Special Meeting - Open Session - March 31, 2008

Madison Metropolitan School District Madison, Wisconsin Art Rainwater, Superintendent
BOARD OF EDUCATION Minutes for Special Meeting - Open Session March 31, 2008		Doyle Administration Building 545 West Dayton Street, Auditorium Madison, Wisconsin

Special Meeting of the Board of Education was called to order by President Arlene Silveira at 5:02 p.m.

Ms. Silveira expressed the Board's sympathy and condolences to the family of Milt McPike. She noted that some programs featuring Mr. McPike will be updated and available on the district's cable channel 10.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Carol Carstensen, Maya Cole, Lawrie Kobza, Lucy Mathiak, Beth Moss, Arlene Silveira

MEMBERS ABSENT: Johnny Winston, Jr.

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE PRESENT: Laura Checovich (arrived at 5:05 p.m. and left at 7:02 p.m.)

STAFF PRESENT: Sue Abplanalp, Steve Hartley, Pam Nash, Art Rainwater, Marcia Standiford, Ann Wilson-Recording Secretary

1. Approval of Minutes

It was moved by Carol Carstensen and seconded by Lawrie Kobza to approve the minutes of the Special meetings dated February 18, February 26, and March 10, 2008. Motion unanimously carried by those present.

2. Announcements

There were no announcements.

3. Measurement and Assessment of the Strategic Priorities Established by the School Board

(Written materials provided in advance: cover memorandum from Art Rainwater dated 3/27/08; Measures for Board of Education Strategic Priorities - attached to the original of these minutes.)

Superintendent Rainwater introduced the document listing the Board's priorities with proposed targets and measures. He noted the Board of Education has already approved the targets and measures for the first priority, Improving Student Achievement. He reviewed his recommendations for targets and measures for the remaining priorities.

Priority - Safe, Respectful and Welcoming Learning Environment:

DISCUSSION:

· Climate Survey results are reported by district and individual school. Response rate is not extraordinarily high.

· Partnerships Committee discussed efforts to address an increased response rate to the Climate Survey.

· Tardiness or truancy rate were not selected as targets because they do not affect the safety of the school, as suspension does.

· What will be achieved by reducing suspensions? What would be achieved by using alternatives? (Whole system of underlying strategies about how to deal with behaviors. Trying to eliminate behaviors that lead to the suspension.)

· Climate Survey is a primary means used to gauge staff satisfaction. Not useful to look at complaints - are individual, too many factors that can be misunderstood.

· 80% is a level arbitrarily chosen. Felt it represented a vast majority. Climate survey responses are usually positive, unless there is a problem in the school, and that is usually already known.

· Concern that unsatisfied people may be more likely to return the questionnaire.

· Tie target to inappropriate student behaviors that lead to suspension.

· Need to set baseline. Set a goal of receiving responses to Climate Survey from everyone - provide information by school (on website) re: number of responses received so that parents can support a better return.

· Schools (Infinite Campus) have information on office referrals/incidents that lead to suspension.

· Survey a sample (for Climate Survey) geared to correct representation. Investigate ways to increase the response rate that would preserve the sample. Would be interesting to see what other districts do to raise their response rate. Would be interesting to see responses by individual school.

It was recommended that the second suggested Target be changed to Disruptive behaviors that require suspensions will be reduced at each instructional level for all students and all subgroups.

It was clarified that the baseline for all measures would be the 2007-2008 school year.

It was moved by Arlene Silveira and seconded by Carol Carstensen to approve the Targets and Measures for the Board of Education Priority to assure a Safe, Respectful and Welcoming Learning Environment as presented and revised at this meeting. Student representative advisory vote - aye. Motion unanimously carried by those present.

FOLLOW-UP:

· Art Rainwater will talk with Kurt Kiefer about possible ways to increase the response rate for the Climate Survey and providing individual school responses to the Board of Education.

