Board Report - December 9

Board Reports

Board Members Name Three to Long-Range Planning Committee

The Board of Education approved the appointment of the Long-Range Planning Committee, with three representatives from each of the five Board zones. The appointees are as follows:

• Zone 1: Kelley Blakney, Simon Lee and Diana Rodriquez
• Zone 2: Ron Comeau, Kat Durdel and Courtney Humphries
• Zone 3: Ann White, Kristina Varney and Jaqueline Saguilan
• Zone 4: Wesley Woodward, Anita Acuna and Olga Mishkova; and
• Zone 5: Ken Daily, Stefan Mecke and Allison Dickens.

The Long-Range Planning Committee is a longstanding Board of Education-appointed committee that helps prioritize capital improvement needs of the district, responses to enrollment changes, and other districtwide issues that have a broad impact. The committee has a maximum of three appointees from each board zone, not including the board member or other possible members listed in Board of Education Policy 1150.

The committee will help the Board and administration as Union contemplates various options concerning planned construction improvements and expansion for the Union 6^th/7^th Grade Center.

In related construction matters, the Board:

Accepted a bid for remodeling at the Union Alternative School for the Redhawks RISE Program for $448,420 from Construction Enterprises, Inc. The program is currently based at the Freshman Academy.

• This project will provide new facilities at Union Alternative that simulate residential living spaces for the purpose of providing students in the special education program with life skills training.  The facilities will help students develop skills necessary to live more independently in a residential environment.  The project will create a kitchen, bedroom, restrooms and living area. Appliances for the project, including a washer, dryer, stove, microwave, dishwasher and refrigerator, are being purchased separately with a grant.
• Accepted a bid for $162,711 from The Watts Company for interior improvements in the Transportation Offices, as well as the bus driver lobby. Improvements include new flooring, paint, lighting and ceilings. These areas are very well used and in need of updating.
• Accepted another bid from The Watts Company for $224,317 for exterior improvements to the Operations building, warehouse and bus garages. The scope of work will include repairing corrosion at the bottom of the exterior building walls, new insulated garage overhead doors and new insulation at key interior areas to help control the building environment. Other items of work include mitigating moisture migration to the interior of the building by reworking and adding drains, as well as waterproofing the exterior walls.

Union Receives ‘Clean’ Audit for 2023-2024

The Board accepted the 2023-2024 annual audit report by RSM US, LLP. Auditors found that Union complied, in all material respects, with requirements affecting each of its programs for the year ending June 30, 2024.

“The opinion of the auditors is unmodified,” said Chief Financial Officer Trish Williams. “There were no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses,” resulting in a “clean audit.”

In the single compliance report which covers federal programs, Williams said the district had total expenditures of $32.7 million in federal funds, “a staggering amount due to ESSER/Covid relief” funds. Of these dollars, about $14 million was for the child nutrition program. Included in the audit of federal programs was special education, ESSER III (Covid relief) and American Rescue Plan funds, as well as funds covering homeless children and youth.

Significant changes last year included significant revenue growth of about $5 million in property taxes, a result of the Net Assessed Valuation (NAV) experienced in 2024. The other significant change was state aid, with $11 million in additional funds to cover teacher raises, which is included in the $67.4 million in state aid. Investment earnings showed a “significant increase” due to the recovery of interest rates.

Superintendent Dr. John Federline praised the Finance team for their hard work: “It’s always nice to celebrate a clean audit. One of the pillars of our strategic plan is transparency, making sure that taxpayer dollars are accounted for and that there are actions behind our words.”

Board Members Approve 2024-2025 Early Retirement Incentive Program

The Board of Education approved the 2023-2024 Early Retirement Incentive program for employees, which will help the district save more than $270,640. 

Whereas the ERI program is designed for savings over a two-year period, the cost to fund the 2023-2024 program for certified personnel is $350,770.

As of this writing, 12 teachers and one administrator have signed up for the incentive.

In other action, the Board approved the purchase of 350 teacher laptops and accessories from Trafera for $332,500 to include a complete teacher station setup for the Cedar Ridge (38 units), Clark (38 units), Darnaby (39 units), Moore (40 units), Rosa Parks(45 units), 8th Grade Center (75 units) and the Freshman Academy (75 units). Older units will be repurposed throughout the district.

Board of Education Approves Changes to Board Policy

The Board of Education on second reading approved various board policy revisions, which may be viewed online. The Board considered approval of the policy changes during a first reading November 11. 

Revisions include new Board policies for graduation attire, student diabetes care and management, prayer and a moment of silence, and revisions to existing policy such as technology utilization, internet acceptable use, computer security and more.

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