impact on learning, diverse participation, design team's active status, how the design team came to be, role of the Fine Arts Coordinator, no changes to standards, rates of continuation into high school, ability to provide before and after school lessons. Options include keeping the program the way it is or going where it was before, which would double the cost. Programming vs. building projects. Making a curriculum decision before the budget. Purely conceptual design about how the plan would flush out.
Discussion continued on the SAGE costs and Lincoln issue. SAGE contracts are individual to the school; nothing goes into general fund. Primary education approach of intensive staff development and small class sizes. There were questions regarding where the district pays for low class sizes vs. the SAGE contracts. Equity across the district with regard to low class sizes; lack of sufficient funding.
State legislature is taking up issue of Fund 80 usage; not sure of the timeline or outcome. They will be taking this up next year.
FOLLOW UP: Estimate how many children have received private lessons prior to 9th grade and while they are in district bands and orchestra. Discuss options at the workshop next week. Provide information on all schools that have 30 percent or less low income offering K-1 at 15:1 and giving up the SAGE contracts and to fund K-1 at 15:1 for all the other schools. Provide some information on the reconsideration of Fund 80 by the state legislature.
Next meeting tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. at Memorial High School in the auditorium.
12. Other Business
There was no other business.
13. Adjournment
It was moved by Ruth Robarts and seconded by Shwaw Vang to adjourn the meeting at 8:27 p.m. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
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Previous: 2006-05-02 || Special Meeting - Open Session || Next: 2006-05-09