Priority - Competent, Diverse Workforce

DISCUSSION:

· Ways to measure staff instruction and whether staff feel the instruction helps them to become more competent - surveys, principal observations, student performance. Instruction will be facilitated by focused purpose for learning coordinators and instructional resource teachers.

· Important to survey support staff, question them about what they perceive as needed in schools.

· Expectations for principal observation of staff, formal evaluation schedule.

· Principals have many demands. Know from formal meetings and informal conversations whether essential interaction is occurring between staff and supervisors.

· Have focused on removing barriers that distract from primary principal role and expectation to be the instructional leader of the school. Provide experience, knowledge and understanding of what is required of a good principal.

· Provide information in reports about staff in shortage areas.

· Middle school teacher licensing - district focuses on teaching content knowledge. DPI does not require major or minor in content area.

It was moved by Arlene Silveira and seconded by Carol Carstensen to approve the Targets and Measures for the Board of Education Priority for a Competent, Diverse Workforce as presented. Lawrie Kobza offered a friendly amendment, accepted by the mover and seconder, to add a target and measure:

Target: The performance of all teachers/administrators will be observed or evaluated by their supervisors every year.

Measure: The annual personnel report will indicate the percent of teachers and administrators observed or evaluated each year.

Student representative advisory vote - aye. Motion unanimously carried by those present.

Priority - Strengthening Partnerships and Communication

DISCUSSION:

· Concern about communicating with groups that are not typically represented. Communication Matrix could be expanded to include specific information about groups to target.

· Would like to assure both giving and receiving information are covered and included with the Matrix.

· Number of hits to the website does not answer whether information was received, only how often someone looked there.

· Partnerships Committee discussed ways to make information more accessible. Prefer to eliminate targets to have a community or business partner and providing information via the website - too much to measure. Prefer to identify what needs to be included on school websites, like Climate Survey information and School Improvement Plans. Will not receive all the information that is needed until there is a strategic communication plan in place.

· District website will be completely redesigned this year.

It was moved by Arlene Silveira and seconded by Lawrie Kobza to approve the Targets and Measures for the Board of Education Priority to Strengthen Partnerships and Communication as presented with the following modifications:

Eliminate the following target and measure: The District's website will provide up to date and relevant information that is useful to the public. Measure - The number of hits on the district's homepage, "hot topics" pages and MMSD Today.

Change the last target to read: The district will solicit public input utilizing multiple information venues and methods when appropriate.

Beth Moss proposed an amendment to add the phrase, for the purpose of encouraging community engagement to the end of the last target.

DISCUSSION:

· Goal is to connect with a diverse community and that there be two-way communication. Want to improve upon communication with many entities, strive to improve community engagement, communication without misperceptions.

· Matter of semantics. Elected officials always need public input, happens in a variety of settings. Engagement results in information about a topic, usually hearing from the people who are impacted, not from the community as a whole. Board members represent the district as a whole and need to also take other information into consideration.

· Community engagement is a separate issue; targets speak to Board communication.

· Ideas for evaluating whether information is received from the website - feedback form, pop-up question. (Will have more analysis capacity with new website.)

· Engagement also relates to trust issues and keeping families and children in the district. Engaging the community would be a valuable direction for the administration to follow, would be the basis for another goal.

· Primary job of Board members is to govern the school district, seeking input necessary to make informed decisions.

Ms. Moss withdrew the amendment.

Student representative advisory vote - aye. Motion unanimously carried by those present.

Priority - Challenging, Diverse, Contemporary Curriculum and Instruction

Superintendent Rainwater noted that, since this document was prepared, the number of career clusters at the high school level has grown from six to sixteen. He plans to work with staff to identify the career clusters for which courses should be developed at the high schools that would represent the range of possibilities for students after they graduate. Each high school would offer the courses in the selected career clusters.

It was recommended that there be further discussion of the targets and measures for this priority at the next meeting in April. In advance of that meeting, Board members will provide suggestions and questions to be incorporated into a next draft. One of the questions to be explored is whether this item should be included as a strategic priority.

DISCUSSION:

· Concern that students are not decided about career paths in high school.

