March 13]1[2014
Board of School DirectorsMilwaukee, WisconsinMarch 13, 2014
Special meeting of the Board of School Directors called to order by President Bonds at 7:09 PM.
Present—Directors Falk, Holman, Sain, Spence, Woodward, Zautke, and President Bonds—7.
Absent and excused—Directors Joseph and Miller—2.
The Board Clerk read the following call of the meeting:
March 6, 2014
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS:
At the request of President Michael Bonds, a special meeting of the Board of School Directors will be held at 7:00 P.M. (or immediately following the adjournment of the meeting of the Committee on Parent and Community Engagement scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.) on Thursday, March 13, 2014, in room 103 of the Central Services Building, 5225 West Vliet Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the following purposes:
1.to consider and take action on reports of the Independent Hearing Officers of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors (student expulsions); and
2.to conduct a work session for the purpose of:
a.holding preliminary discussions regarding the process, if the need arises, for searching for a new Superintendent of Schools; and
b.holding preliminary discussions regarding the process, if the need arises, for appointing an acting superintendent of schools or designating a department chief to perform the duties and powers of the Office of the Superintendent.
While this meeting is open to the public, no public testimony will be taken.
Executive Session Notice
With respect to Item 1, above, the Board, pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes, Section 19.85(1)(f), may retire to executive session for the purpose of considering disciplinary data of specific persons, and may reconvene in open session to take action on matters considered in executive session and to continue with the remainder of its agenda.
LYNNE A. SOBCZAK
Board Clerk
(Item 1)Action on Reports of the Independent Hearing Officers of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors (Student Expulsions)
Background
As more than 30 days will have passed between the regular February and the regular March meetings of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, the reports of the Independent Hearing Officers of the Board
of School Directors for the following dates and times are attached for the Board’s consideration and determination:
February 25, 2014.....9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
February 26, 2014.....9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
February 27, 2014.....9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 3:30 p.m.
These reports will be included in the expulsions summaries for March 2014.
Policy
Administrative Policy 8.33, Student Expulsion: Independent Hearing Officer
Recommendation
That the Board accept the reports of the Independent Hearing Officers of the Board of School Directors, as attached, for the following dates and times:
February 25, 2014.....9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
February 26, 2014.....9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
February 27, 2014.....9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 3:30 p.m.
Director Spence moved that the Board approve the reports of the Independent Hearing Officers of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors.
The motion prevailed, the vote being as follows:
Ayes—Directors Falk, Holman, Sain, Spence, Zautke and President Bonds—6.
Noes—Director Woodward—1.
The Board proceeded to conduct the worksession as specified in the meeting notice.
The Board adjourned at 9:00 PM.
LYNNE A. SOBCZAK
Board Clerk
March 18]1[2014
Board of School DirectorsMilwaukee, WisconsinMarch 18, 2014
Special meeting of the Board of School Directors called to order by President Bonds at 5:33 PM.
Present—Directors Falk, Miller, Woodward, Zautke, and President Bonds—5.
Absent and excused—Directors Holman, Joseph, Sain and Spence—4.
The Board Clerk read the following call of the meeting:
March 14, 2014
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS:
At the request of President Michael Bonds, a special meeting of the Board of School Directors will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18, 2014, in the Auditorium of the Central Services Building, 5225 West Vliet Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the purpose of considering and taking action on a request for authorization to enter into contracts contingent upon approval of E-Rate program for funding July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015.
Public testimony will be accepted at this meeting.
LYNNE A. SOBCZAK
Board Clerk
(Item 1)Action on a Request for Authorization to Enter into Contracts Contingent upon Approval of E-Rate Program for Funding July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015
Background
The E-Rate program is a federal program administered through the FCC to provide funding to schools and libraries to develop, implement, and maintain Internet connectivity. The district has participated in this program from its inception in 1998.
The Schools and Library Division (SLD) has a mandatory process that must be adhered to in order to participate in the program. The most significant requirements are to select vendors in a competitive manner and to sign contracts with the selected vendors before filing applications with the SLD.
It is understood by the SLD that school districts may have to include out language in the contract with the vendors; therefore, language indicating that the contracts are valid only upon E-Rate approval of the applications and the approval of local funds will be included in each contract.
