001all right good evening we are now going to call the regular Board of Education meeting to order for January we start with the vision statement that every school will be a thriving school that prepares every student to graduate from high school college career and Community ready we also have a moment of silence tonight um which I'm going to ask vice president Pearson to read we'd like to ask for a moment of silence this evening for our district to recognize the passing of Camille draus who was a senior at West High School Camille is remembered as someone who personified resilience respect and care for others she worked hard but also took time to make others laugh Camille was fiercely independent bright and outspoken she knew who she was and what she believed in and was never
002afraid to speak her mind she represents everything good about West High School Community Camille's passing has Tak Tak a significant toll on so many students and staff in the West Community and we remember them tonight please join me in a in participating in a moment of silence in honor of Camille draus thank you tonight we're also going to start our meeting with a statement about our commitment to all students the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education believes public education is a fundamental right and sacred trust our schools are places where every student belongs this is not just a policy but our core value and commitment to our community today we proudly reaffirm and recommit our previous Board of Education resolutions including our resolution to support our immigrant Refugee and undocumented students in 2017 and
003families in our resolution to support our lgbtq plus students in 2021 these resolutions remain corner stones of our commitment to creating truly inclusive schools where every student can Thrive we affirm our de our dedication to providing a fair and Equitable education to all students and when we say all we mean every single student this this includes every race and ethnicity every uh m ation status every language and cultural background every gender identity and sexual orientation every ability and learning style every family structure and economic circumstance every religious belief and cultural tradition every student period our commitment we create safe and welcoming spaces where students can be their authentic selves we celebrate the diversity that enriches our schools and strengthens our community we protect the rights and dignity of every student and family who enters our
004doors we remove barriers that stand in the way of full participation in school life we allocate resources to ensure every student can access every opportunity we support the unique needs dreams and potential of each student We Stand United against discrimination bias and exclusion in any form to our students and fames you belong here you matter here you are valuable you will be supported here to our community join us in making this Vision real every student's success strengthens our entire this is not just a statement it is our promise and our daily practice this is who we are this is what we stand for this is mmsd thank you board colleagues uh we will now move into the public input part of our agenda first I'm going to summarize the written statements submitted for this meeting
005there were 19 written statements submitted for this meeting two opposed to the McKenzie Foundation Charter School proposal until the U Charter proposal is off the table and 17 in support of more instructional space at Kennedy Elementary School and reassessing the Elementary School attendance boundaries all right as we get ready to go into our um public comment with those of those of you who are are registered in person we are going to start with two people who registered to speak that are not about um the charter school um because there's only two of them and and there are 35 others who registered to speak about the charter school so we will have um the first person online who wants to speak about a different issue go and then the person um who is here Tiana Clemens
006will come forward and speak just as a reminder about our public comment um it is three minutes and when you do come up to the Podium um you you have a clock that will show you up here when your 3 minutes starts you also have a little black box on the podium um when you see a yellow light it means you're down to about 30 seconds and then the red light um syns up with the clock and means you're out of time um because we have so many speakers tonight I'm going to really need those of you who registered to speak to finish at 3 minutes um so that we can be attentive of a board but also so that everybody who registered um has full access to the three minutes all right thank you
007Jesse thank you our first online speaker is Ashley Parker okay good evening my name is Ashley and I'm an OT at Kennedy Elementary thank you for the opportunity to speak today of our ongoing needs at our school like many schools poverty is a growing concern but at Kennedy the issue is significant and acute we have one of the highest rates of kids experiencing homelessness in the district and many of our students have experienced traumas that are difficult to comprehend I've heard heartbreaking statements like I have a secret my friend was shot outside my apartment or my mom says it's not safe at our school for our most vulnerable children especially those with IEPs student growth scores are abysmal and while many challenges stem from these outside of school problems there's one issue within our walls
008that's holding us back space our space constraints in our building make it nearly impossible to meet the needs of our most vulnerable students our school is severely overcrowded with limited space for small group instruction therapy or areas for students to safely regulate as a result We are failing to legally meet the needs outlined in our students IEPs for our minimally speaking children trauma often manifests physically one example is a student who engages in intense behaviors like tipping over shelving throwing chairs and tables in a low anywhere from 5 to 25 times a day our intensive support team has consulted twice both times confirming this child needs a small controlled environment outside of the regular education classroom yet we have no physical space to accommodate this child or the handful of others like them the lack
009of space affects not just them but also their non-disabled peers when projectiles are thrown restraints happen or fights break out other children are harmed school should be a safe place for every child it especially our particular population of children and right now it is not safe we have an incredibly talented staff and hallways are packed with them trying to find Space to work but for those with attention and safety concerns it's not a viable solution one room which should be a dedicated resource room has over nine adult workspaces a therapy dog and the learning materials for grades K through five I conduct therapy in a basement room shared with Orchestra and for children with sensory sensitivities and attention ch Alles it's not ideal however we have seen some positive strides additional staff like a PBIS
010coach and social worker have been invaluable and our community school status has opened up new opportunities for our family one of our one of my students even broke out into song when showing me her new shoes she got from a clothing Drive looking ahead we have urgent needs in the short term we need trailer space for interventions in small group instruction midterm please relocate 4K programs to the bring schools with available space that would free up critical resources longterm we need to reassess attendance boundaries to accommodate new housing developments and ensure schools are properly sized in conclusion Kennedy students are resilient but we need your support to help them succeed and addressing our space challenges is crucial so thank you for your time and I look forward to working together to make a safer more
011supportive environment thank you all right for the one registered speaker who also want to wants to speak about Kennedy Elementary Tiana Clemens can you come forward hi there my name is Tiana Clemens my eldest son is in first grade at Kennedy Elementary I'm here tonight to ask for your help to address the serious space limitation our school's experiencing ked's incredible school we have wonderful teachers supportive staff and a community that truly cares this year we have new positions that have allowed us to make strides in managing class sizes we're really grateful for the additional social worker and support staff that are ensuring mental health and wellbeing of our students this the transition to Community School status has also been really helpful this year for Kennedy but despite everyone's best efforts to make Kennedy function as
012smoothly as it can we are facing an untenable situation Kennedy currently has 579 students in a building with a capacity listed at 540 every corner every hallway every allowable space has been converted into a classroom and we've reached the limit of what these makeshift Solutions can really do I volunteer in my son's class weekly uh I see when I'm in there that there is one-on-one instruction happening um with special education and AIDS alongside the standard teaching that's going on with with the teacher in the classroom they're speaking at the same time um it can be loud I also see hallways utilized for one-on-one instruction assessments or the big one space for emotional regulation for students having a hard time but kids are easily distracted in hallways and that creates a chaotic atmosphere with people coming
013and going and kids who are having a hard time at the same time the staff are really creative in the way they've blocked off spaces they've created temporary barriers with bookshelves and Furniture but the bookshelves aren't BL blocking noise and they can be physically unsafe spaces for kids especially disregulated kids I have seen kids hitting and rocking the walls which are bookshelves um which are actually having kids on the other side in the library at the same time tring to do library work sitting on on the floor crisscross apples sauce with bookshelves um rocking next to them I bring up these examples to illustrate that Kennedy is reach the end of its capacity to make do we need your help to solve the space issue the district needs to reassess the Elementary attendance area boundaries
014Kennedy is over capacity and neighboring schools are under capacity we understand the adjustment of boundaries is really a complicated process and we're just requesting that it's initiated as soon as possible including consideration of an emergency boundary change for the coming school year if that's not immediately feasible we urge you to consider moving 4K classes to neighboring schools are bringing in trailers to alleviate the pressures on our classrooms as a parent I'm thankful for the small class sizes my son's class has 16 I think that's really reasonable um I'm thankful for the investments in my son's school but space limitations at Kennedy are more than just an inconvenience it's a direct barrier to effective learning and it's a safety risk for our children thank you for your consideration as we navigate this together thank you um
015before we go into this next part um uh regarding the public comment for the charter school let me just say a couple of things um so this tonight's public comment you registering to speak is considered part of the public hearing um uh for the charter school proposal so for those of you that aren't as familiar with the board's process we aren't taking any action tonight so when you come up and speak and use your three minutes know that your comments are one of the things that we take into consideration it we will take your comments into consideration also with the proposal that was written um and some other analysis of looking at um The Proposal so I want to thank you all for registering to be here but just know that in the public comment
016section board members don't respond um so if you are coming forward with any questions or if you're hoping for more dialogue and and engagement really in the public um comment section it's your time at the mic for your three minutes and and we will take note but we don't we don't interact during this period um also I will do my best to pronounce your name if I make an error please feel free to correct um as you come up to the mic and um and then we'll start with our first online speaker who registered about the charter school and then we'll move to our iners and speakers thanks thank you our online speaker is April Kaya thank you first I want to apologize for not being on camera I'm not feeling the best so you
017don't want to see me um my name is April Kaya I'm a graduate of mmsd and I also have a student a nth grader at Madison west and I um registering to speak in opposition of the charter school I was at the two Community sessions that were held at the Urban League black business Hub um the two Community engagement sessions and I was very disappointed um that the speakers there including the MacKenzie's Michael Johnson and some of the board members they were not able to provide answers to direct questions that we asked specifically around the curriculum the structure of the school and the benefit um that they said that they would be able to provide to specifically African-American students which they said they were creating this school specifically for I feel that resources would better
018be served by putting the money into the existing MMS school or mmsd District um for students in family I also was very disappointed in the lack of Engagement um with the black and brown Community to um just engage in this process um towards the end they had kind of said that they you know were hoping to engage and were looking to engage and that's why they wanted to have these engagement sessions however when we were trying to give feedback and answering questions that they had um it at sometimes became very adversarial which was very confusing because they asked for our feedback and we gave it to them and then it became this you know just it was very disappointing um so long story short I feel like all this money that they're willing to to
019put into the school would be better served um either splitting between one city who's all already doing what it seems like they want to do um minus internship portion and then also putting it back into um mmsd schools thank you all right thank you our first speaker is John McKenzie and then following John McKenzie will be Diana Walker thank you um I'm a product of mmsd from kindergarten through high school and um thankful for the great education that I received I'm also thankful for the great community that I grew up in and aware that I had advantages that other people don't and so when I became successful I decided I wanted to give back to the community and really focus on those that didn't have the advantages that I had and I think the thing
020I'm most proud of is the McKenzie Regional Workforce Center which is a $31 million project that we completed with the Boys and Girls Clubs and madis area Builders Association which teaches skilled construction trades to young people and also teaches them about wealth building and Entrepreneurship and the thing that I think I'm most kind of surprised and excited about is that a lot of these kids that are chronically Trent and and not really performing uh in uh public schools are showing up at nights weekends at the workforce center putting in the effort to make their lives better so why is that happening why are they showing up at the workforce center not at school and I'm convinced it's because we're showing them an Avenue for success we're showing them a specific job that they can have
021they can do and be successful and we're also showing them how they can own their own business and I think it inspires them this CH this charter school that we're proposing is going to build on what we learned at the workforce center we're going to view every student as an individual with unique talents and challenges and each student is going to find their own path but with a lot of mentoring and a lot of help from people that look like them and understand them I think that's going to be our difference is this mentoring this coaching and I I want to compliment mmsd for the great facilities that you built for Workforce Development the beautiful auto tech labs and the other tech labs that you've done and I think those are going to be a