· Articulate that each high school curriculum will offer opportunities.

· Curriculum should align with state standards.

Priority - Efficient, Strategic Resource Use

DISCUSSION:

· Ways to measure processes. (District has used workflow analysis (business) and functional analysis (education), from the viewpoints of completing required work, and to look for efficiencies. Major undertaking that took about a year.)

· Cost. Would realize savings. Should explore in more detail as moving toward another budget gap.

· Consider rotation of review within a designated time period.

· Original proposal was for a staff position. Could review on an ongoing basis, be familiar with all processes.

· Staff provides for a consistent process, continuity; reviews are better. Would be interested in exploring. Healthy process.

· Include Citizens Budget as a measure. Based on percentages, so can see relative spending by area, can see trends. If kept up to date, would provide a better snapshot.

· Support Citizens Budget and monthly financial reports. Provides for strategic resource use, assures allocation follows goals.

It was moved by Lawrie Kobza and seconded by Arlene Silveira to approve the Targets and Measures for the Board of Education Priority for Efficient Strategic Resource Use with one modification:

Change the measure for the first target to read: "The annual Superintendent's Budget and Citizen's Budget will indicate the resources that are directly related to the Board of Education's goals and priorities as established in this document."

Student representative advisory vote - aye. Motion unanimously carried by those present.

There was a break from 7:02 p.m. until 7:12 p.m.

4. Student-Focused and School-Focused Equity Issues and Initiatives within the District

(Written materials provided in advance: cover memorandum from Art Rainwater dated 3/27/08; Process for Planning and Decision Making; proposed definitions of Equity; Fundamental Equity Issues; Equity Task Force Final Report. Written materials provided at the meeting: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Characteristics of Successful Schools Appendix B Wisconsin Equity Framework, Equity definition and information provided by the East Attendance Area PTO Coalition and the Northside Planning Council. All attached to the original of these minutes.)

Superintendent Rainwater introduced the document, Equity: Process for Planning and Decision Making and described it as a document that brings together all that has been learned from the discussions surrounding Equity since the Board of Education began their review into a decision making tool, similar to those used for long range planning and educational options. He suggested that all three of these decision making documents be reviewed each fall so they will be updated and current for any decisions that need to be made in the coming school year.

The Superintendent noted the definition proposed in the document is a new, simpler version of those proposed earlier. Two editorial changes were made - the addition of the word "comparable" and the phrase "to assure that."

It was moved by Arlene Silveira and seconded by Carol Carstensen to approve the revised definition:

"Equity means the deliberate allocation of resources to provide full and meaningful access to comparable educational opportunity to assure that all MMSD students have the academic and interpersonal skills to be successful adults."

Motion unanimously carried by those present.

Assumptions

Editorial changes were suggested and it was recommended that items C and D be moved to a new section entitled "Goals." The Administration will prepare another draft for discussion at the Special Meeting scheduled for April 21.

Considerations for Making Resource/Allocation Decisions

It was recommended that this section also be reviewed again at the next meeting, especially in light of the now approved definition. Board of Education members were asked to submit suggestions to the Administration so a new draft can be prepared. It was requested the draft be available to Board members a week in advance.

DISCUSSION:

· Additional question - Does this decision compound or alleviate an existing problem?

· Proposed wording is applicable to decisions that are new or "move forward." There are also instances when it is necessary to "look backward" and take away resources or allocation. A heading for this section might be Considerations for Determining Whether Equity is or will be Provided. Start this process by looking at schools individually. Value Added analysis will be very helpful, a better measurement. What do we do to eliminate gaps or inequities? Look at what affects achievement, identify the root cause, look at ways to replicate success.

· Consider schools that are undergoing rapid demographic change. May need special category to stabilize schools in transition.

· Information from the DPI re: strategies may be appropriate to incorporate.

5. Other Business

There was no other business.

6. Adjournment

It was moved by Lucy Mathiak and seconded by Carol Carstensen to adjourn the meeting at 7:55 p.m. Motion unanimously carried by those present.

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