The E-Rate program is designed to assist schools and libraries with the design, implementation, and maintenance of a network infrastructure to support Internet connectivity to classrooms. The program pays a high percentage of the cost, based upon each school’s free- and reduced-lunch rate.
Public testimony will be accepted at this meeting.
Strategic Plan Compatibility Statement
Goal 1, Students meet and exceed Wisconsin academic standards and graduate prepared for higher education, careers, and citizenship.
Statute, Administrative Policy, or Board Rule Statement
Administrative Policy 3.09, Purchasing and Bidding Requirements.
Fiscal Impact Statement
The item authorizes the expenditure of $19,727,176.64, contingent upon approval of the E-Rate Program. This authorization will be proportionately reduced based upon partial approval by the E-Rate Program. The expenditures will be budgeted to Budget Code TSV-0-0-TLN-DW-ECTS, eRate Contracts.
Implementation and Assessment Plan
Upon the Board’s approval, the district will enter into contracts with the selected vendors prior to filing the E-Rate applications. The appropriate language will be included in the contracts to render them invalid if the applications are not approved by the E-Rate Program or the unavailability of funds.
Administration’s Recommendation
The Administration recommends that the Board authorize the Administration to enter into contracts (provided under separate cover) with the specified vendors for $19,727,176.64, as summarized in the table below, contingent upon approval of the E-Rate Program for funding July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015.
RFP# / Vendor Name / Description / Contract Term / Total / E-RateShare / MPS’s
Share
838 / Time Warner Cable Information Services (Wisconsin), LLC / Internet Access and Connectivity / July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015 / $300,912.00 / $258,784.32 / $42,127.68
839 / Time Warner Cable Information Services (Wisconsin), LLC / Leased Metro Ethernet Services / July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015 / $16,980,000.00 / $14,602,800 / $2,377,200
841 / Wisconsin Wireless Communica-tions Corporation / PBX Maintenance Services / July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015 / $169,414.00 / $152,472.60 / $16,941.40
842 / Time Warner Cable Information Services (Wisconsin), LLC / ISDN PRI and DS1 Telecommuni-cations Services / July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015 / $1,690,395.00 / $1,453,739.70 / $236,655.30
848 / American Messaging Services, LLC / Paging Service / July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015 / $ 13,595.40 / $12,235.86 / $1,395.54
855 / US Xchange of Wisconsin, LLC / Telephone Service / July 1, 2014-June 30, 2016 / $502,086.24 / $431,794.17 / $70,292.07
In addition, the Administration seeks to exercise an optional final one-year extension term under the original contracts for the following services:
RFP# / Vendor Name / Description / Contract Extension Term / Total / E-Rate Share / MPS Share763 / US Xchange of Wisconsin, LLC / Long Distance Telephone Service / July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015 / $9,754.00 / $8,388.44 / $,1365.56
764 / HITEC Group International, Inc. / TTY Text Service / July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015 / $61,020.00 / $52,477.20 / $8,542.80
Director Miller moved that the Board dissolve into a Committee of the Whole for the purpose of accepting public testimony.
The motion prevailed, the vote being as follows:
Ayes—Directors Falk, Miller, Woodward, Zautke and President Bonds—5.
Noes—None.
Opportunity for public testimony having been given, the Board rose from the Committee of the Whole by consensus.
Director Falk moved to approve the administration’s recommendation.
The motion prevailed, the vote being as follows:
Ayes—Directors Falk, Miller, Woodward, Zautke and President Bonds—5.
Noes—None.
The Board adjourned at 6:00 PM.
LYNNE A. SOBCZAK
Board Clerk
March 27]1[2014
Board of School DirectorsMilwaukee, WisconsinMarch 27, 2014
Special meeting of the Board of School Directors called to order by President Bonds at 5:39 PM.
Present—Directors Falk, Holman, Miller, Sain, Spence, Woodward, Zautke, and President Bonds—8.
Absent and excused—Director Joseph—1. (Director Joseph participated in the meeting via telephone.)
The Board Clerk read the following call of the meeting:
March 20, 2014
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS:
At the request of President Michael Bonds, a special meeting of the Board of School Directors will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 27, 2014, in the Auditorium of the Central Services Building, 5225 West Vliet Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the purpose of determining how the Board wishes to proceed with temporarily filling the vacancy to be created by the resignation of the current Superintendent, effective July 1, 2014.
