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Regular monthly meetings of the Board of Education will now be close captioned. They will be shown again on Tuesday evenings with captions for those unable to watch on Monday evenings.
The Interim Superintendent and Board of Education recognized Sol Kelley-Jones, a fifth grader from Lincoln Elementary, who received a special award from the American Civil Liberties Union for a survey she conducted a year ago called "Survey of Kids' Attitudes Toward Gay and Lesbian People" as part of a Great Blue Heron Inquiry Project.
Po-Shen Loh, a sophomore at Memorial High School, was also recognized for excelling at the state and national levels in mathematics and computer science. He demonstrated his computer project, a video game called "Alien Attack".
Four Toki students spoke about their Sixth Grade student research project. There were seven speakers, both parents and teachers, and 24 written registrations regarding the proposed restructuring at Franklin School. There were four speakers and 2 written registrantions in support of the CD vocational education program at West High School. Other speakers addressed a proposed charter school called ToolKIT and ESL allocations. One person registered in opposition to the Coca Cola contract.
Mrs. Carstensen:
Mr. Rainwater acknowledged:
Welda Simousek described a pilot Talented and Gifted Project for the next year that will involve 11 elementary schools. It will change the delivery structure for TAG programming, focus on staff development for the TAG staff and classroom teachers, and emphasize access for studens to next-level-of-challenge options.
New Committee chairs were announced:
Performance & Achievement: Recommendations from the Selection of Program Materials Committee were approved.
Dr. Diana Lam (Superintendent, San Antonio) and Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings (University of WI) presented reports as consultants to the Equity/Diversity/Advocacy Student Success audit. The next meeting will feature Barbara Golden on parent involvement. A future topic of discussion is Franklin Reorganization.
Budget and Finance:
Budget hearings were held. Budget amendments are due June 3. Budget modifications will be on June 8. Final adoption is proposed for June 15.
Human Resources: A report was accepted from a joint MMSD/MTI committee on the retention of educational assistants. A timetable for the Superintendent Search is being prepared.
Long Range Planning: Work has begun on restructuring the committee.
Partnerships: The Committee learned about the cooperative efforts between MMSD and Dane County Health and Human Services and acted on a recommendation from MSCR relating to non-resident fees and limiting the surcharge to $25 above the resident fees when they exceed $50. Meetings will begin in the fall regarding policy decision-making relative to vending contracts.
Board of Education/Common Council Liaison Committee: Heard a report on restructuring of the Madison Metro Bus system. Committee was restructured to move away from reports and concentrate on two topics of common interest.
Legislative: Most committee work will resume in September. While the state legislature is not in session a planning meeting may take place and the citizen member will be replaced as soon as possible.
The District has advertised vacancies on the two committees with citizen members.
Auditing: Interim and Building Fund bills were paid.
Purchasing: Bids were accepted for art supplies from various vendors, for Security Officer Services from Per Mar Security Services, Inc., and for school paper from Unisource.
Transfers: Funds were transferred from the Reserve for Contingencies to support moving and refurbishing a relocatable classroom from Whitehorse to Sandburg.
Other Financial Transactions:
A resolution was approved authorizing a State Trust Fund Loan for the expansion of the La Follette parking lot and levying a tax. The Instructional Materials Selection Center was given authority to process orders for the summer months with formal approval at the July and August Board meetings. Likewise, Building Services and Purchasing were given authority to approve bid items.
All educational technology block grant funds will be deposited in the MMSD General Fund by direct deposit from the WI DOA and shall be used for any purpose related to educational technology except to pay salaries or benefits for employees.
The CESA 2 contract was approved.
All donations and grants received since May 4th were approved.
The 1997-98 budget was increased to support the Summer Literacy Initiative, the cost of the Equity, Diversity and Advocacy Audit, the Grow Your Own Principals Program, and staff development activities in the areas of integrated curriculum and integrated technology at Wright Middle School with funding from DPI grants and the Danforth Foundation.
Administration was given authority to approve through 10/30/98 expenditure of funds from the Reserve for Contingencies for up to five teacher positions, including educational assistants, to accommodate fall enrollment changes within the Equity Formula process.
All personnel items were approved.
Ruth Robarts reported policy level work has been completed for getting a student representative on the Board of Education. Sue Flynn will work with students on the election process for the fall. Ms. Flynn will prepare a flyer to ensure all students, especially minority students, are informed. Carol Carstensen discussed meeting times and topics for the summer.
The position of the Coalition for Public Education was supported - opposing vouchers, tuition tax credits and deductions as systems of educational aid. Dates were set for summer meetings - July 27 and August 24. Four students were granted diplomas.
Old and New Business: Superintendent Wilhoyte was officially thanked for her years of service and excellent work on behalf of Madison's children. She was wished the best at her new position with the Edison Project in New York City.
(A complete copy of these minutes is available from the Board of Education Office, 261-9000. This summary may have been published before the minutes were approved by the Board of Education. Please call to check on any changes.)
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Last Modified: 6/17/98
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