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Madison Metropolitan School District work session, Jul 27, 2026

1 h 39 min · 0 public speakers

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 39 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Madison school board reviews draft policy on grooming and staff-student communication 1:15

  • Earlier, Savion Castro announced that a motion to approve minutes from April 20th, 2026, carried. 0:12
  • Ali Janae Muldrow said the board had been given a draft of the policy on grooming before the meeting and that the hope was for board members to raise questions and edits so a final draft could come back. 1:15
  • A district staff member said state Act 89 requires school districts to adopt policies on appropriate communication between staff and students, effective by September 1st. 5:29
  • One board member said the instruction work group could hold a second read-through in August, followed by a special meeting to vote on the policy. 18:10

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Item by item (10)
  1. Opening and approval of minutes 0:12
    • Savion Castro called the meeting to order and moved to approve minutes from April 20th, 2026. 0:12
    • Savion Castro then moved to approve minutes from June 15th, 2026. 0:46
    • Savion Castro announced that a motion carried, then moved to approve the minutes from the special meeting and open session dated June 15th, 2026. 0:46
  2. Legal overview of grooming policy 1:01
    • Ali Janae Muldrow said the entire board had received a draft of the policy and the hope was to come back with a final draft. 1:15
    • A district staff member said Act 57 requires parent or guardian notice after a credible report, by 5 PM the same school day or by noon of the next calendar day for reports made after hours. 2:02
    • The staff member said DPI is developing an annual training and that the policy must be in effect by September 1st. 13:06
  3. Review timeline and process 16:13
    • Nichelle Nichols said feedback from the meeting would go back to the Policy Committee to help schedule the next meetings. 17:40
    • One board member said the board could pass the policy at the next review, depending on proposed changes. 18:29
  4. Staff training and mandatory reporting 18:41
    • Savion Castro asked what communication and training with staff would look like. 18:41
    • A staff member said DPI training should be released within the next few weeks and district review would start with building-level administrators in a tiered approach. 18:57
    • Savion Castro asked how the policy overlaps with mandatory reporting, and a staff member said the policy does not change mandatory reporting. 21:47
  5. Students with special needs and phone use 26:09
    • Martha Siravo asked whether DPI differentiates for special education students who have more one-on-one interactions, and whether phones are covered. 26:18
    • A staff member said the policy identifies district email, ParentSquare and Huddle and aims to eliminate texting and phone calls between staff and students. 31:39
    • One board member asked that the policy use parent guardian consistently, and a staff member said the wording would be cleaned up. 36:31
  6. Policy structure and definition of staff 38:22
    • One board member suggested reordering the policy and asked to add a definition of staff that addresses contracted partners. ~38:26
    • Nichelle Nichols asked whether the listed grooming behaviors must be accompanied by intent, noting another section says intent is not required. 49:29
    • A staff member said the first phrase of that sentence may be struck because it appears limiting in scope. 59:43
  7. Bathrooms, trips, relationships and counseling 1:00:04
    • A board member asked about staff use of student restrooms and how staff on international trips could communicate with students. 1:00:08
    • A staff member said the policy should acknowledge, rather than permit, relationships outside the district. 1:09:01
    • The board member asked what properly licensed means for staff giving advice to a student about a personal problem, and a staff member said that would be reviewed. 1:09:05
  8. Additional examples of prohibited conduct 1:14:43
    • Ali Janae Muldrow asked about adding groping, massaging, hypersexualization and adultification of students to the policy. 1:15:04
    • Ali Janae Muldrow also asked about defining preferential treatment and favoritism, and a staff member said the language would be cleaned up. 1:18:12
  9. Changing spaces, partners and language 1:23:02
    • A staff member said language was added to include changing rooms and locker rooms alongside bathrooms. 1:26:00
    • A staff member said contracted providers agree to abide by all district policies. 1:27:19
    • Nichelle Nichols asked how the policy accounts for interactions in languages other than English, and a staff member said there are over 100 spoken languages in the district. 1:30:57
  10. Adjournment 1:38:15
    • Savion Castro moved to adjourn the meeting. 1:38:29

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “7.27.26 Special Board of Education Meeting in Open Session -WORKSHOP”