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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 14, 2007 |
Doyle Administration Building 545 West Dayton Street, Auditorium Madison, Wisconsin |
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Special Meeting of the Board of Education was called to order by President Arlene Silveira at 5:05 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Carol Carstensen, Maya Cole, Lawrie Kobza, Lucy Mathiak, Beth Moss, Arlene Silveira, Johnny Winston, Jr.
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE
PRESENT: Joe Carlsmith
STAFF PRESENT: Mary Gulbrandsen, Steve Hartley, Pam Nash, Roger Price, Art Rainwater, Clarence Sherrod, Marcia Standiford, Ken Syke, Lisa Wachtel, Luis Yudice, Barbara Lehman-Recording Secretary
1. Explanation and Process related to the 5 p.m., May 14, 2007 Special Board of Education Meeting-Workshop
Ms. Silveira read a statement to assist the board and the public in understanding the procedure for this meeting (a copy is attached to the original of these minutes).
2. Reconsideration of the MadisonSchool Board's Decision to Consolidate Lapham and MarquetteElementary Schools
It was moved by Beth Moss and seconded by Johnny Winston, Jr. to reconsider the Madison School Board's decision to consolidate Lapham and Marquette Elementary Schools. Student Representative advisory vote was nay. Motion carried 5-2 with Lawrie Kobza and Arlene Silveira voting no.
3. Reconsideration of the Madison School Board's Decision to Cut the Small School Allocation for Spring Harbor Middle School
It was moved by Beth Moss and seconded by Carol Carstensen to reconsider the Madison School Board's decision to cut the small school allocation for Spring Harbor Middle School. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion carried 6-1 with Lawrie Kobza voting no.
4. Reconsideration of the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) 2007-2008 Budget for the purpose of Amending any and all Items approved by the Board as part of the MMSD 2007-08 Budget
It was moved by Johnny Winston, Jr. and seconded by Lucy Mathiak to reconsider the MMSD 2007-08 budget for the purpose of amending any and all items approved by the Board as part of the MMSD 2007-08 budget. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
It was moved by Beth Moss and seconded by Carol Carstensen to support restoring the Marquette and Lapham Elementary School pair and amending the 2007-08 budget by: 1) eliminating one of the Marquette/Lapham principals and having the Marquette and Lapham pair share one principal at a cost savings of $100,000; 2) taking $50,000 from the Business Services Department's budget; 3) taking $32,087 from the Teaching and Learning Department's budget for a total of $182,087 that will be used to pay the costs of restoring the Marquette and Lapham pair; 4) authorizing the Superintendent to determine: (a) what items will be cut to make up the $50,000 that will be taken from the Business Services Department's budget; and (b) what items will be cut to make up the $32,087 that will be taken from the Teaching and Learning Department's budget; and 5) moving four of the five Alternative Programs (Wee Start Day Care, Alternative Education Resource Options, the Cluster Program, and School-Age Parent Program) from Marquette to Lapham.
Discussion:
· Superintendent was concerned about having one principal serving two schools and the long-term affect on educational quality.
· Cuts from Business Services would come from maintenance (an additional cut) and Teaching and Learning cut would come from learning materials and the rest from non-staff expenditures across the whole department.
· Capacity at Lapham and how it compares to other elementary schools in the east attendance area.
· Enrollment has dropped below 500 students at Sherman Middle as students are moved from there to O'Keeffe. There is an assistant principal under contract there for one more year and that position will be placed somewhere else. Dependent on what happens between now and the start of next school year with assistant principals. If there is no opening, the person under contract will probably be left at Sherman. Assistant principals are not managers or leaders in the schools.
· Assistant principal at Sherman could be a principal at Lapham or Marquette.
· There were a series of statements that were addressed on school size and many worksheets were put on screen showing capacity (with and without reduced class size), square footage, enrollment projections, distance to adjacent schools, etc., in the east attendance area.
· Teaching teams and siblings would be kept together by consolidating.
· Issues with parent participation at paired schools.
· Issues with moving children from the west side to the east side of the isthmus and having children involved at two schools. Transportation issue for Swan Creek.
· Issues with using salary savings and cutting into equity.
· Suggestion was made to consider flexible space between Marquette and O'Keeffe. O'Keeffe has a lot of space.