022benefit to our students if you invite us in but I think that's not enough providing facilities doesn't really encourage the kids to use them they have to have intensive counseling and understand their opportunities and really engage them and they need to be on Workforce internships to understand what it takes to be successful every one of our students everyone is going to be on a workplace B internship and if you invite us in we can make mmsd the Envy of the state and Work First Development now finally I want to say this Charter application's been really difficult at times and emotional we realize change is difficult people don't necessarily Embrace change but I think this is a time for new ideas and bravery and I know we're going to be successful one way or the other
023I hope you and invite us in um if not I understand but I will say I'm not going to give up on our kids thank you all right after Diana Walker we'll go with uh James Sutton will be next hi my name is Diana Walker and I have the honor of serving on the board for four career and College Academy when I asked to serve on the board I really pondered like okay is this something I want to do and then I had to do some reflection in my educational Journey not being from Madison originally I'm a madisonian now but not being here originally I grew up in Gary Indiana and I'm a product of this model I went to high school and in parallel with my high school training I also was a certified
024nursing assistant so when I graduated from high school I graduated as a licensed certified nursing assistant was able to become gainfully employed right out of high school but then it also set a foundation for me as I went on to become a medical assistant and then a licensed practical nurse and then getting my Bachelor's degree so I believe in this model and I think if we can look at it as an um an asset an an addition to to giving the students the opportunity of choice I feel that we all could benefit it could benefit our community it could benefit the youth it can benefit our tax uh situation in our community as now these folks will be at I was 18 paying taxes wow look at there so I believe that if you all
025will consider this as a opportunity I feel like this will be very beneficial for those students who will be allowed to train in these in this training and to do a great work and to go on and move forward in their lives and have a foundation that they can build on so it's not to say no don't go to college it's to say we're going to give you a foundation and you take that foundation and you build on it from there along with mentorship and along with the internship so I hope that as you consider this proposal you will think of these things and you remember my smiling face as a MTO of this program thank you so much right James Sutton and then following James will be Alex Rob or Rob I apologize if
026I mispronounced that good afternoon um I just want to make two major points with this school I'm in favor of it um I'm a business owner here here in Madison and um we work in the trades field uh we do a lot of post construction uh with large corporations within Madison and and we're just lacking uh minorities within the trade field for one um second point I would like to make is um I've also been a mentor and a coach in this community for 16 years and it's it's very obvious that everyone is not meant to go to college and we have to have another alternative for this new generation to see a brighter future than what they're seeing right now um it's just we're in a different age and we have to think differently
027and we have to be open-minded to that and and in order to do that we have to be able to build something where they can see themselves having a brighter future and right now if you look at the school district that my kids go in right now they offer one mechanic I think it's like a mechanic class that they offer there's nothing else besides woodworking um there's nothing else that's offered um so how are kids supposed to figure out what they want to do early right how we how are we supposed to get the mechanics or are the the electricians or how we supposed to pick these kids up out and let them see that they have a brighter future so I think this school is this should have been built decades ago if you
028ask me and um I just think you should consider it so thank you all right we'll hear from Alex RAB followed by Isa Braxton good evening members of uh Madison Metro School District School Board my name is Alex RAB and I'm there you go my name is Alex RAB and I'm here tonight as a small business owner to voice my strong support for fcca which will transform education in Madison Area School District um as a small uh local Insurance business owner I support the fcca because it creates a skilled vocal Talent pipeline enhances Community engagement and promotes economic growth and social responsibility um equity and inclusion are at the core of to fcca addressing achievement gaps and ensuring all students have access to internships mentorships and certifications fcca creates career Pathways in high demand Industries
029like healthcare and Technology collaborations with local businesses ensure students graduate with marketable skills and real world experiences Community input has shaped fcca making a community-driven solution that strengthen ties between schools and the broader community um by pairing academic Excellence with practical skills fcca increases student engagement and graduation rates uh benefiting the entire community in conclusion fcca is a bold step forward for our district and I urge you to support this Initiative for its substantial long- lasting benefits thank you all right we have Isaiah Braxton up next and then following Isaiah will be Kelly ggio or grigo sorry about that hi y'all thanks for coming um obviously this is very important um we just need a we just need an opportunity like this for our young kids people of color in our community um you know
030it doesn't matter where you come from or you know if you're homeless you should have an opportunity to be able to go to a trade school and make make good money and um just be able to support your family and um just take care of yourself and make sure that you can kind of stay on the right path and not not have to be like homeless or you know end up in a bad place um it's just a good opportunity for for the young kids I mean even even as you get older you know it's hard to figure out what you want to do in life um and and I just think that I think that this is a really good opportunity for people that can you know the people that can go there and
031just grow um I I don't really know what else to say I think that's about it right we'll have Kelly if I mispronounce your name please correct as you come on up and then Natasha SEO I think following it's Kelly Grio but thank you um I have a daughter in this school district uh you know I grew up as the youngest child I was the first one to go to college everything that I knew growing up was doing it with your hands and I think of this school as an opportunity to show people that that's a way and to learn it early um since I had a father and a brother that did so much outside with their hands working in the trades I knew that existed but I know so many people that didn't
032I went to college I got a corporate job but I long to come back and work and build and create I'm here also as a representative of small business company that needs talented people that needs talented people to know that there's opportunities that you can have by working with your hands and by learning about it and that learning opportunity isn't there there weren't schools that had that opportunity when I was young and then now uh you know the traditional High School path isn't for everybody and that's where there are a lot of great um a lot of the programs electives that are there but that system doesn't meet everybody's needs and I think that there's a huge need for people that create that want to be creative that want to do things with their hands
033and build this city these universities the hospitals the schools all of them are built by trades the companies that we get contracts through they're using the same people we are and we that has to keep growing this city has been growing for a long time and it's going to keep growing and it needs to have more people more skill more trades and I fully support this school and I hope you do because it's going to keep bringing that next batch and that next batch and that's what we really need in this city thank you okay do we have Natasha [Music] is it SEO or it could be saabo I'm sorry saabo okay and the following will be Rosa rhen focused Interruption hello my name is Natasha SEO and I'm here tonight to share my strong
034support for the McKenzie Regional Workforce Center and to show young people the opportunities to pursue career Pathways in the trades with a school like this kids kids can learn their desired trade while still earning the needed education to pass in school regular Public Schools do not provide such opportunities nor put an effort to show they care about the kids they teach this can be a great start for the newer gen younger Generations coming up in this world to make a change and make a better future this opportunity is more than just a program it's a great chance for kids who may not see themself achieving a four-year college degree to succeed like myself I also didn't see that until the mcken Regional workfor Center gave me that opportunity and it shown me there's more to
035life than a minimum and that what you dream of can be accomplished I have a career because of the mcken regional Workforce Center and I was given a chance and great things have come out of it and continue to come out uh thank you for your time all right uh Rosa I don't know if I got your Mas last name all right and then following Rosa Roden is that right yeah okay will be um I think this is Jorge porn Perez I'm so sorry so good afternoon my name is Rosa Roden on behalf of focus interruptions CEO Anthony Cooper who couldn't be here he does send this message Focus Interruption is here in the spirit of support and Partnership of forward career and College Academy we find it imperative for future generations of school children
036to see the traits as a viable option an alternative to making their dreams come true we see forward career in college academy as a complimentary alternative for families and students who may not see pursuing a college education within their financial means Focus Interruption strongly believes in promoting Equity by collaborating with Community Partners that understand the day-to-day challenges that our underrepresented youth and families face it is no secret that often minority students drop out of school in favor of holding a job to help their families meet Financial Obligations the same students leave with very little life skills that will later afford them a well-placed career Ford career and College Academy is offering to provide underserved students the same exposure that Advance placement courses offer students wishing to pursue College their Hands-On career Focus approach aims to
037help students explore prepare and develop skills of interest from the get-go by focusing on student engagement a necessary ingredient for Student Success they understand understand that it's going to increase School attendance which will increase academic performance which then leads to higher graduation rates the traits need to become part of our education story so that our kids can be competitive in multiple fields and levels on a national stage for decades the trads have endured ill misconceptions that continue to Prevail and prevent young people from considering them as a good career path today less than 10% of the adult working population are in the traits however recent surveys show that there is a growing interest in trade careers among younger Generations because they recognize that these are flexible secure and rewarding jobs we are at a point
038where we can avoid the mistakes of yesterday by recognizing promoting and providing space for a new methodology where our youth and their families can obtain training men train and support to pursue those skilled traits to fulfill dreams of graduating and taking on Life After High School fully prepared thank you okay it's Jorge Cruz Perez sorry about that the first time and then following will be uh Cameron Johnston hello my name is war Cruz Perez and today I'm here to talk about how the youth apprentiship impacted my life the ways the youth appren helped me so much in many ways they help me gain jobs and the trades at only 16 years old the youth also helped me get ready for the trades by getting me the maass skills needed for the trades helping me use
039power tools and knowing what knowing what they are and how how to use them safely they also help me by getting OSHA first aid ladder safety these certificates help me so much in getting my job in the trades and getting my own car at 16 years old without my parents help I've gained so many I gained so much experience over three months and working in the trades when working in the trains I got lots of comments about the youth apprenticeship they would tell me how lucky I am to have such a program like that I think the youth apprenti is a great way to help lots of people my age and I really think the youth apprenticeship should be added to Charter Schools Cameron Johnston and then following will be Allan Branch uh good evening
040thank you everyone for your opportunity to speak with you today I'm Cameron's um and and I'm here to advocate for the McKenzie Foundation charter school as a mom with four boys uh 196 14 and 10 all of whom have struggled in multiple different school districts with the public school setting um getting lost in systems with IEPs um and then also High student rates um with the ratio of the teachers not being able to give our my children really the attention they need um I have been in search for an alternative high school program not only for my son Cameron but for my other children who really need a um School setting that aligns um their career aspirations with what they're doing in school right now um my son Cameron was struggling in school because he
041couldn't see the correlation between his math class and where he wanted to be um and that's where McKenzie Regional Workforce Center really provided a lot of opportunities that we wouldn't have normally gotten in the school setting so he spent every day after school three hours continuing his education and gaining certifications and learning what what he enjoys doing and what he doesn't enjoy doing and gaining certifications to help him um pursue his career care and so I'm going to introduce him before our time is out so we can talk about the impact that type of program had so I didn't really know where I was going my life in high school especially with Co and everything but luckily I was in a program what's called known as Habitat for Humanity which allowed me to get interested
042in the trades which at least gave me some type of career where I want to go forward and my school there I had nothing related to the trads whatsoever the closest thing was a wood shop but other than that nothing so the closest thing I found was outside my school district uh the McKenzie Workforce whatever uh sorry about that uh but with that program it allowed me to get several certifications and allowed me to secure a job with thorf and now I have a job making almost $30 an hour the week after he graduated High [Applause] School hey Alan Branch and then following is Fabius Taber good evening U my name is Alan Branch and um I think what I will focus on is opportunity uh opportunity that the uh forward uh career in college
043um Academy brings to mmsd um uh I am the vice president of Workforce Development at the McKenzie Regional Workforce Center uh I see these young people and have seen them now for almost a year and a half uh and the bottom line is we all want the best opportunity for our kids everybody in this Auditorium wants that but the bottom line is that the educational path isn't equal everybody doesn't learn the same um what happens in your home affects your education there's no Cookie Cutter Way the trades is an opportunity for our kids hundreds of kids can find a place a care path through the trades and I think this initiative brings an opportunity to mmsd to Really hone and focus in on that thousands and thousands of young people may have an opportunity in
044the trades if we make this kind of commitment to providing that opportunity to them I stand here today um in favor of this because of opportunity opportunity for black and brown kids opportunity for women in the trades the average trade person right now is 55 years old 34 years old is the age of the average Apprentice there are hundreds of kids in our school system that could find this a great place for their future and I think this is a great opportunity to provide that to them thank you all right uh Fabius all right and then following will be Jackie M keep going all right so my name is Fabius tab um I'm born and raised in Madison Wisconsin I am a lum of Madison Mallot and I've been to a plethora of schools within
