Summary of Regular Board Meeting Held on January 7, 2002

Regular monthly meetings of the Board of Education are telecast live at 7:15 p.m. on the Charter cable TV system in the Madison area on channel 10 with closed-captioning for the hearing impaired. The meeting is replayed on cable channel 10 on the Tuesday evening immediately following the meeting at 9:00 p.m. with closed-captioning.

Recognition

John Probst, Madison School-Community Recreation supervisor, spoke about the middle school sports component of MSCR and its partnership with the District's Media Production Department. He distributed information about after-school programming. Rob Hecimovich, an audiovisual technician in the Media Production Department, explained his role in the project and introduced middle school students Lucas Brogan and Jonah Hacker who videotaped and announced some of the middle school games.

Public Appearances

There were no public appearances.

Board President's Announcements And Reports

Mr. Williams reported:

• reminded that January 18 is the deadline for nominations for the 2002 MMSD Distinguished Service Awards.
• reported the U.S. House of Representatives voted to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the main federal law for K-12 education.
• asked everyone to give a special word to thanks to their neighborhood school crossing guards in honor of National School Crossing Guard Recognition week.

Superintendent's Announcements And Reports

Mr. Rainwater announced:

• Hawthorne and Mendota Elementary Schools were awarded Comprehensive School Reform Model Program grants with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
• Lindbergh will join nineteen other Madison elementary Title I schools and become a Title 1 School-wide Building.
• Lake View Elementary will host its International Night on January 11.
• Schools will be closed the afternoon of January 18 and on Monday, January 21. Many district students will be involved in community service projects as part of the annual "Do Something" Campaign for Kindness and Justice in honor and recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day.
• O'Keeffe students collected more than 3000 food items during December for the Atwood Community Center Food Pantry. Emerson students collected over 1000 items for the Bashford Pantry.
• Students participating in the MSCR Middle School Youth Resource Center at Cherokee held two very successful food drives at local grocery stores and door-to-door collections.
• Students at Emerson held a coin drive to send holiday gifts to service men and women. Cards and letters were also sent via the Red Cross and National Guard. Students have invited local service men and women to visit Emerson classrooms upon their return from military duty.
• Seven Madison elementary schools - including Stephens, Orchard Ridge, Muir, Falk, Thoreau, and Huegel have welcomed and accommodated Chavez Elementary students while their school undergoes remediation and reconstruction. Staff, parents and students are working hard together to make this difficult transition as smooth as possible. Business and Building Services teams continue to work on keeping parents and the public informed as well.

Committee Reports And Action Thereon

Performance & Achievement: Recommendations from the Evaluation of Learning Materials Committee were approved. Carol Carstensen reported the committee will receive information about the Early Learning Initiative for four-year-old kindergarten programs in January.

Finance and Operations: Juan José López reported the committee will schedule a meeting for early February to continue the focus on the functional analysis, get an update on Chavez Elementary School, and to set a budget review timetable for April and May.

Human Resources: The Superintendent's goals were accepted as presented in the Management Performance Agreement for 2001-02 with a modified timeline.

Long Range Planning: Carol Carstensen reported the committee will meet to hear options from the administration for Leopold Elementary School in three areas - boundary changes, program changes including pairing, and some kind of additional facility. She has been in frequent contact with the Leopold parent group. It may be easier to answer the long term question than it will be to decide what to do in the interim.

Partnerships: Shwaw Vang had no report.

Legislative: Ray Allen reported the committee will meet with area legislators to discuss school financing.

Auditing, Purchasing, Transfers & Other Financial Transactions

Auditing: Interim and School Building Fund Bills were approved.

Purchasing: Purchase of a 2000 Ford Econoline F-150 cargo van from Capital Ford was approved.

Transfers: There were no transfers.

Other Financial Transactions: All donations and grants received since December 10, 2001 were approved.

Human Resources Transactions and Reports:

All transactions and reports were approved.

Reports to the Board:

Common Council/Board of Education Liaison Committee: Ray Allen reported the committee met briefly in December to discuss a technical amendment the City Council wanted to make to their truancy resolution. It was agreed by all that the truancy coalition is working very well in the courts. The City is still in discussion on whether this committee will exist as a standing subcommittee of the Common Council.

All of the 2002 Wisconsin Association of School Boards Resolutions were recommended to the January 23, 2002 Delegate Assembly.

Other Business:

Four students were granted diplomas of graduation based on completed requirements.

Old and New Business: Juan José López commented about the outcome of the recall effort regarding Bill Keys, Carol Carstensen's re-election campaign and Calvin Williams' decision to not run for re-election.

(A complete copy of these minutes is available from the Board of Education Office, 663-1659. This summary may have been published before the minutes were approved by the Board of Education. Please call to check on any changes.)

Regular Meeting Summaries