Summary of Regular Board Meeting Held on November 6, 2000

Regular monthly meetings of the Board of Education are close captioned. They are shown again on Tuesday evenings with captions for those unable to watch on Monday evenings.

Recognition

Lapham Elementary School received a four-year, $590,000 grant to work with economically and educationally disadvantaged families to improve literacy skills and encourage reading. Stephanie McKnight, coordinator of the Even Start Family Literacy Project at Lapham, discussed the project and Christina Warnecke, a parent participant, reflected on her family's involvement.

Public Appearances

There were no public appearances.

Board President's Announcements And Reports

Mr. Williams announced:

feedback from parents and citizens on proposed options for school boundary changes is being studied by the Long Range Planning Committee.
thanked parents who suggested names for the new school and for their participation in this process.
state and federal legislation is currently under review requiring school districts receiving government monies to install internet filtering software on all computers accessible to minors. The legislation is designed to tie government funding such as TEACH to the installation of filtering software. The District has provided to DPI information about potential costs.
Gov. Thompson's Kettle Commission proposes to take schools entirely off the property tax and have the state fund 100 percent of the cost of K-12 education. No decision has been made; the Board Legislative Committee is watching the issue progress.
U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley is calling on Congress to support a $25 billion school modernization bill that has bipartisan support and sponsorship. Education issues are at the forefront of tomorrow's election.
the district has invited everyone to visit their local school during American Education Week, November 12-18.

Superintendent's Announcements And Reports

Mr. Rainwater announced:

significant progress is evident as a result of the Schools of Hope project, a community-wide effort begun five years ago to reduce an identified achievement gap for ethnic and racial minority students.
four MMSD high school students attended the Minority Student Achievement Network National Student Conference in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
West High School student Major Latimor represented the district in a recent panel discussion on recruiting minority students into the field of journalism sponsored by Madison Newspapers, a Schools of Hope partner.
the U.S. Department of Education has awarded Memorial High School a $268,000 grant to restructure the school into a network of small learning communities using a neighborhood concept.
in a three-year, four-state, University of Minnesota study on service learning programs, Shabazz City High School was chosen out of all schools studied as the model to establish the Standards for the Evaluation of Service Learning Programs.
Elvehjem art teacher Diane Fleming received a $10,000 grant from the American Institute of Architects to publish Simply Wright, her book for children on the work of Frank Lloyd Wright.
State Superintendent John Benson visited Franklin School last month to surprise principal Deb Mercier with a check for 25,000 from the Milken Foundation in recognition of her innovation and hard work.

Committee Reports And Action Thereon

Performance & Achievement: Recommendations of the Evaluation of Learning Materials Committee were approved. At the next meeting, the commitee will review a draft proposal from the administration regarding graduation and promotion policy. Last month, the committee received the first annual report on the district's three priorities.

Finance and Operations: Purchase of a refrigerated van was approved. The committee discussed naming of the new school. A decision is scheduled for November 20.

Human Resources: The Superintendent provided an update on the status of filling the minority recruiter position.

Long Range Planning: The committee has been meeting, receiving feedback, and asking for information about proposed options for boundary changes throughout the district.

Partnerships: No report.

Legislative: The committee will be monitoring progress of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Commission.

Auditing, Purchasing, Transfers & Other Financial Transactions

Auditing: Interim bills were paid.

Purchasing: No items.

Transfers: Funds were transferred for LMC materials at the new elementary school and to fund the school formula increase for 2000-01 based on an increase in enrollment.

Other Financial Transactions: All donations and grants received since October 2, 2000 were approved. The 2000-2001 budget was increased to support a .50 FTE school nurse, the underground storage tank management program, and to include the additional carryovers from fiscal year 2000 for the Safe Schools/Healthy Students grant.

Human Resources Transactions and Reports:

All transactions and reports were approved.

Reports to the Board:

Board of Education/Common Council Liaison Committee: The committee will meet in November to discuss police officers in the schools and homeless students.

Mr. Keys gave an oral report on the Council of Urban Boards of Education 32nd Annual Conference, Facing the Challenges of Governing America's Urban Public Schools.

Other Business:

Request for an easement was approved for TDS Telecom at the Cross Country school site, 72 students were excused from school attendance for the purpose of allowing them to enroll in programs for high school equivalency diplomas, and six students were granted diplomas of graduation based on completed requirements.

Old and New Business: Mr. López congratuated the LaFollette High School football team for making it to the playoffs. He and Mr. Keys enjoyed the Title I Migrant Family Night. He also visited Lowell Reading Recovery.

(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