045the mmsd school district um I also work in the construction industry right now and I'm starting off as an apprentice and um a Co-op at fendorf right now um I believe I have a very um unique perspective on this topic with you know my grandparents being in the uh small business market for my entire life uh my grandfather has worked in the construction industry for over 30 years and um over my lifespan I've seen him um have to hire like we heard earlier older folks and place of you know jobs that should be for younger people um I not so I also have worked in the school district for more than four years now and I've been able to see the kids before and after covid um I think it's a topic we should have
046been discussing a little bit more because these kids are frankly just different they're not the same as they were before covid um for a multitude of reasons I believe that the center is going to be an amazing opportunity for them um because I already seen kids almost checking out of school already and these kids are in fifth grade and they would actually benefit from the center directly um and they just don't see that school as for them or something that would work for them um I think that we need all the opportunities outside of school for these kids to flourish because quite frankly there's just not many um we've had the same schooling system for how many years and we still see the same deficits amongst you know the people of color in our communities
047um I have friends that want to get in the trades but they don't know where to start um I attribute that to the lack of promotion in our school district already at this point um I know mul multiple people that would more than likely be in trades right now but instead they're working at physical labor for FedEx or Amazon which are okay jobs but provide little opportunity for them to work up in um create a better life for themselves um I just believe that that energy could be spent better elsewhere um U thank you guys for your time I hope you guys consider it all right we have Jackie Morris coming up and then following will be Jose Lopez hello my name Jackie Morris founding member of the focus in corruption Coalition and I work
048with Paul sagy before he left and I got another focus in corruption here too but that's that's another story but uh y'all know the signs of times of the AR the arglass right so we are running out of time for our youth and I want to thank Michael Johnson and John McKenzie and uh the black men and you know who helping I only seen about two organizations are helping our youth right now and they we need that every student here in Wisconsin is not OP for college some of them can't make it to college with the student loans some have poor families but they can't get a trade that trade gonna last for a lifetime with the things going on now we don't want that to happen what happened last month at the Abundant and
049Life School we don't want that so we either going to choose we weapons or tools I think I opt for tools for a trade you know so um I'm a part of Michael Johnson far as I got I went went to prison got out did six years I went to Michael Johnson he helped me get a job at w hospital I'm successful then I'm successful now and I continue to be successful under his leadership and mentor and uh right now John McKenzie I like him too what they're proposing I like the idea because right now they not asking for no money to merge with with you all I listen to every last one of y'all say y'all little thing up there before y'all before y'all start this meeting I start to walk out because y'all
050said it all y'all said everything striving to be the best they can be y'all commitment about the state of Wisconsin so if you all want to help us to help them with the trade CU our city our community and state can be like joh stated and right now like I said I'm very compassionate about helping others I do Church work two times out a month we are losing our kids if you all don't know go with this they don't have no choice but to go to the streets and become criminals I'm sure y'all heard about the $50 million that the police force want to get in fishburg $50 million who they gonna do lock up our kids because that's what they gonna do if they turn to the streets because that's all they have I
051wish you all was consider this trade and like I said I'm a prodige of Michael Johnson John McKenzie and the black man Coalition because they them the only people I every time somebody graduate from Workforce Center you can see the smiles on their face with the trade that they have we need carpentries we need all that we need everything we can get everything so like to said no Child Left Behind Don't Leave No Child Left Behind you know like I say it again I'm keep on saying it everybody not up for college right Jose Lopez coming on up and then following will be Odell Lewis good evening everyone my name is Jose Lopez and I'm here to speak in support of the Ford College and Career Academy I specifically going to speak about the mentoring
052and internship component that's going to be a part of forward career in college academy been a student who has went through the public school system and has benefited from internships and mentorships that has made me a first generation college student standing before you right I was a student um who was doing horribly in school I accidentally got involved with being a student rep on the board of education out of nowhere I was a student rep there was one from each High School I got to meet the superintendent my Superintendent at the time was Paul Dallas so I got toet meet my superintendent back when I was 14 years old in high school and started serving as a student rep and I was doing horrendous academically right I hated homework I knew what I was doing
053but I hated homework right I was one of those kids that felt the need of why do I have to do this 15 times on a piece of paper if I prove to you I can do it for 30 minutes in the classroom but now when I became a teacher later on in life I learned the importance of homework right we let that go in the past but I am here because my superintendent randomly right my mom made a phone call to the superintendent's office look my son can't be on the board no more he's failing you know I talk to his principal his principal says the resources aren't there I talk to his guidance counselor guidance counselor told me the resources he got on the phone and found me a tutor that went out
054of their way every academic day after school to help me academically and he did that to a few students within my school then students in other high schools because as a student rep I got to go to other high schools and listen to their needs and help them expand on how they can help other students and fortunately I was able to get an internship in the superintendent's office that led me to wanting to go to college the only one in my family to have their degrees right I have 13 nieces and nephews I am grateful for mentorship and internships because they help me change the trajectory of my whole family's life statistically speaking once a student goes to college their whole family and once a student goes into a career field that they feel valued
055and their whole family can move forward so I'm grateful that I was given the opportunities of internship and mentorship and I do think that students particularly first generation students who may not know that process can benefit from that Ford career and College Academy is going to be designed to bring in mentors not only at the career level but also at the college level every student at our school will be paired with a college student from a local college that will meet with them once a week to talk about those things that they might not understand life is about advocating for yourself and when you're a first generation student like myself you don't know how to do that and the importance of a school like Ford and career and College Academy who has these things lined
056out in in their curriculum and in their model is that we are very much going to empower our students to advocate for themselves today and in the future because if you're not speaking up for yourself no one will and you have to make your spot at the table and a lot of students particularly me who grow up in a family where you just stood at the status quo and quiet about things you don't learn that so that's why I'm here to support for in Career College Academy and I'm grateful for the opportunities I've been given having just showed up so thank you guys again and I hope everybody has a good night [Applause] all right Odell Lewis and then following will be Anthony Davenport well hello there how you guys doing this evening um I
057come tonight in support of the schools I am a product of a school like that I'm from Chicago Illinois and I went to Chicago Vocational High School as a young adult you know young kids don't have an idea of what they want to do in life of what p they want to take so in my sophomore year I was fortunate enough was to be involved in the program I went to Chicago vocation High School where they made us where they taught us trades in our curriculum where I had carpentry I had HVAC I had electricians I had Plumbing Auto auto mechanics I was fortunate enough through the program to go to a school Washburn trade school and as John say with wasburn in trade school it was a program where kids could go to school
058in high school during the summer they could go to trade school and further their education in that trade I was able to graduate from the school um right now I still use my carpentry I'm a I'm a employee of the Madison Metro School District anyway but I do think that the promotion of the trades are not being done so kids don't know they don't have an idea of what they would like to do in life and no one's talking to them about that so I do think that a trade a school like this would be beneficial to kids to have an idea of what they would like to do or to know what's out there and that's available for them so I do think this would be beneficial not just for black people but for
059all people for all kids so I think you guys should really consider looking at this and giving this an opportunity thank you all right Anthony coming on up and then following will be I think this is Katie B hi good evening um I want to pit on a couple of points uh in my support of forward career in college academy um that one of the things that we're at and one of the pillars that they're running on is um this whole thing of equity and we need equity in our society today we live in a current political state to where anything having to deal with any sort of equity is being abolished from the system period when Equity wants to do nothing but take and level the playing field and one of the ways that
060they're going to take and level this playing field is by granting exposure to underserved populations to let them know that you know these other things that have historically in systemically pushed you out of a system in order to be able to make a good living there's other ways to do it here's the exposure here's here's here's the end on how people who don't have a college education do it when I came up through school back in my time in my matriculation it was pretty much uh we were all we were all prepped for college that's all we were prepped for and it pretty much a lot of us got to college and figured out this is not what I want to do but back then the trades were pushed as a thing that something you
061did if you couldn't make it in college if you couldn't you know go in lock step with other students and things like that but that's clearly not the case because the funny thing is is once I got out of college and had my debt I had friends who had already started building their businesses and were you know moving into their second homes and things like that and I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to pay my student loans back but um I think that the equity part of it um and the exposure part of it of letting people know that this is a viable option and way to make an excellent living for yourself this is a way to enrich your community so that you can look forward and train other people and hire
062other people and make small business work in the community I think that um everything that forward Career College Academy is offering is going to Foster these beliefs and Foster further um work and cohesion in the community to make this a great place and I think that the board should consider it for that reason uh following Katie is that right yes um will be Michael Johnson good evening I'm Katie bordona a teacher at lalet high school I've previously written about this Charter and about Paul valis and John McKenzie's concerning backgrounds in the cap times so I will not rehash that argument uh tonight I would like to talk about the issues with forwards Vision forwards board has little insight into the core goals of their school how is the public expected to support a charter school
063whose design includes no curriculum or at least no curriculum they're willing to elaborate on no idea of how to improve math and reading rates no knowledge of the array of Mental Health financial literacy economics business business trade stem and Community connections already provided in mmsd no connections with high schools in the area no clear way to transport students to school nor even a queer picture of the length of school day perhaps most egregious not a single member of the panel had interviewed mm staff families or students about their aspirations for Madison Public Schools before creating an entirely new Charter School proposal based on the alleged needs of our community those School Choices Market as a way to give families control over their children's education politicians from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump have historically been the
064most vocal proponents of school choice forward is not a new idea as uh my opponents are claiming claiming which regardless of the purported aims of charter schools like forward Academy always results in economic and racial gratification and pilers resources from the Bastion of American democracy the public school in her book punished for dreaming Dr batina Love argues That antiblackness Remains the uninterrogated heart of Reform it is anti-blackness that allows reformers to step in as saviors with federally and privately funded quick fixes that harm black children in their anti-blackness will ultimately Pro proving lucrative for the reformers this is precisely the aim of forward Academy these are precisely the well-documented opinions of Paulis and John McKenzie forward Charter School's mission statement effectively uses thinly veiled anti-black rhetoric in a bid to forward the economic success of
065John McKenzie's Foundation through class and educational segregation and half-baked promises to Madison families not to mention the idea that children of color can only thrive in trades positions has already been made and rightfully critiqued as importantly racist it was the same argument Booker T Washington made to appease a room full of former enslavers in 1895 quote cast down your bucket in agriculture mechanics in Commerce and domestic service and in the professions our greatest danger is that in the Great Leap From Slavery to Freedom we may Overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the Productions of our hands no race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem it is at the bottom of life we must begin and
066not at the top why in 2025 are we still putting the same limits on what children of color should aspire to keep in mind who forign Academy appeases who this argument appeased in 1895 I'm not claiming that the trades are not a noble profession as Martin Luther King Jr reminds us that all labor has dignity yet we must be cognizant of which labor we promote and which labor we discourage for our most marginalized students thank you antiblackness I want ask all the people that's in the room that's supporting this school just stand up for a second from the black business owners to black students to uh black Civic leaders to Black nonprofit leaders to Black educators are in this room supporting this proposal tonight thank you all it's clear good evening school board members superintendent
