Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Discipline Hearings topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board appoints independent hearing officers for 2025–26 expulsion hearings
Summary
The board authorized the use of independent hearing officers for student expulsions in 2025–26 and appointed David Friedman and Matthew Bell to the pool authorized to conduct hearings under district policy and state statute.
The Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education on July 28 adopted a resolution authorizing the use of independent hearing officers to determine pupil expulsions for the 2025–26 school year and appointed two officers to the district pool.
The board referenced district policy and state law that permit a school board to use an independent hearing officer to hear expulsion cases. The meeting transcript cites "MMSD Board policy 4045" and (with a garbled citation) a state provision governing expulsion hearings; the Wisconsin statute typically cited for board-expulsion procedures is Wisconsin Statute 120.13(1)(e), which authorizes boards to delegate expulsion hearings to an independent hearing officer when the board adopts a resolution to do so.
The board’s resolution authorized the use of independent hearing officers for the 2025–26 year and appointed David Friedman and Matthew Bell to the pool of officers the district may use. The motion passed unanimously, with Student Representative Claire Lee casting an advisory aye.
Board member VanderMeelen commented briefly that appointing a second officer helps ensure adequate coverage if multiple hearings are needed. The resolution is effective for the school year and does not itself impose new disciplinary standards; it authorizes a procedural option for conducting expulsion hearings.
