School board votes to enter closed session to discuss collective bargaining wages

The Chair moved that the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education go into closed session "pursuant to Wisconsin State statute sections 19.85 (1)(e) for the purpose of considering negotiations strategy regarding collective bargaining based wages for all MMSD bargaining units," and the motion was seconded by board member Mosner Feltham. The motion carried on a recorded voice/roll-call with the transcript ultimately indicating a 5-0 result.

The nut graf: The board invoked Wisconsin Statute 19.85(1)(e), which permits closed deliberations on strategy related to collective bargaining. The item on April 28, 2026, was explicitly limited to negotiation strategy concerning wages across all Madison Metropolitan School District bargaining units; no public deliberation on the substance of proposals or wage figures occurred in the open session recorded in the transcript.

During the brief proceedings the Chair made the motion, asked for a second and called for those in favor. Individual affirmations were recorded in the transcript (one speaker identified as "Martha," another as "Maya"). The Chair announced that the motion carried; the transcript contains an initial statement that the motion carried 4-0 followed immediately by an announcement of 5-0. The transcript does not provide a full, named roll call that links each vote to a board member in a way that resolves that numeric discrepancy.

The authority cited on the record was Wisconsin State statute section 19.85(1)(e). The meeting record on this transcript ends with the board proceeding into closed session to consider negotiation strategy for collective bargaining wages for MMSD bargaining units.