The Board may retire to executive session pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes, Section 19.85(1)(c), which allows a governmental body to retire to executive session for the purpose of considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility.
The Board may reconvene in open session to take action on matters considered in executive session. Otherwise, the Board will adjourn from executive session.
LYNNE A. SOBCZAK
Board Clerk
Director Woodward moved that the Board retire to executive session, pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes, Section 19.85(1)(c), for the purpose of determining how the Board wishes to proceed with temporarily filling the vacancy to be created by the resignation of the current Superintendent, effective July 1, 2014.
The motion prevailed, the vote being as follows:
Ayes— Directors Falk, Holman, Miller, Sain, Spence, Woodward, Zautke, and President Bonds—8.
Noes—None.
The Board retired to executive session at 5:47 PM.
The Board adjourned from executive session at 6:38 PM.
LYNNE A. SOBCZAK
Board Clerk
March 27]1[2014
Board of School DirectorsMilwaukee, WisconsinMarch 27, 2014
Regular meeting of the Board of School Directors called to order by President Bonds at 6:44 PM.
Present—Directors Falk, Holman, Miller, Sain, Spence, Woodward, Zautke, and President Bonds—8.
Absent and excused—Director Joseph—1.
The Chair requested a moment of silence to commemorate the passing of two Milwaukee Public Schools students:
•AnMarie Miller, age 17, a Transition High School student, who died on March 12, 2014; and
•James Bell, age 19, a former Transition High School student, who died on March 12, 2014.
Kerstin Newsted, a Junior at Hamilton High School, made a speech on the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Awards and Commendations
(Item A)Excellence in Education Award— United Way of Greater Milwaukee
Background
Each month, the Milwaukee Board of School Directors recognizes an outstanding school, student, staff member, parent, or community member for a display of excellence, achievement, and innovation that may serve as an example to our school district and the entire Milwaukee community. This month, the Milwaukee Board of School Directors is pleased to present the “Excellence in Education Award” to:
United Way of Greater Milwaukee
The United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Milwaukee Public Schools have partnered on many great things together. For example, programs funded through United Way’s Healthy Girls Initiative teach evidence-based comprehensive sexual health and sexual violence prevention programming, such as the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative. The collaboration between MPS and the United Way in support of these programs has helped the teen birth rate in Milwaukee drop by 50%.
United Way of Greater Milwaukee has also aligned its Reader, Tutor, Mentor Initiative recruitment efforts with tutoring pilot programs to help students throughout Milwaukee. United Way is working to direct interested volunteers to opportunities to tutor at local
agency program partners and to select MPS schools, including the Milwaukee Academy of Science. The tutors focus on building early reading and literacy skills with K5 and first-grade students.
United Way has expanded its partnership with City Year Milwaukee by directly supporting nine corps members at James Madison Academic Campus. Corps members help students who are off track in attendance, behavior, math, and English, with a primary focus on ninth graders.
The Milwaukee Board of School Directors and the entire school community recognize United Way of Greater Milwaukee for their dedication, outstanding leadership, and commitment to excellence on behalf of the students of the Milwaukee Public Schools.
*****
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the regular and special Board meetings of February 19 and 27, 2014, were approved as printed.
*****
Communications from the Board Clerk
(Item A)Action on a Request to Waive Board Rules 1.01(1)(a) and 1.02(2) and to Reschedule the Board’s April 2014 Regular Monthly Meeting and the Board’s 2014 Annual Organizational Meeting
Background
Section 119.10(2) of the Wisconsin Statutes states, in part, “Annually, no earlier than the 4th Monday in April and no later than the first Monday in May, the board shall hold its organizational meeting, shall elect a president from among its members to serve for one year and until a successor is chosen, and shall designate an individual to serve as clerk…”
Board Rule 1.01(1)(a) states, “The Milwaukee Board of School Directors…shall meet and organize annually by the election of a president on the fourth Tuesday of April, except that, when the fourth Tuesday is a legal holiday, the meeting shall be held on the following Thursday.”
Board Rule 1.02(2) states, “The Board shall…hold a final meeting each year on the Thursday prior to the fourth Monday of April.”