Johnny Winston, Jr. amended the motion to give the Superintendent the latitude to fill the principal position at the Lapham/Marquette pair with someone from existing staff. Accepted as friendly by mover and seconder.
Discussion:
o No additional cost.
o Much preferable to sharing a principal.
o Cuts one school-based administrator position; eliminates Sherman assistant principal based on enrollment.
o Salary for assistant principal position vs. the $119,000.
Ms. Carstensen suggested that, if necessary, administration come back to the Board with the amount for the assistant principal position and the decision could be made at that time.
o Long Range Planning Committee made the decision that it was not going to recommend a particular plan of all the options brought to it; that was unanimous. They first took a number of options off the table and said not to pursue but then the decision as made to, rather than identify a particular plan, that they would ask the administration to make a recommendation as part of the budget.
o Reviewed cuts to the Alternative Programs in the last budget and how they are structured. Currently have sufficient staff. Administrator would be located at Lapham with her critical staff; one Work and Learn program would be located at Doyle, the other Work and Learn program would be at Marquette, and the other programs would be located at Lapham. Transportation is very difficult because the students are spread out across the city. Also somewhat dependent on work sites where employers are willing to work with the students. Primary concern is bus access to the sites.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion carried 5-2 with the understanding that the Superintendent will come back to the Board with a recommendation for the assistant principal position. Lawrie Kobza and Arlene Silveira voted no.
It was moved by Beth Moss and seconded by Carol Carstensen to restore the small school allocation for Spring Harbor Middle School and to amend the 2007-08 budget by: 1) taking $56,615 from the General Administration part of the 2007-08 budget which will be used to pay the costs of restoring the small school allocation for Spring Harbor; and 2) authorizing the Superintendent to determine what items will be cut to constitute the $56,615 that will be taken from the General Administration part of the 2007-08 budget.
Mr. Rainwater noted that the district just received word that there will be a significant increase in Title 1 funding. He explained that there are secretarial positions that have been carried throughout the years that have been supported by Title 1 and that moving one-half of a secretary to Title 1 funding could free up about $25,000 in savings.
Discussion:
§ Smaller schools have less flexibility than larger schools. Black Hawk made the choice to create one grade level that has relatively large class sizes. Black Hawk does not have small school allocation. They will still be able to implement middle school model.
§ Bussing cut affecting Spring Harbor and Wright already. Spring Harbor free and reduced number is going up. No charter at Spring Harbor but market themselves as having small class sizes.
§ Need to have full board discussion regarding small schools and their affordability and viability.
§ Any additional funding received would go towards restoring small class sizes first.
§ Title 1 is a very specific grant from the federal government; it is outside of the MMSD budget and has nothing to do with this.
§ Setting dangerous precedent with reconsideration issue.
§ Board also needs to address inequities at the middle school level.
§ Any additional funding received from the federal government over and above the 2007-08 budget is handled through the budget adjustments in October. Title 1 funds cannot be used for anything else.
Question was called by Arlene Silveira.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion carried 6-1 with Lawrie Kobza voting no.
Given that the Big 8 Conference did not approve the consolidation of the four boys and four girls high school golf teams into two boys and two girls teams, it was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Johnny Winston, Jr. to amend the budget by: 1) restoring four boys and four girls golf teams to provide each high school with a boys team and a girls team; 2) limiting the paid coaches to two for each boys team and one for each girls team; 3) reducing the expenses of full-day substitutes for golf meets by $2,352; and 4) increasing the golf participation fee by $18.00. This action will provide $14,574.94 in savings that are necessary to balance the budget.
Discussion:
o Clarified that the number of coaches are dictated by the number of student participants.
o Board needs to look at everything the district offers in athletics and funding.
o About 40 percent of students use the fee waivers. District does not know who would quality and is not using this option.
Question was called by Arlene Silveira.
Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
Discussion:
Ø Administration has worked around some of the issues with the K-1 block; not seen as a pull-out but as two classes. District has seen very significant success with the 2-3 block. Very good situation for the children. Takes more specials.
FOLLOW UP: Notify the board of any significant funding that comes in before October.
5. Other Business
There was no other business.
6. Adjournment
It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Johnny Winston, Jr. to adjourn the meeting at 7:17 p.m. Student Representative advisory vote was aye. Motion unanimously carried.
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