067community members and Friends I'm Michael Johnson CEO and president of Boys and Girls Clubs of Dan County and I am a public school student and a public school supporter I am also somebody who have raised more than $25 million for for mmsd students during my tenure and my role With Boys and Girls Clubs I am here to support for Career College Academy's proposal as it is an instrumentality Charter application this application is designed to partner with mmsd and to operate under your rules and regulations including utilizing unionized teachers and staff and I just want to make that clear because there's people in the community who have tried to say otherwise here are the facts one this school is proposed as a instrumentality public school two this school would work with mmsd to create uh Pathways
068just like we do with our avat tops program to help black and brown and poor white kids go to college three this school would have local representation which you've already met some of our board members who would be governed by a local Board of govern uh a Board of Trustees who are trusted leaders in this community four the school would leverage public and private funding to bring resources to mmsd we're not coming with our hand out we're coming saying we want to Leverage our relationships to bring resources to the schools the school would not take away this school would not take away existing resources as it is being designed and being planned with the district leveraging Partnerships and six Boys and Girls Clubs have agreed to enter into mou um with the fcca Board of
069Trustees to help with after school programming Career Development board governance and Community engagement similar to work that we do with avat Toops this proposal is simply responding to the needs when I hear somebody say we have not Tau the teacher teachers we walked in every single high school talked to every single teacher who are Career and Technical Educators and got feedback from them and all of the principles before we designed this proposal and then finally we have broad support from parents from businesses from nonprofit leaders Civic leaders and I will ask you to stand and support this proposal and in this Spirit Boys and Girls Clubs will continue to work with you and to work with fcca and regardless of what decision you all make this school is going to happen but we hope it
070happens with you all thank you all right we we are about halfway through the um Michael was speaker number 18 and I know we still have some folks to go up to um speaker number 35 so next up is Minister khif uh Moab L sorry if I messed up your name okay and then let me say who's following following will be shikes what is it D Pig SP following peace and love everybody my name is Minister khif muel I'm the executive director of break and barriers mentor and Inc founded here in Madison and I'm also the one who named Focus Interruption Coalition Focus Interruption Coalition uh for me we don't have a lot of opportunities out here for so-called black people in the Madison or in the D County area I understand that people going
071to be opposed to it but the more resources and the more support we can have for our children the better right now the average median household is 75,000 wor $75,000 about 10 years ago but for so-called black people was 37,000 for white people so-called white people is 880,000 all right the race to equity has not happened yet and we're still racing to equity but we're throttling processes and great opportunities for our youth that doesn't make sense that sounds like somebody is trying to sabotage the people and keep the people back and behind and I'm not on board with that I support fcca I support Mike Johnson I support Paul Valas I support John McKenzie I support anybody who is trying to pull our people out of the desperation that we are in in the state
072in the state of Wisconsin number one and more importantly in day County we have a problem here I understand public schools are here but Public Schools still pre-existed and still exist now with the race to equity situation happening right now so that tells us that we need more than just Public Schools we need to create another collaboration of people who are willing to focus in on the people who are undermined the marginalized communities the people who need the support they are saying that they're going to focus on our people why is anybody opposed to that unless they racist my thing is is this systemic racism we must fight against systemic racism it's a time in this era now when we must join together and we must unite we cannot afford division anymore because there are
073a lot of people out there that are coming up against us to to to wipe us out of existence and we're not going nowhere I support fcca because it's another opportunity for our children that's effective and that's proven to be effective in a age of evidence-based practices you cannot ignore that we need more support here in Madison Wisconsin and Daye County so if we go against that I want to ask you what side you on peace and love [Music] good evening everyone I'm shikis D pigis I am in full support of fcca and I'm going give you a little of my history I've been a CNA for 52 years and proud of it during that journey I had the opportunity to go back to school and acquire a double bachelor in healthc care administration Health
074and Human Services I also acquired a degree in respiratory therapy and wound care what I see today is a lot of the children that walk the streets of Madison don't have those opportunities that I was given they are standing around around on street corners or just walking the streets blindly with nothing to do I believe in my heart of hearts that in conjunction with Madison School District FCC a can assist and giving them the skills that they need so that they can have a better life and start a new Journey with wood shop who knows they may become a master Carpenter with auto mechanics with just starting there they may be able to open their own business even taking CNA classes who knows one day they may become a doctor give them that opportunity so
075that they can take you know have the chance to do the things in life that they don't have the opportunity to do now I'm not going to take up all of your time I thank you for letting me speak peace be with you I think our next speaker's name is tvia tvia following will be Michael Jones and my apologies if I mispronounced oh well toia I am first off good evening everyone I am tovia Cole out of Wisconsin representing breaking barriers and I am our youth leader I am 26 years old and I have been in education for five years now I had the pleasure of graduating from one of the top charter high schools with 26 College accepts over 1 million in total with scholarships and I was still undecided about my path in
076those moments and I'm and I'm still in Deb right as a first generation student while my siblings who went to the workforce right after high school they they a little richer than me right now right so they can afford a lot of things however I am a proud graduate of Jackson State University straight straight out of college I went back to my high school and taught Junior and senior seminar which I implemented curriculum that focused on postsecondary options um for students that allows them to explore their many options After High School such as fouryear institutions two-year trade military and more they explore these options while building resumés writing personal statements and learning about money management my three years in this field continued the 100% College acceptance for that Charter School in other words all my
077students were accepted into a college they all had hopes and dreams and some was the four-year institution some was the two-year institution and some was that trade and Workforce and even military during alumni day of last year I was able to connect with many of my graduates and and get an idea of where they were today most of them were in the workforce and they were happy although they started in college and some wish they would have started earlier in a Workforce I highlight these experience to say that options is what we all have and must have just like you all have the option to vote in favor of this lifechanging effort this program graduates more black and brown children in the city each year than any other program you said your commit is to
078the youth and a community well through the stats of this program the children have spoken and with the diversity here the community has spoken you said every student well every student needs options every parent need choices and every time we waste on the concerns that could be fixed we step back from our overall agreed agenda our next Generation so if you ask me the what I'll say choice if you ask me the who I say the youth if you ask me the how I say a I say FCC a style and if you ask me the why I would say to change the trajectory of their lives in my time is up all right next next up we'll have Michael Jones and then following we have Sheik ran L I'm so sorry all right we
079good all right I've talked to most of you guys already and I I'm always annoying to you so I'm gonna try to speak to the crowd all right because I'm not speaking ignore the patch I'm speaking as a black man as an educator as a special educator and tonight I'm speaking as someone who started his career career at a charter school teaching at a charter school so I'm not going to talk about what it looks like in 2025 or 2026 but I want you to know this is how a lot of these schools end up in 2030 and 2031 initial private Equity investment into Charters whether they're public whether they're private and then they take money from the public end up getting underfunded I taught at one that was Tau that was funded by one
080of the rich people in the world Bill Gates and by my and by the fifth year Gates Foundation money dried up so what do you have to do you have to go to the public school system so the initial money that's here now is not going to be there in five years that's no knock on Mr McKenzie or Mr Johnson or anyone in this room who's for fcca I'm not saying you know we're not gonna get into personal attacks there's already too much personal attacks going on in our community and that doesn't help anyone especially to children but I'm going to talk to you also as a special education teacher because what happens in a lot of these systems and you know this but I just want to let you all know we have operation
081Fresh Start we have Trad access we have financial literacy classes are they always the best staff no do they do we have enough of them no what we've been doing for the last 20 30 years is cutting them each and every year every two years and then what they do is two years ago that the Republicans in the legislature put forward a budget would actually give seven times more money to a charter school or a voucher School than it does to a public education School a public education student in 2023 got a $300 increase per pupil a private and a charter school one got $2,100 and then what they do is they keep on pushing a multi-billion dollar standardized testing system so in order for us because we're panicking over the reading scores and the
082math scores so then we put all that money into there and then we cut technology and we cut child care and we cut all these programs that you all are fighting for and you're all fighting for good things and for our children right but what I'm telling you is as an educator I'm not just thinking about 2025 2026 and I'm not just thinking about the child or you or your personal circumstance I'm thinking about every kid public schools are very imperfect I spend most of my time criticizing you all and the system okay and by you all I mean the school board not you all but what I'm saying is this public schools are imperfect but they take [Music] everyone all right thank you Mike all right let's try this again shik Mustafa Raheem L
083all right then following will be r l okay thank you good evening members of the mmsd school board in light of what's been discussed previously um I like to base my foundation on Enlighten I'm pretty sure everyone in this room wasn't aware of the $6.9 billion infrastructure bill that was implemented by the Biden Administration no well there's one question answered as far as resources now at the local 139 little further Upstate about a couple hours for the heavy equipment operators I noticed that there are at least about 40 or 60 participants that are coming in for impressing and I can guarantee you at least over half of the class is getting hired before the first hour is completed those hourly wages starting out at 18 years old is $25 or higher only thing that I
084noticed that was an issue was that I was the only brother in the building I walked around there was over hundreds of people inside of a newly developed building almost double the size of the pre-existing building it's not so much as an issue with availability so much as it is awareness make no mistake there is an issue with availability but there is an issue with awareness as well there has to be an equitable transaction being made there are a lot of Youth that have learning disabilities there are a lot of Youth that aren't interested in what the core requisites are in their schools there are a lot of people that aren't looking for or going towards College there are a lot of people that I know today that have gone to fouryear degrees and are
085not in their current field of study I am a Tradesman as well I taught all over the United States how to operate heavy equipment and given the fact that we have the money available we should be providing every opportunity that we can to our youth it's just some things to look at now opening up this trade school with fcca is our best option for Madison because the money's there in rebuilding our state so it needs to be Equitable for all and that's all I have thank you we'll have Umar rasul L come forward and I think kamani Bay will follow my name is and my name is assistant Grand sheep Umar rasul L and I want to talk to the people today because I've listened to everyone speak I hear a lot about what needs
086to be done for the black and brown community so on and so forth but this school is for everybody every every Community needs trades me I hear people speaking against it talk about antiblackness as if black people shouldn't take trades as if black people shouldn't take trades somebody got to you want us all to go to college okay send them all to college we'll build a generation of Bankers you can't none of them actually build a bank we send them all to law school make a bunch of lawyers can't none of them build the courthouse somebody got to do it your car break down you take it to somebody who took a trade to fix it because you can't do it trades are important to the infrastructure of this city this state this country this
087is just another option not just for black and brown children but for all children we not saying this is a black and brown school we saying this is an Avenue for anyone not even just children adults as well for anyone who maybe can't make it in college you know but if we going to talk about race then we going to talk about the racial disparities in education here in Wisconsin but those that do go to college whites graduate at 92% blacks at 77% and that's a 14% jump from last year that's a big old Gap because every College isn't for everyone I went to college twice I ain't graduating that time but I got a trade I'm a machine operator now I work with my hands I can provide for my family now College didn't
088teach me that college wasn't for me college ain't for everybody so all of is the funding ain't there yes it is we not even here asking for money we got that all we need is a green light we'll take it from there all right I'm going to reread this name because I think I misread it the last time I think it's Armani B is that right okay and following on E Pedro uh Val Valerio uh K hello everyone I'm going to start with a little twist I want to first let you all know that I have teachers in the building Diana chanol Michael Johnson have been a big part of my life I am also a single father for 10 to 12 years raising three children and all of my children did finish school with
089the help of Michael Johnson you all and others who will work with trades so I mean everything has been said here I don't need to say no more but don't think don't forget about the single parents also that's out there that have children some of them children might not go to school like they supposed to but they have an alternative when they get home from school they have a boys and girls club to go to they have a Diana chanal to say well come on in here and let me teach you this trade that I know so like I say again I'm not going to be long but I just want you all to know the single parents out there need you all to think about keeping these schools together and not just uh private
