The Madison Metropolitan School Board named their standing committee chairs and members for the 2007 – 2008 school year. They are:
Communications Beth Moss, Chair Carol Carstensen, Member Lawrie Kobza, Member
Community Partnerships Maya Cole, Chair Lucy Mathiak, Member Johnny Winston, Jr., Member
Finance and Operations Lucy Mathiak, Chair Carol Carstensen, Member Maya Cole, Member
Human Resources Johnny Winston, Jr. Chair Lawrie Kobza, Member Beth Moss, Member
Long Range Planning Carol Carstensen, Chair Lucy Mathiak, Member Beth Moss, Member
Performance and Achievement Lawrie Kobza, Chair Maya Cole, Member Johnny Winston, Jr., Member
AMPS 
If anyone has topics they would like a committee to address for this year, they should contact the committee chair. I would also like to see people weigh in on AMPS as to what their priorities for these committees might be. The school board will consider feedback from this site as well as many other sources during their prioritization process. Lets make our voices heard. Ask yourself…
~What method(s) of communication works best for you?
*backpack mail
*timely letter from principal for breaking school news
*home and/or work e-mail
*automated calls to home and cell phone
*MMSD website and/or specific school website
*PTO meetings
*PTO/school newsletter
*PTO e-mail
*PTO discussion forum
*Report cards/new online Student Information System/perhaps the Communication Committee could work in conjunction with Performance and Achievement Committee on this one.
*School or Neighborhood Forums–many MMSD schools have active online discussion forums, many MMSD neighborhoods have active online discussion forums. Sometimes these are followed by Board Members as well as Madison Common Council members. Many such forums exist in long established neighborhoods and their respective schools. Does/should your school and neighborhood consider starting a discussion forum?
*Channel 10
*Local nightly news (TV)
*Newspapers/MMSD news releases
*MMSD Today http://www.mmsd.org/today/
*Neighborhood newletter
*joint PTO ventures
*monthly PTO representative meetings with the superintendent
*others?
~What information is most critical to you?
*safety information
*upcoming changes and a chance to weigh in
*school calendar
*school activities
*your children’s homework assignments
*your children’s grades
*report cards
*truancy
^Should academic points be lost per minute tardy?
^Who decides?
-individual teachers or district policy for consistency between classrooms/schools
^Can students make up missed tests?
^for illness/other reasons
^Who decides?
-individual teachers or district policy for consistency between classrooms/schools
*district information that directly affects you
*district information that doesn’t directly affect you (IMHO there is no such thing)
*potential budget cuts
*education funding reform and ways to get involved
*information on how to become a citizen or parent representative on district committees
*minutes from these various committees
*information on what other MMSD schools are doing
*school demographics/boundaries
*referendum information
*booster club news
~What information is necessary to provide to this community in order for them to make informed choices?
~What community partnerships would you like to see the district involved in?
*City level
-crossing guards
-Madison Metro
-neighborhood/city planning efforts
-annexation of land/land swaps
-police and security efforts/ERO(educational Resource officers)
-MSCR
-summer programming
-parks
^ shared picnic tables could be used for outdoor school lunch times
*State level
-school funding reform efforts
-forcing contractors to provide land for schools when building new subdivisions–many states like Illinois require this by law–WI doesn’t
*Private Partnerships
-examples under way
^United Way
^Schools of Hope
^Boys and Girls Clubs
^community centers
^after school care
^pre-schools
^Madison Foundation for Public Schools
^Home Grown Lunch Program
^Principal for a Day
~What money making partnerships should the district seek?
*Examples under way
^ cell phone towers on schools
^equity policy in place for individual contributions over $5000
*Virtual/Charter schools (can they be a revenue generator or do they add costs for the district?) If they are embedded in existing schools and transportation isn’t provided, what is equitable? Remember that many schools on the East/North sides of Madison have ample room. All MMSD schools on the West side of town have no room. In the past space issues have overshadowed low-income percentages in shaping which MMSD schools could implement SAGE. Could these same space issues now overshadow which schools, in which parts of town, have the opportunity to house innovative charter schools?
*others
~What other partnerships would you like to see actively pursued by the Community Partnerships Committee?
*Partnership opportunities for Fine/Visual Arts include:
-Band
-Strings
-Drama
-Painting
-Sculpture
-Photography
-Film Making
-Architecture/landscape design
-Graphic design/computer art
-Dance
-Culinary Art
-Others?
*for Sports
*for tutors/mentors
*for Work and Learn
*for Robotics First/Lego League clubs
*other clubs?
*technology
*biology
*botany
*space science
*ecology
*journalism
*construction/green building practices
*shop/mechanics
*Foreign lauguage
*Field trip opportunities
*playground
*fundraising opportunities
*family and consumer education
*others?
What “Institutional” partnerships should MMSD seek?
*UW System
*Waisman Center
*Social Services
*Health System/local HMOs
*Library System
*Neighborhood/City Pool System
*Water Parks
*Museums
*Overture Center
*Madison Symphony Orchestra
*Madison Film Festival & Westgate and Hilldale Cinemas
*Park System
*Energy Center of Wisconsin
*DNR
*MG&E
*NASA
*Madison Newspapers
*WAGS
*Community Centers
*Police Department
*Fire Department
*Dane County Regional Airport
*Local/National Businesses/Farms
^sponsored Band/Choir/Sports Uniforms(shoes)?
^healthy school snacks
Factoid–when my kids started school all MMSD schools provided free milk (white or chocolate) every day to kindergarteners during snack time! How come the Dairy State quit providing milk to school children?
*Nurseries
^trees donated by…
^flowers provided by…
^hedge row supplied by…
^sod donated by…
~What budget processes could be improved?
*how?
~What Processes or Policies should be in place?
*District wide homework policy
*District wide recess policy
~What policies need updating and by whom?
~What should District Evaluation processes include?
~What should be evaluated?
*people
*contractual issues
*curriculum
*policies
*boundaries
*district numbers
*district priorities
*maintenance schedule for maintenance referendum money/money set aside for technology
*referenda options
*building capacities
*equity
*Doyle/Administration
*school staffing levels
*high school redesign
*middle school redesign update
*transportation
*lunch schedules
^What actually happens when a child forgets their lunch?
^What actually happens when a child’s lunch account runs out of money on any given day?
^What should happen?
^Is this consistent among MMSD schools? By grade level?
^Should it be?
*playground supervision/policies
^recess–is it a right or a privilege?
^Does every MMSD child have the same # of recesses?
^same length of time for recesses?
^should they?
*safety
*district wide discipline policy
*technology/REACH
*AP offerings
*Special Education practices
*others?
~By whom?
*internal or external evals
*consultants
*costs
~What constitutes an adequate Long Range Plan for MMSD?
*next steps
*goals
*timeline
~How can the Board/District continue to foster the communities trust in these tough budget times?
~How can the Board’s committee work further this trust?
Be Proactive–Speak Now–the window of opportunity is wide open!!
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