In accordance with Board Rule 1.02(2), the Board’s regular April 2014 meeting is currently scheduled for Thursday, April 17, while, in accordance with Board Rule 1.01(1)(a), the Board’s 2014 annual organizational meeting is currently scheduled for Tuesday, April 22.
As it is currently scheduled, the Board’s regular April 2014 meeting falls during the week of Spring Break, when MPS schools are out of session and when many parents, students, and staff have made vacation plans. The Administration, therefore, in order to avoid any inconvenience both to the public and to MPS staff members who may have an interest in items to be considered at this meeting, has respectfully requested that the Board consider taking action to suspend Board Rules 1.01(1)(a) and 1.02(2) and to move its annual organizational meeting from Tuesday, April 22, to Thursday, April 24, and to move its regular April meeting from Thursday, April 17, to Tuesday, April 22.
The Board’s current April 2014 calendar has been provided to the Board for its reference.
Board Rule 1.14(3) requires a “recorded affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Board membership” to suspend Board rules.
Statute, Administrative Policy, or Board Rules Statement
Scheduling of the annual organizational and regular meetings of the Board is governed by Board Rule 1.01, Organizational Meeting, and Board Rule 1.02, Regular Board Meetings, respectively.
Suspension of a Board Rule is governed by Board Rule 1.14, Voting Methods.
Fiscal Impact Statement
No fiscal impact.
Recommendation
That the Board determine how it wishes to proceed with this item.
Director Miller moved to waive Board Rules 1.01(1)(a) and 1.02(2), and to reschedule the regular April Board meeting to Tuesday, April 22, 2014, at 6:30 PM, and to reschedule the Annual Organizational Meeting to Thursday, April 24, 2014, at 6:30 PM.
The motion prevailed, the vote being as follows:
Ayes—Directors Falk, Holman, Miller, Sain, Spence, Woodward, Zautke and President Bonds—8.
Noes—None.
*****
Reports of the Independent Hearing Officers of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors
The Board Clerk presented 28 expulsion orders from the Independent Hearing Officers of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors.
Director Spence moved to accept the reports of the Independent Hearing Officers of March 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 20, 21, and 24, 2014.
The motion to accept the reports prevailed, the vote being as follows:
Ayes—Directors Falk, Holman, Miller, Sain, Spence, Zautke, and President Bonds—7.
Noes—Director Woodward—1.
*****
Reports of Standing Committees
Separate consideration was requested of the following item:
Accountability, Finance and Personnel Committee, Item 5, approval of prevailing wage rates.
Vice President Holman in the Chair.
On the motion of Director Spence, the balance of the reports of the Standing Committees was approved, the vote being as follows:
Ayes—Directors Falk, Miller, Sain, Spence, Woodward, Zautke and Vice President Holman—7.
Noes—None.
Temporarily absent—President Bonds—1.
Committee on Parent and Community Engagement
Director Woodward presented the following report for the Committee on Parent and Community Engagement:
TO THE BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS:
Your Committee on Parent and Community Engagement presents the following report:
(Item _?_)Report and Possible Action on Services Provided to Students with Disabilities in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Strategic Plan Compatibility Statement
Goal 5School staffs are supportive and responsive to students and families
Statute, Administrative Policy, or Board Rules Statement
-
LRE-February 2014.pdf
Background
LRE is one of the most significant components in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)-2004. It requires that children with disabilities be educated, to the maximum extent appropriate, with children who are not disabled. Special classes, separate schooling, or removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes, with the use of supplementary aids and services, cannot be achieved satisfactorily.The Milwaukee Public Schools is committed to ensuring that students with special needs are educated in environments with their non-disabled peers. The preference of the law is that students be educated using the general curriculum in the regular education classroom. Best practices and research strongly support education in the least restrictive environment (LRE), with access to the general curriculum, because it leads to high expectations and achievement outcomes for students with disabilities.As part of its focus on increasing academic and behavioral outcomes for students with disabilities, the Department of Specialized Services has developed a plan of support to ensure that every child is receiving special education services in the least restrictive environment (LRE). The LRE Plan became part of the School Improvement Plan (SIP) in the 2011-12 school year, and all schools are required to complete. Within the plan, schools must identify a team to work on ways to include students with special education with their non-disabled peers, set a target goal, and include steps to reach that goal.