090schools and and and and public schools and so on and so forth let's work with the trades Let's help one another let's not be selfish in this spend this money the way it should be spent right Pedro if you want to come on up and then following we'll have Jerome Sanders hi uh my name is Pedro uh today I came to support the boys and girls club with the idea of opening up a charter trade school um I want to start off by saying I wasn't the best student in school and I was I'm going to be completely honest I was pretty lost and I didn't know what my plans were going to be after high school um I was offered an opportunity to join a pre-apprenticeship program here at the McKenzie Regional Workforce Center
091and when I tell you I couldn't have made a better decision for myself I mean it um the community the the community of people they have there makes the whole experience so much better and um I i' say that the cherry on top is that like all those people just want to see you succeed so for me that makes me like want to work for it more um the charter trade school proposal really sparked my interest why um because they offer alternatives to kids who don't just want to go to school and get a degree but instead offer other opportunities and make it easier for them to take a next step in their career um I was a pre-apprenticeship I was in the pre-apprenticeship program for four months and with their help I was able
092to secure a well-paying job with a good company um I am super grateful for the opportunity they gave me because in that stage of my life I didn't have a clue what I was doing so seeing this idea of a school that teaches educational subjects and um offers a chance to learn about a trade and Hands-On work allinone makes me happy because I know that there isn't other kids like I know that there is other kids out there like me and that just don't want to go to college but want to pursue something else my point is everything is easier when you when you have the help and resources so why not give the Next Generation a hand thank you after Jerome uh it will be hold on all right no problem my name is
093R Sanders I am a child from the village of Madison now in the M can you hear me now is that better okay no problem restart my time I got 15 more seconds said my name is Jerome Sanders I am a uh a a child from the village Madison um when they say the the saying that it takes a village to raise a child that statement Rings very much true um I was a student at Madison West High School where I was also incarcerated from Madison West High School where uh I am a testament of what can go wrong inside of a high school uh I had a many opportunities from basketball college basketball but yet I never seen the identity in any of it um I sat inside of a prison seal I sat
094inside of but a mentorship program that involved the trades and I was the third youngest guy at 27 years old with 219 years old with two 19 year olds and my point I'm trying to make was The Other Guys in that class were 30 plus 40 plus and all these men were being introduced to the trades for their first time late in life I couldn't um lose sight of how powerful I sawed like how much of Advantage it would have been had all these men had this invit to them at 16 years old 15 years old and um I personally now go to the juvenal jails and the youth shelters to speak to you to let them know how important it is to be able to use something like the trades to Where You Can
095Be Your Own Boss early in life and you not have to uh depend upon a job that can be snatched from you and you no longer have that access to provide for yourself and your family so um I am for anything that is for the advancement of children and from what I've heard this entire uh conglomerate of of this Community here they all speak in favor of this fcca so I feel like it's only right that I do the same um I wanted to thank y'all for allowing me to speak here today um I have former classmates sitting across from me on your board so I am very much in favor of anything that's forward for Madison and I believe that y'all will make the right decision thank you all right I'm going to try
096for Marino [Applause] negative Mar and no Mar and no all right thank you for the correction and then following you will be Asanti what was that Asanti Kier SL yes Kier slat thank you right don't y'all start my minutes yet I just want to say I see Mia up there I know she uh Dr Joe see y'all make a difference in here okay I'm ready to go I am here to speak about I wrote notes for the first time today as I was sitting there but I'm here to speak about the youth that's suffering the most that's who I want to speak about I'm not concerned about nobody else right now at this moment because I love everybody but today speaking about black kids black Americans African-Americans and every other name we've been given to
097not know ourselves I'm going to speak on what's necessary and and and what's this school this school is so needed um right now our youth is being raised in juvenile facilities County jails and prison systems I was an individual that learned the trades in prison I built trailers that people came and bought for 20 grand 10 grand and we got paid a dollar an hour to build them and Black River Falls here in Wisconsin so before we get to that let's make sure we create opportunities for our black kids by building a pipeline that's necessary in our youth baseball league we have pipelines we don't have pipelines uh in America and now we have the lowest amount of Youth Baseball uh black players in the history of baseball because we don't have a baseball pipeline
098to get them there for construction which our work construction General heat and air conditioner not many people look like me if you ride down the street you don't see them in the street working either this is a problem because we don't have a pipeline to get our you into construction also I don't hear many people speaking about our women what happens when our women don't decide to go to college you know the fathers are tell them they don't need to pick up a hammer when they young so they don't have an opportunity to ever get into construction and by to get of age it's hard to get into construction unless you one of the smartest people on the site but they have project management positions bag of positions they have all type of other positions
099for women that's not getting an opportunity to do so and we need to create that opportunity with this school because it's not happening right now I don't care what nobody say it's not happening and it's sad that it's not happening I want to get going though uh I hear so many youth say I don't want college ain't for me I don't want to go to college but what else do they supposed to do uh I I seen college students who graduated working in the trades with me because they didn't get the job they thought they were going to get uh when they graduated please don't take a much needed opportunity because of fear hate and politics our kids deserve more and this is it make it happen Asanti uh we will have Cinda rainy Mar
100that's sit there okay my name is Ashanti Kier Slayton I'm a Madison native I've been to many um Madison mmsd schools all around the city um I'm here um I'm on the board for fcca so I'm here to advocate for Ford career and College Academy you'll hear me reference uh for career and College Academy in its name in uh in its entirety because we all need to know the name uh Madison is at a Crossroads for too long our City's youth especially those from lowincome and underrepresented communities have not been prioritized to obtain Equitable access to the opportunities that prepare them for thriving Futures foror career and College Academy is not just a school it's a Beacon of Hope Innovation and opportunity for our children it is a transformative solution we desperately need to close
101educational gaps and equip students with the skills to succeed in a competitive ever evolving World very few students from economically disadvantage backgrounds in our district met grade level Proficiency in math and reading in the last few years as we know for career and college Academy's mission to blend rigorous academics with handson career preparation is a game Cher it promises a brighter future where every student regardless of their zip code or income level has the tools to achieve economic mobility and personal success imagine a school where every student can participate in paid internships learn financial literacy and receive mentorships from industry leaders where students graduate not only with diplomas but also with tangible career skills a sense of purpose and a road map for their Futures Ford career and college Academy's Innovative curriculum does not just
102teach it transforms it empowers students to break cycles of poverty and become active contributors to our community for career and College Academy represents more than education reform it symbolizes Community upliftment the school will partner with organization organizations and local businesses to ensure students receive real world experiences and career Pathways by Bridging the Gap between educ ation and Workforce Readiness for career and College Academy is poised to fill a void in our community while setting a new standard for public education the time to act is now our City's children cannot afford to wait any longer by supporting Ford career and College Academy we are investing in a generation of leaders innovators and change makers together we can build a legacy of equity opportunity and Excellence that will Define Madison for decades to come we we told
103you what we want we told you what we need we proved to you why we need it we've asked for your alliance as a community and we have exemplified a willingness to make it happen with all of that I would think that there would be no response but how can I help thank you hello Miss Brenda Ry Moore hello everyone my name is Dr karinda rainy Moore and I say doctor because I you don't get to be a doctor without taking education um lightly right right um and I want to tell you a little bit about my background I am one of six children born in a single family I'm the first in my family to go to college and get a college education and I say that because as I mentioned I'm one of
104six but five of my other siblings actually went to a trade school and and actually came out financially a lot better than me even though I got a doctorate degree because they're in the trades and they not only were they in the trades they did not have the financial uh issues regarding student loans that I've had because they came out working right away and and and I'm not saying that I because to say that I don't value education because I do value education but I also value giving people options and even though I am from Chicago I've actually been in Madison for 44 years my husband and I we have raised two children both of whom came all the way through the Madison School District from kindergarten from actually Head Start they were in Head
105Start and they graduated from Madison School District and I actually have nine grandchildren of which seven of them have come come through Madison Middle School Madison metropolitan school district with two of them still being in Madison metropolitan school district right now at East and I say that because even though myu kids most of them have been successful at Madison M um metropolitan school district along with my children there are some that actually did fall through the cracks and I'm saying that because that is the reality for a lot of other kids not just my my grandkids and I'm being transparent in that because my um one grandson we did put him in college so it wasn't that we were trying to defray him from going to college we put him in college but he told
106us from the start he didn't want to be there he wasn't going to be successful there and guess what he wasn't successful there so we had to bring him back rather than pouring more money in and wasting dollars we brought him back and had he learned to trade he wouldn't be there and I would say my grand kids have all been in all the programs that mmsd offer they've been in abot they've been in people they've been in stem and there are cracks in all of them I'm just I'm being transparent and I say there's cracks in all of them because my grandkids actually did one of them got kicked out of avid even though and then Avid told him they he could reapply now if you're not successful with the help of avid how
107are you going to be successful by yourself when they say say you can come back and apply it's shameful and then my other grandkids who' been in the stem program even though they were in the stem program there were cracks in that program too because you know why they didn't have any connections to the counselors at East they never step foot in East unless they were getting their uh their gowns and there were different ways that they could have lished that experience so I'll stop there but I'll say I'm supportive of of this because I'm supportive of giving kids op [Applause] all right up next we have mcka price and then following will be Keon um Hudson I think it's Hudson or huder okay and we're down to just a few more speakers at this
108point hello my name is Mia Price and I am a parent and a community advocate and I just want to say we as Madison School District we should be moving forward like we came a long way we started some new programs for early literacy we got programs we working with MC where kids are getting trades options um this program don't have a lot of knowledge to it and we cannot go back we are moving forward as a district our kids are only succeeding at a 10% one thing everybody said tonight was parents we got to work hard this is a two parent State I get that so a lot of people not here to speak of them this but we can if if this is a partnership we should partner if you got all this
109money to help this help Madison School District let's partner and get more teachers and get a another G2 program but just just not enough knowledge on so that's just my input we moving forward as a district and I appreciate you guys tonight we'll have Keon okay thank you all right Eric Howland and then Maddie Reese our final americ howand and um I'd like to speak to a little bit to my um experience as a community member in terms of uh Charter Schools um I'm I'm an old man I been here since the the one city Charter School uh went through and at that time I voted against it um and from what I now think is a misunderstanding um and uh years later I became a volunteer at the one city schools and I realized
110that they were doing something in terms of creating an educational community that was powerful for the students within the school and I um am not going to speak about the Madison schools and the the way students go through the medison schools because um although my son went through medicine schools it was a different story for them but I would like to speak about learning communities and how a learning community where um like West where there's a class of kids that are going one way and then there's a class of kids that are kind of disconnected or um or can be disconnected some aren't um that that um it it doesn't strengthen our community that way and creating a learning community of kids that have an interest in in this case craves seems to me like
111an excellent idea it seems like a way that the um the the the students can come together and get a vision and I think every adolescent kid is trying to struggle with that how are they going to make that transition from being part of the family to being in the world and they need a vision how to do that and we've heard tonight several people who said they came out of school and they didn't have a vision they didn't see how they could get into a a good place within our society Society didn't look very welcoming to them um and I think that a school like this a charter school like this within the confines of the Madison metrop School District um can create that vision for more kids and that then creates energy it
112creates learning and it creates a way for the kids um to to find a path into our society thank you very much good evening my name is Maddie re I am um an advocate for the Mad time mam of course you guys probably know us very well um so I'm here I I listen to everybody speak and I'm not here to say I'm against it or for it but what I do know is that I have a 23y old son who is in the prison system right now he came through mmsd and it was a pipeline from mmsd and I'm not here to blame you guys like um but what he gave me a phone call yesterday and he said hey Mom when I get out I'm thinking about taking up construction I'm thinking about
