Madison school board votes to enter closed session to review student disciplinary proceedings

A specially called meeting of the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education voted unanimously to enter a closed session to review disciplinary proceedings and decisions involving individual students.

The board moved into closed session after a member said, “I move that the Board of Education go into closed session pursuant to Wisconsin State Statute sections 19.85, 1 a, f, and g, 1 18.125, and or 1 20.131 e for the purpose of reviewing disciplinary proceedings and decisions involving individual students.” A second was recorded and the chair conducted a roll call vote; all members present voted “Aye.”

The motion invoked exemptions to Wisconsin’s open meetings law, as cited by the speaker during the motion. The board did not discuss details of individual students in the public portion of the meeting; the transcript shows the meeting moved into closed session immediately after the roll call.

During roll call, the transcript records Board member Castro voting “Aye,” Board member Saravo voting “Aye,” Board member Muldrow voting “Aye,” Vice President Pierson voting “Aye,” and the presiding board member stating they voted “Aye.” The motion and unanimous vote constituted the board’s formal action to meet in closed session under the cited statutes.

Because the board entered closed session, no further public details about the disciplinary proceedings or any follow-up actions were disclosed in the provided transcript excerpt. The transcript does not specify who made the motion by name, the exact subsection formatting of the statutes beyond the language quoted on the record, or any schedule for returning to open session.

The board’s invocation of statutory exemptions and the subsequent unanimous vote are reflected only in the public portion of the record; any findings, decisions, or directions that occurred in closed session are not included in the publicly available excerpt.