Summary of Regular Board Meeting Held on September 10, 2001

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

New Mann Scholars were introduced - Stephanie Osuocha, Uriah Harris, Ramone Dixon - as well as new Sanchez Scholars - Luz Miranda and Ulises Palacios. Candy Nerge, first grade teacher at Crestwood, received a plaque in recognition of winning the 2000 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Public Appearances

There were no public appearances.

Board President's Announcements And Reports

Mr. Williams:

• Commented on the following events: Open House at Chavez, Seventh Annual Countywide School Volunteer Training, and the Reach Out to Kids program.

Superintendent's Announcements And Reports

Mr. Rainwater announced:

• The district is 146 students over projection on the ninth day and 99.4% accurate. This is 86 students below last year's enrollment. Teachers have been moved between schools from low enrollment to high enrollment classrooms. Out of 586 separate elementary school classes, 14 were affected by moves in 10 schools, saving about $440,000.
• MSCR will celebrate at their annual banquet on September 18. The installation of 16 murals at the Learning Center at Allied Drive was commemorated. Because of a grant and a partnership, Community Learning Centers will continue at three schools.
• Last year's African-American History Challenge Bowl winners from Jefferson (Jin Cheng, Jordan Smith, Dmitri Svetlov) took second place in the national competition. The 100 Black Men of Madison sponsored this event and distributed 1000 backpacks at its annual picnic.
• The U.S. Department of Education has identified Lowell Elementary as a national model for school reform.
• MMSD will host the National Minority Student Achievement Network's first annual teacher conference September 20 through 22.
• Shorewood Elementary PTO will offer students after-school foreign language classes. Over 100 children participated last year.
• West High senior Cassie Lucarelli won a trip to France for her essay based on a quote from Helen Keller about the importance of the sense of smell.

Committee Reports And Action Thereon

Performance & Achievement: Recommendations from the Evaluation of Learning Materials Committee were approved. Ruth Robarts announced the committee will, in October, meet to approve graduations and promotion policies, hear about the five-year plan to continue working on minority student achievement issues, and receive the annual report on the district's three priorities.

Finance and Operations: A bid was approved for insulated panels (materials only) for Spring Harbor Middle School. Juan José López reported the committee received information from the Director of Building Services regarding various roof repair projects at six different middle schools in response to his request.

Human Resources: Bill Keys reported on activities and progress related to the Superintendent's evaluation.

Long Range Planning: Carol Carstensen reported the administration will present their proposal on elementary school building capacity in September. A meeting is scheduled in early October to begin the process of resolving issues left over from last year relative to enrollment at Leopold Elementary.

Partnerships: Shwaw Vang reported he will be looking for mutual meeting dates and times.

Legislative: Ray Allen reported the state budget is being reviewed by the Governor. He discussed three main issues for the district - SAGE, special education, and revenue cap limit flexibility and reported progress on the high school graduation test, four-year-old kindergarten, and school start date.

Auditing, Purchasing, Transfers & Other Financial Transactions

Auditing: Interim and School Building Fund Bills were approved.

Purchasing: A bid was approved for graphing calculators and view screens.

Transfers: No items.

Other Financial Transactions: All donations and grants received since July 16, 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 this committee is under review by the Common Council. There is agreement among alders that the Board and Council need to have a mechanism for at least an annual dialogue on mutual issues.

Other Business:

-- Michael Walsh was appointed as a citizen member to the Legislative Committee. - A resolution was approved recognizing the accomplishments of Judy Greenspan. - Two students over the age of 20 will be allowed to continue enrollment for purposes of graduation. Forty-three students were granted diplomas of graduation based on completed requirements. There was discussion of leaves of absences for administrators and the length of leaves, but all motions failed.

Old and New Business: Juan José López, Ruth Robarts and Bill Keys commented about news articles and the process around potential conflict of interest among board members and the superintendent.

(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.)

Regular Meeting Summaries