113taking up this I'm thinking about taking up that but some of these going to have to get in prison right so and it's not even guaranteed that when he comes home that he's going to be able to get a job but what I would like to see I know they were starting from high school with these trades but I'm conserned a little bit because my son is 23 what happens to the 18 to 27 they're lost there's a crack in our system right there and they have nowhere the terms to my second concern is I advocate for special education what about a Disabled Student I haven't read the proposal just got phone calls through the community um some are against it some feel like it's a pipeline to um slavery again I kind of disagree
114I play both ends of fense because I can see this trade school as being something successful here in Madison to the fact that a lot of our kids are not going to go to college I went to school 12 years after graduation coming to college and now I got a $50,000 bill that I got to pay and how am I going to pay it I'm a one parent mother so I'm just here to say I know that this board is well educated I have seen this board be bully before I have been part of the bully need to this board what I would like you guys to do take a minute don't rush this look at it analyze it we have a lot of people in our community here who does great work even from
115the Boys and Girls Club back to the black men poition even to myself with my nonprofit who helps the homeless I say that we take a look at this and if we're going to work together let's work for our students let's work for our children we know that our children need help we know that businesses especially Blackness business is here in westconsin we have to make a way so what I'm asking you to do is take some time think about it you know I know you guys have connections with each other but what I'm asking is do the education on it and then make a great [Applause] decision all right our um final registered speaker is Joseph I think it's dthy say it again GRE board members how you doing uh my name is Joseph
116Dy I'm founder and CEO of mos Medical Transportation um uh I'm born and raised in Madison Wisconsin here um um I I went to lafallet high school and lalet high school didn't really work out for me I got uh sent to a program called new directions um through that program we it was more of a Hands-On program where we uh did community service every Tuesday and Thursday I found interest in the community service what kind of kept me going um and and because of that I was able to know like I like I'm a Hands-On person I'm not tooo much of a someone that um uh can learn by books and sitting down it just don't don't work out for me it don't work out for everyone I was kind of pushed through New Directions
117um uh as a easy easy go out kind of kind of deal um I really don't feel like I learned as much as I I could or should have in the in the school system I don't know you know what the reason for that was but whenever I did you know graduate uh I went to um Madison media Institute couldn't keep up uh left there went to uh Harper College in Illinois didn't work out left there I ended up finding a um career in um just building my own Empire kind of uh so what we did uh with with family members of mine and we um kind of we we we uh sorry we um built a a something just based off of what we know I mean I like driving I figured out what
118I like to do um and I started the company I now employ 25 you know individuals 80% of them being family members um with from there I went on to buy properties I got um two duplexes I got 33 Acres up north um and what I enjoy doing from there is remodeling them so I I kind of you know like the fact that um I'm good at something finally so I want the program that you know they're offering with the um charter school is I want to continue to grow my family in that direction um so I mean if they offering trade for construction I mean that's something that I'd want my family be involved in because if we're talking about generational wealth I mean you know that's that's that's a good start for for
119myself and my family so um I think that's a a real good you know Avenue and I support it thank you all right thank you so much I think that concludes all of our registered speakers tonight I do want to before we close our public input I want to confirm that there is no one in the audience who is here to provide public comment regarding the Detachment or the attachment of property currently located within the Verona Area School District is that correct all right well then thank you all we appreciate you all coming we're going to take a recess um but thank you our public comment section is done e e e all right we are going to resume from our recess hello if you're still in the auditorium um and want to talk please
120know that we are resuming our business meeting thank you all right I'm going to move us to the minutes I move that the Board of Education approve the minutes from the regular meeting dated December 19th 2024 second Maya all right Megan your advisory vote all those in favor all right I that passes and I see you Blair all right thank you that's unanimous all right we are now moving into board president's announcements and reports I'm going to vice president Pearson start us up okay we are celebrating literacy with the mad for reading we are pleased to recognize the decent roll out of mad for reading literacy initiative which launched last week The Campaign which is focus on Equity excellence in the science of reading will be run districtwide over the next several months with each
121School encouraged to host their own literacy themed events that best suit the needs of their communities the overarching goal is to create a culture in all of our buildings where literacy is prioritized and where reading empowers not just our students but their families in our broader Community as well we hope you'll join us as we move forward all right an HR update as we heard in this month's operations workg group our human resources team has been working tirelessly to ensure that we as a district are fully staffed and that mmsd remains a place where rewarding career is in Mission driven work are built we're excited to note that both teacher turnover and substitute bill rates have continued to improve which has positive cascading effects that extend beyond any one classroom we are always on the
122lookout for eager qualified candidates to join our team and look forward to building on the moment that we've generated since school began in September our vaccine clinics in the fall we held several vaccine clinics in partnership with the local Health Providers and realized and realized record levels of participation on February 8th we will host an additional clinic at the Holzman Learning Center from 12: a.m. to 2: p.m. all are welcome there is no cost and no insurance is required to receive a shot with commun communicable diseases like puses and RSV On The Rise we urge everyone in need of a vaccination to come and get immun immunized we all play a part in helping to keep our community healthy all right about our strategic framework we want to thank everyone who participated in the first
123of four plan strategic framework steering committee meetings as well as all who volunteered to participate in the process we are excited to begin this important work and the contributions of those in attendance will be vitally important as we chart a course forward for our district in other acknowledgements in tonight's consent agenda the board would like to acknowledge and thank all individuals and organizations that have donated to the district especially friends of MCR which donated $41,800 for a variety of student and staff initiatives thank you very much and now I'll pass it over to the superintendent course DRS and now thank you president Nichols members of the board Jesse queue up the slides please great well let's start with going way back to December right before break students attended a special event at the coal Center
124where the W Women's Basketball team hosted a memorable celebration this event highlighted our exciting partnership with the Wisconsin Badgers whose student athletes have been visiting our schools to uplift literacy and inspire a love of reading among our second graders and I have to tell you any of you were there I've been to a lot of games at the over over my life or the time of the co Center I don't think I've ever heard the pitch of Screams and yelling and students having so much fun I will never forget that day of seeing our students in that lower bowl and it was it was just incredible and I will also say a great surprise sitting Courtside which was fun but even better I recognized or found out about a half hour in that this young
125lady sitting next to me was the daughter of one of my former students um really special we were talking boxing out everything during the game so really made it a special day and what a wonderful way to go into our winter break as well thank you to the W athletic department and all those responsible for point this wonderful day next slide had the opportunity to celebrate Dr Martin Luther King Jr at various community events join seven of our students at the 39th Annual women in Focus I have a jam scholarship law I participated in the MLK youth breakfast hosted by the Urban League of Greater Madison for more than 300 students from schools across Dan County were recognized as outstanding young persons I also attended the MLK youth to call youth called to service at
126the Madison Public Library where more than 100 middle school students spent the day and and and I I should just share this as well you know I get there I get there towards the end of a day at the uh at the MLK call the service thinking that oh these middle school students are going to be ready to go honestly I think the opposite is true I think we had a hard time clearing the room um they were really engaged and I got there late in the day so I didn't get to see a lot of their interaction but they sure were interested in speaking with the mayor Dr uh Anthony from Urban League and the mayor mayor Ro Conway myself there and it was really a wonderful way to culminate that day and then
127of course that night was the Dane Cony MLK observance at the older Center um just to can't even put into words of how much these events meant to our community and I think uh Madison and Dan Coney uh do it quite differently than other communities that I've been involved in over the years and something I'm un proud um I participated also on the association of Wisconsin school administrators also known as AA leading with purpose superintendent of color driving excellence and Equity panel is part of the education leadership leaders of color collaborative conference it was a long acronym but I read it out uh this organization is committed to helping iring School District leaders and superintendents be prepared to be our leaders now and in the future and then last week I also joined board members
128Nichols and mro at the Wisconsin State education conference where msba wsba Wisconsin Schoo wasby came together with our state superintendence Association wasda and our business assoc uh wasb I think I got all those right I'm acronym out all of our Wisconsin school officials came together at a conference in Milwaukee that's a better way to say it but once again a chance to uh to collaborate as a K12 system across the state again I always find it fascinating at these conferences you know sometimes we get the perspective that Madison is so different than everyone else you find out when you're talking to peers around the state whether they're District are big small rural suburban Urban um that we all really struggle a lot of the same challenges that collaboration the professional learning commun of be conformed
129and especially when you have board members and administrators there together really a powerful conference so really happy that I was able to spend some time last week as well president Nichols mentioned our community members who joined the Strategic framework committee I won't rehash all that say this as part of those efforts and bringing that group together I've also been meeting with uh School St and students throughout the district as well through structured School visits I've been on maybe a half a dozen so far and have lots more scheduled throughout the spring and one thing I'll share with you is asking students to share their ideas and what they love about school every one of those meetings so far has made me realize that we focus on and listen to so much that is sometimes challenging
130or let's just say wrong in our schools in our community but when you ask students to focus on what's great uh they don't run out of things to say and their body language tells me that they're really happy to be asked you know what they really like about their experiences too and it's just made me think a lot about going into strategic planning how we frame what we're asking for and feedback and the engagement that we want to to be part of is going to be really important and it doesn't mean that we look over the things that are challenging us but we cannot forget what is really going well and building on what our students love about their school so great job everyone that I've been able to meet with so far and I
131look forward to the upcoming visits that I have scheduled um finally uh just about coming to an end here school districts across the state are facing funding challenges we know this a strong advocacy efforts are underway another acronym that I want to share with you but I'll spell it out is the greater Daye County School District governance Consortium it focuses on three priorities eliminate academic social emal G for our students Advance best governance practices and advocate for advocate for our public schools at the local state and cred levels I've shared their platform with you last week in the update and uh really want you and others in our community to review this if if you come across it and it really does spell out ways that we're BEC Eng galvanized as a district Community a
132county community but there's more and more support throughout the state for this and I'll just share very briefly uh but the top two things on this platform are one to increase special education reimbursement over time so that it closes it many of you know viewers if you're listening that mmsd transferred 66.4 million to our from our general education fund to cover the lack of uh full reimbursement from the state government from state and federal government to cover our cost for Specialized Service um and for the state it's $1.8 billion so this is not just a Madison issue this is a Wisconsin Public School District issue and the second is to keep up with inflation index our per people formula so that U three four or five years from now we don't find ourselves behind uh
133from the from the resources that we receive from our local communities so we're really looking for an update there you can see the graph on that platform showing there's a 3,300 $3,380 per pupil gap between if inflation were to be factored into our annual purup formula you can see how much more Madison and districts across the state would receive in their share of Aid so these are the two that have come out to the top in terms of advocacy from this group and things that we're going to be working on as a board and as a community so that we make sure that our voices are heard decision are made lastly uh board President and Vice President covered Matt the reading really excited about that but there's a nice picture of our kickoff at salside
134elementary last week uh wonderful evening and the first of many in this community coming together to make sure that our students our families our partners and everyone who cares about the education of children knows how important literacy is and what we can do as a collective to support our our students for president my report thank you so much all right get us into the rest of our agenda next we will hear about the items that proceeded through the instruction work gr instruction work group held on January 6 2025 and I'll have chair mro um speak on that thank you so much president Nicholls at our last instruction work group we talked about summer programming we got an update from from our our Administration on summer school um and our promotion policy related to act 20
135we heard from our superintendent's Wellness advisory committee um we will meet again as a work group on February 3D so this coming Monday and we will hear an update on our three-year plan for special education and our final proposal on the name for Southside Elementary School thank you yes next we'll have a report on items proceeded through the operations work group held on January 13 2025 and chair Castro will report on that work group thank you yes indeed we held a operations work group meeting on January 13 2025 where we reviewed uh progress to date on HR particularly around recuitment and retention uh we started our 2526 development of the of the budget and we uh kind of grounded ourselves in the core principles that will guide us through the budget um and just forecasting
136um a timeline of events that will occur uh that talk about the referendum and Facilities update which some items will appear tonight on the agenda um and then we reviewed three of policies one of which I believe we are resending tonight um the other two we're going to make another pass through next meeting is on February 10th 2025 on that agenda we will continue the development of the the the budget um we'll talk about summer school and then we'll talk about the state budget Outlook and maybe an update on transfer sounds like packed agenda okay um board member F Mosner FAL can you hear us now okay all right we had one action item that did proceed through the operations work group held on January 13th and that was um as for member Castro said
137a policy policy 2601 longdistance phone calls um so just read the motion I don't know are we doing any framing on this or no all right I'll just read the motion as it is I move that the Board of Education resend the longdistance phone calls policy for reasons set forth in the document prepared for January 27th 2025 regular meeting the policy will be rescinded effective imediately second all right any discussion board member Vander muet hi um the policy commune is the policy committee went through this and we've had uh two board meetings to uh discuss this correct and one board meeting I'm startor one board meeting to discuss this and very simply I'm willing to take it I think we're willing to take any questions but this basically is become obsolete because basically we're not
138really charging for long distance and most people are using help that's all I have any other questions all right um Megan your advisory vote all right all those in favor I that looks like and I see Blair online that is um approved I mean that passes who thank you moving on to our I move that the Board of Education adopt and approve all of the Motions set forth in section 10 of the electronic agenda prepared for the January 27th 2025 regular school board meeting exactly as said motions are ra by voting affirmatively on this motion a board member expresses his her or their affirmative vote on each of the Motions Consolidated hereby subject to any Express separations that have been made by any member of the School Board second Maya all right are there any
139separation all right seeing and hearing none Megan your advisory vote all those in favor and I see Blair all right that is humanim way all right um Mo us down to other reports to the board um starting with the city County Schools collaborative committee uh myself and board members simin are on that committee we were not able to hold our January 8th meeting um due to lack of Quorum our next possible um date to meet is February 12th 2025 and we will be bringing forward the same agenda that we did not cover in January moving on to student Senate our last meeting was on January 15th uh we talked about what the board of education has been doing before moving into our heroic improv Workshop um very and then going into our committee time our
140next meeting is on January 29th uh 2025 which is when we will next the Madison School and community recreation advisory committee me how's my sound great um okay uh winter programs at mscr are up and running over 14,000 people are currently participating in mscr programs 14,000 summer planning is in full swing mscr summer jobs will be posted on February 7th with hundreds of openings in youth programs camps Sports Arts Aquatics and more registration for those programs will begin March 10th Monday March 10th at noon thank you next we have the citizens ad hoc committee to name Southside ele School good evening everyone so here are my updates um chairperson Greg Jones will be joining the instructional work group meeting on Monday February 3rd to formally make the recommendations from the adog committee to the board
141so the four ranked proposals for Southside Elementary R and again these are ranked first is Southside Community second ad deer third Lori man carry and fourth nin spring each of the proposals are on the website we encourage the community to give their input on the website as well the final vote will take place on Monday February 24th at the regular meeting of the Board of Education ad hoc committee members will be in attendance thank you um do we have a report for the policy committee okay um we will be hosting a policy committee uh formal meeting on February 19th um and we will have a slate of policies that we will discuss and we'll make sure to send that out to the board um prior to that thank you okay no other report at this
142time all right moving on to other business of the 2023 24 financial statement audit um I believe bringing up and we know that the the audit reports from whipley are attached president Nichols if I may thank you president Nichols members of the board Natalie Ru is our cop troller and she's going to walk us through tonight's presentation I believe also bring in a guest that have join us as well so Natalie thanks for your hard work and look forward to your report all right that work great um see you again it's been a big year for her to pull up on his way there he is you can see him um thank you for thank you for um spending the time waiting for for this um we have with us Rob ganshaw from whle to
143present the audit um I do want to say that once again we have had a clean audit with no journal entries um really it's unheard of um but I have a great team and I will not list the 20 people on our team but um this doesn't happen at year end this is a year round process um and I want to thank my team and I will hang around for questions after um Rob has presented yit thank you very much um it's my pleasure to uh speak with you tonight can you hear me okay great thank you um I'll try and make this brief as I'm I'm sure that uh you're ready to to get out the door with everything that you've heard already tonight but um if you could flip to the next page
144of the there we go um we typically Share three different documents with the board uh financial statements the single audit report and then the smallest of the documents that we share with you is our disclosure letter that contains the required Communications that um that we need to to share with you on an annual basis and as as you can see here um under the qualitative aspects of accounting practices that's basically where we outline what our responsibilities and Duties are as far as the audit goes and we also highlight in there if there were any new accounting standards that were adopted during the current year um the only standard that was adopted this year was implementing gasby 100 regarding accounting changes just requires us if there's a a restatement or if there are new uh standards
145that are implemented that cause a restatement to the prior year numbers it changes how we have to present it in the financial statements now and requires additional reporting in the footnotes pleased to share with you again this year that we had no difficulties uh during the performance of the audit as Natalie had already shared with you um we have no corrected or uncorrected misstatements um that's wonderful we deal with a lot of school districts where that's not the case it's always nice to be able to come in and know that the numbers that you're working with aren't going to be changing once you get them we also had no disagreements with management of the district during the performance of our audit um we also are required to get representations from your management as they relate
146to the audit and the single audit itself um to our knowledge uh management did not consult with any other Auditors on matters that would have affected our opinion or on any of the amounts included in the financial statements the only other item um that I will share with you and it'll get brought up a little bit later as well is in our single audit this year as it related to uh State funding we did uh identify an issue in regards to uh how transfer Pupil Transportation was reported to uh Department of Public Instruction if you can forward to the the next slide for me um we issue multiple opinions on your financial statements um one is on internal controls and compliance as it relates to the financial statements themselves we also issue a report on
147internal and compliance as it relates to your federal and state programs and then we issue an overall opinion on the financial statements themselves as n Natalie previous previously shared with you we did Issue an unmodified opinion on the financial statements which is in a sense means it's a clean opinion um the overall uh internal control and compliance once again identified a positive control environment and that really reflects upon you as a school board as well as the senior leadership at the school district implementing a strong tone at the top of what your expectations are of the individuals that are working at the district um as we State here you know the district in management continues to place a a high importance on implementing internal controls to make sure that your financial records are maintained um
148in an accurate manner um we did not have we did not identify any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses as it relates to the financial statements um and the last item as I alluded to previously um we identified no federal non-compliance this year we did have one state non-compliance related to uh special education transportation we do detail that out in the single audit report but basically what it relates to is um special education students typically are not to be reported on both the regular education Transportation table and then getting claimed for Aid under special education program uh when we did our our sample of students this year we did find a number of students that were claimed on both the regular education Transportation table and also uh being provided um special education Transportation the amount um
149it amounted to our estimate came to under $10,000 so we were not required to um um put a uh question cost in the the report um next page please independent auditor report this is basically what the big thing that you pay us for is the the report that Pro uh we where we provide our opinions like I mentioned we issued an unmodified opinion AKA a clean opinion which means that uh the financial statements are in all material respects correct um we don't look to find every mistake that could be possibly um included in the financial records we would be there for a year if we tried to do that um and it's not you know the standards only require us to look at material for material misstatements um our responsibility is to express an opinion
150on the financial statements and Management's responsibility is to prepare and provide us with those financial statements and I'm happy uh to share with you that Natalie does a Natalie and her team do a very good job preparing those financial statements they provide us with a draft of the financial statements we go through and review them compare them to the trial balances and you know look at the footnotes make sure everything's agreeing back and forth and typically have very minimal um updates to those reports after she Pro her and her team provide them to us next page please biggest item that we typically share with you each year as we go through the the detail of the general fund fund balance um if you want to see more details as to the the specific items that
151are included in these buckets um that can be found on page 53 of the financial statements but basically uh the district has four different buckets of fund balance at year end nonspendable which means amounts that are in a nonspendable form because you can't readily turn them into cash or they are required to remain intact or they're a long-term asset that you know you can't sell the next day or within the next couple months that amount this year was approximately 2.4 million restricted these amounts are um outside entities or regulations laws um contributors creditors identify that these amounts can only be spent on specific items so therefore they are broken out separately and that amount this year was about $2.2 million assigned this is fund balance amounts where either the board or your management um has
152identified specific projects that you would like to use these amounts for but you don't take um formal action as a school board to um restrict these dollars if you would take formal action on these they would be considered committed and you would have to take that same formal action in order for those dollars to be able to be spent assigned you basically put a tag on them to be used for um items and then as spent they're just removed from that assigned area the the district has about 16.8 million doll in that assigned fund balance at year end the remaining uh fund balance that isn't in any one of those uh categories falls into the unassigned category um and these are resources that can be spent at the you know at The District's um discretion
153typically if you have an unbudgeted uh expenditure that comes up you know you for some reason you would need to replace a large amount of computers that wasn't in the budget or you had a um significant um uninsured situation that would happen or even an insured situation where you would have a larger deductible you know you would be able to tap into these unassigned uh dollars the unassigned fund balance also allows the district to minimize the amount of um Bridge funding that you need to do uh to to carry over while you wait to get reimbursed on your Grant dollars or receive your your uh State funding as it relates to your general AIDs that you get um so you need to have some operating capital on hand and by having a a sufficient fund
154balance that allows you to do that at at year end this year you're at about 93 .1 million total fund balance is about $115 million and comparing that to last year that's an increase an overall increase of about $24 million and basically when when you look at the budget for last year you anticipated using about $12.4 million so budget to actual actually came out you know 30 about $ 36 million to The Good the vast majority of that was due to generating um revenues in excess of what you had budgeted and that was about $23.6 million and then um you were able to you know basically holding the line on your expens ures you came in under the expenditure budget by about $13 million so overall um you know an you were able to build
155fund balance a little bit which in today's day and age is a little bit harder to do for districts um if you want to go to the the next slide we typically talk to you about you know where an unassigned fund fund balance should be sitting at any particular uh point in time um our uh typical recommendation as well as the government Finance Officers Association which is a National Association um for all governmental type entities typically recommends a a minimum of at least two months of operating expenditures and that equates to about 177% of your your operating budget at year end so if we look at the district your unassigned general fund balance this year was that 93 million and uh total general fund expenditures on a gap basis on page 56 were $57 million
156um that calculates out to about 18.4% this year last year it was about 16.3% so when you look at that you're still you know relatively close to that 177% the last item that's bolded on there you know I just want to point it out those are just recommendations there's a lot of factors that that need to be taken into account when you're looking at that fund balance and what may be appropriate um you know I'm not going to say we're inv volatile times but you know we just got through an election cycle and nobody really knows what's going to definitely be happening at the federal level or the state level as far as it relates to Educational Funding you know uh pupil counts obviously that is huge um so you know with all of that
157there you know it may be prudent to have a little larger unassigned fund balance than you have in the past you know just to make sure that you're covered um and that is the extent of the the comments that I have for you tonight and I would open it up for any questions that you want to ask Natalie questions for members Rob thank you thank you for deflecting those questions at me thank you um for the last few years we've had really extensive conversations about our defit and what that impact on our fun so I've been consistently for the last three years um that we will spend a significant portion of fund I'm also told that we run a very serious risk of going under the threshold for the minimum of our fund Ballance based
158in this board own policy and as I've been told that routinely I have pointed out that we are outside the parameters of our own policy but we are actually outside of our polic because have more fun Ballance not too little fund balance um I'm advocating that we shift our policy to be one in alignment with where we're at in terms of fund balance but also uh to to Really position us with um a level of Leverage related to our borrow and so given the fact that last year we were at 16.3% and the max we're supposed to be at is % and now we've climbed again to 18.4% what is our administration's recommendation related to our fund balance policy and is there anything we should be concerned about given that we are not currently within
159our own policy um good question our our fund balance policy is a policy that's going to be reviewed at the February Retreat we're taking a look right now at recomend of the 17% I've also um got data pulled of all the districts and where they set so we can do some comparisons of District both big five and D County the board but one the recommendation of the firm is to increase our fund balance percentage 17% mind the board were monitoring actual expenditures the budgeted but this year is balanced with million out of that fund balance toit cly we're going to have some expenditures are going to be less than budgeted because we've had some vacancies but the vacancies are nowhere near what we've had last two years so we monitor it talk about that that's
160tremendously exciting and there's also the impact of the referendum right which is is something that I think we factored in um but you know I think there's no our budget were we to change our policy to 17% would that represent the top of our policy or the bottom of our policy if we wanted a policy that represented where our bottom should be and the top is really what it would take for us to have the option not to pay interest in terms of short-term borrowing what would we need the top and bottom of our policy to be and I'm sorry if that question second yeah I I think that's a good question I think we'll continue to do our research and be ready to talk more about the specifics um I will say my experience
161are normally boards have a percent that they meet not a range I think I'm shared the board rep kind of unique for our district to have that range in terms of theing of the policy um I think we can revisit that um our our bond ratings are very good for a lot of reasons part of it is us meeting our fund policy um budgeting the rating agencies like that they appreciate that um we're going to continue to need to do the cash borrowing as we did now I'll say we requested 10 million less than we historically have this year 50 million 60 million in part because we have a stronger fund balance which is money and pain to look at should it be a range or should be a dollar amount make some proje based
162on the referend put us obviously that limits Us in terms of exp that we I want to make sure I'm hearing you correctly our short-term borrowing amount is between 50 and $60 million on that for cash flow purposes it's $50 million that is this year than that's for us it's primarily contingent because we're we're a district that operates on property tax revenues and not state aid and we don't get our first big payments borrow money to make our pay if I'm if I'm doing kind of fast math on that that borrowing would add up to about 10% of our budget correct me for okay so technically we already have enough fun ballads abolutely couldn't engage in shortterm to to cover the cost no um so actually the the way our the accounting math work unfortunately
163um a lot of we have assets other than just cash um which is pretty much what we have receivables we have a lot of money at year end tied up in receivables from the federal and state government um but what actually happens on our cash flow cycle which we monitor um monthly actually weekly by January 1 we are really really operating on probably the bottom of the barrel we are really waiting for um that tax levy to come in um to make payrolls so we actually operate on a very tight cash flow um it it there there's times where we we have a lot of money like right now the taxes just came in this week um and two weeks ago I was holding my breath so that's why when we do this we look
164at what's our lowest point and what do we need to keep us out of going negative um and we actually Lev the amount that were lowest negative um we borrow the amount that we low so when we do the cash flows if we hit 50s that's what I'm looking for I greatly appreciate that I think it's hard to take into consideration what cash flow looks like for a school district because it's just a really different Dynamic than what you would see in a smaller entity or an entity that is part of the public and and they so heavily reliant on the on the um tax Lev so we have to wait January and we're very lucky that that the collections come in at in this in the cycle that they come in so strongly in
165January Natalie and Bob I want to thank your team for this audit it's really impressive to see us land in this space and to see um us produce a clean audit given the kind of moving pieces of the last few years I'm tremendously grateful for the work above in the last thing I want to point out is that there's a really uh interesting point in this document on AG 12 um the management discussion analysis for year and June 30th 2024 and it it gives a breakdown in a graph of our sources of revenue and 18% is operating grants and contributions and I think that that's important to bring up and highlight because we have a policy we're going to revisit that is specific to the efforts our staff Mak um to generate Revenue aggressively um
166and alleviate pressure from our local taxpayers and so 18% means about one in every five dollar um is is grant funding is donation or philanthropically informed um and and I think that that is really important to recognize both in terms of acknowledging almost 20% of our budget is coming from you know support and initiatives that our community is tremendously enthusias about is there anything you want us to understand about the implications of the policy related to kind of that aggressive pursuit of grant funding and funding um that alleviates the taxpayer um is there anything you want us to know in terms of how that figure fluctuates year to year um I I would mention that last year we were a little skewed because um we had I would mention that last year we were a
167little skewed because we were winding down the um money um that's not usual however we do have a very strong culture um and there of fundraising in this District we have an amazing grant writer who she spends a lot of time just looking for Grants and digging for Grants and and really figuring out sometimes how to take someone's smaller idea and and make it a bigger Grant so um carry does a really great job of bringing money into this District thank you so much Carri I just want to say I really appreciate you pointing out answerer because I think there could be a sense next year that we change that policy and all of the sudden we became lackluster about grant funding and the truth is is that s funding made up about $43 million
168correct of that number um and so I just think that's something to keep in mind um when we are are looking at this next year that I think it would be tremendously hard for one person to raise an additional 43 million corre correct um and so thank you thank you so much for for answering my questions this evening y I also just wanted to congratulate you and and thank you for all of the hard work on this audit uh or all of the hard work that you do that resulted in this amazing audit um I do just for my own clarification the one thing the one even a finding the one thing that they noted about the transportation what what do they attribute that to like is it um it wasn't listed as an internal
169control issue what what is that kind of thing called um it's it really was um a reporting issue with Transportation team in terms of them pulling the data understanding what the data was for we we've had a lot of conversations with the prior Transportation team Scott and Vanessa Cruz the current director of the transation unit about what they're required to do steps they need to take to verify the data before they submitted just reporting for the categorical AIDS and then also when the audit sample sizes that we understand what we're pulling and just really honestly double check the number kind of simple step but reminders for folks that aren't used to reporting information for the categorical Aid programs and then just are we feel we got a good handle on it right thank you so
170much Transportation team did put together a long process memo on checks and balances for this solution error um I usually don't like to say hey we're going to try to fix this I usually like to say we we acknowledge the the finding and we have a plan to fix it and and we've implemented procedures which is where we are thank you I can I just ask one additional question um so as we know fund 50 um was in the negative and then we had to transfer funds from the general fund to cover um in an audit process when you have a fund like fun 50 which I've always understood this supposed to be kind of self- sustaining does that count in any particular way against the district or is it noted somewhere or as long
171as we're covering it kind of internally um it it doesn't matter so much um the the rules require us to have fund balanced at the end of the year it's not uncommon for school boards to use their fund 10 balance their general fund to balance fund 50 because if they wouldn't you really have to do one of two things increase participation or raise the fees for the bur mon so it's really difficult to run a program without a subsidy but as you recall we presented or implementing a 10 plan to get us back hopefully sustainability but it's going to take some time thank you anyone else yeah I would I would just second um Bob's comments there I would say 85% of the school districts that we do audits for have to subsidize their food
172service programs in some manner because the it really depends you know depending on the cost of the the food and what you're getting because you only get reimbursed a certain amount by the federal government they tell you what you're going to get depending on what your population is and you know in a lot of school districts um it would be it would be hard to charge the price needed to make that fund break even and and have families be able to to afford it especially if they have multiple kids in school right thank you so much all right well seems like this is a celebration isn't it I mean thumbs up okay thanks Rob all right our next business item is the attachment and detachments between Verona Area School District and mmsd e all right
173the Madison Metropolitan School District resolution regarding agreement to alter School District boundary whereas a meeting of the school board of the Madison metropolitan school district was held on January 27th 2025 and whereas the Verona Area School District and the Madison metropolitan school district begin a joining sorry being a joining school district have proposed to detach property from the Verona Area School District and attach such property to the Madison metropolitan school dist district and such property being specifically described in attachment one whereas the agreement seeks to detach said property from the Wisconsin Verona Area School District and attach that property to the Madison metropolitan school district and whereas the assess value of the territory proposed to be attached to the Madison metropolitan school district and detach from the adjoining School District Verona Area School District divided
174by the assessment ratio of the taxation district is less than 7% of the equalized Val valuation of the Madison metropolitan school district and whereas less than 7% of the enrollment of the Verona Area School District from which the territory is proposed to be detached resides in the territory proposed to be detached with the number of pupils therein being zero and whereas the number of pupils residing in the territory set forth above as of January of 2025 is zero and whereas prior to adopting sorry prior to adopting this resolution the Board of Education of the Madison metropolitan school just that gave written notice to the electors residing in and the owners of the territory proposed to be detached from the Verona Area School District and attached to the Madison metropolitan school district of the proposed reorganization
175and Prov them an opportunity to speak with the Board of Education and present reasons for or against the proposed reorganization and whereas the board of education has considered all of the factors set forth under Wisconsin State statut 17.15 as such factors would have affected the educational welfare if there were pupils and now therefore be it resolved by the Board of Education of the Madison Metropol qual School District that pursuant to Wisconsin State Statute 17.13 the listed Parcels be and are hereby ordered detached from the Verona Area School District and attached to the Madison metropolitan school district and be it further resolved by the Board of Education of the Madison metropolitan school district that the clerk of the district shall within five days after adoption of this resol res olution send a certified copy of this
176resolution to the board of education of the Verona Area School District and file a certified copy of this resolution with the School District boundary appeal board I second Maya the sweat on that one all right any discussion on that yes or M W drop I just want to clarify all right Megan your advisory vote all those in favor I all right that passes on to3 on our agenda I moved at the board of education pursuant to the terms of the administrator retirement plan which seeks to recognize the value of a long-term commitment to the mmsd approved two application second [Music] Maya question Megan your advisory all those in favor I pass unanimously next item 14.4 annual capacity for open enrollment determination I move that in regards to open enrollment applications for the 2025 2026 school
177year the district declares that no space is available in the leap neon SDA primary step Next Step transition Academy sale West Campus Connect Lake Edge program Memorial neutral site program High School intensive intervention Early Learning sessions Early Childhood interent Services Madison Pras and early college STEM Academy programs and open enrollment applicants will not be accepted into those programs all other special education and regular education programs services and grade levels will have no space impation second Maya all right discussion board member VY Miller I say this every year I still believe that putting caps on Le in that constitut that's glad I read it that way some people do not read it that way that is why I'm voting no one right any other questions com all right Megan your advisory vote all right all those
178in favor I all right one two one all right pass one all right notice of claim I move that the Board of Education authorized the submission of a claim in case number 05- md- 1720 in the United States district court for the eastern district of New York second Maya all right any questions or comment all right Megan your advisory vote all those in favor hi your okay I move that the bo or our next one is superintendent contract I move that the Board of Education approved to extend superintendent Joe Go's contract by one year to June 30th 2027 effective July 1 2025 second [Music] Maya questions I'm really grateful for the opportunity to our super contct iate your leadership and work you've us board member Ben uh well deserved and I strongly in favor all
179right I also feel like it's um it's it's a really strong move I think for the board to make this early on in your um leadership Journey with us and we're very very appreciative of you being here and so um glad that we have this opportunity to um confirm this motion all right Megan your advisory vote all those in favor all right I and that is unanimous all right I see no other old or new business uh board member Vander Mulan is moving that we adjourn is there a May appears in second thanks Megan your advis re vote all right all those in favor of adjournment great thank you meeting adjourned good night night