Our Operations

• Served 1,596,994 lunches (4.5 percent increase the preveious year,) 107,632 supper meals, 9,321,930 breakfasts and more than 800,800 fresh fruit and vegetable snacks.
• Trained about 150 employees in culinary arts and safe food handling.
• Has four chefs and four dietitians. More than half the employees have received Talents to Strength training to determine employees’ strengths and passions in their work.
• The number of students qualifying for free/reduced price meals has steadily increased over recent years.  About 79,88 percent of Union students qualified for free/reduced meals for the 2023-24 school year.
• The district purchased fresh vegetables and fruits and grass-fed beef from five local farms. Local products have been served on school menus at least once a week, and we will continue these offerings each month. Child Nutrition purchases have enabled farmers to increase their revenue, continue farming and hire additional farm help. The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture provided $55,000 in grant funds to Union to purchase local food. 
• 13 elementary schools participated in the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, which provided $511,981 to purchase fresh produce for snacks every day in the classroom.
• The district dietitian taught 216 nutrition education classes across the district ranging from Rosa Parks Early Childhood Education Center to the High School Tennis team. Three schools enjoyed “Blender Bike” classes that reached all students during specials time and two schools enjoyed the Farm to Student event where students rotate stations to taste fresh foods, learn about how food grows and about proper nutrition.
• 16 sites participated in the afterschool supper meal program. The program reduces hunger among students who other- wise might not get a good, healthy afternoon meal and encourages participation in afterschool programs that tend to drive class attendance and performance.
• Child Nutrition hosted several students as a part of the Career Connect Culinary program at Union High School. Students worked with the district chefs to learn culinary skills, food safety, operate commercial kitchen equipment and compete in a culinary competition. Students also prepared and served a special luncheon for Superintendent Hartzler. 
  The 8th Grade Cafeteria kitchen and serving area renovation is set to be completed around Labor Day 2024 and will offer more fresh options.
• In the summer of 2025, the walk-in freezer and cooler at Moore Elementary is scheduled to be replaced.

• Union maintained a fleet of 120 school buses and 96 support vehicles and ran 19 daily shuttles to Tulsa Tech.
• Union provided transportation for students in the following programs: McKinney-Vento Foster Care, hearing- or sight-impaired students, Special Services students and Newcomers. Union also shuttled students at mid-day for Athletic, Band, Career Connect, TCC and Innovation Lab programs. The transportation trip miles totaled 116,907 and the route miles totaled 956,286.
• Union purchased 165,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 52,500 gallons of unleaded fuel for a combined cost of $601,819.29.
• More than 10,400 students rode the bus on a regular basis during the 2023-24 school year. Our route buses completed 342 routes per day, transporting students to and from school.

• Employs 109 full-time custodians, a district custodial coordinator, and a district building engineer.
• More than 3.5 million square feet of floor space is cleaned nightly. On average, each full-time custodian cleans more than 35,000 square feet on a nightly basis. This includes more than 1,000 individual classrooms.
• Custodians serve nearly 1,500 district and community events across the district.
• Larger custodial projects include the stripping and refinishing of tile and terrazzo sur- faces across the district and the refinishing of wood floor gymnasiums.
• Districtwide custodial equipment inventory continues. This enables us to accurately identify future needs.
• Daily custodial checklists have been updated and implemented to place a higher emphasis on surface disinfection.
• Every custodian has been provided an electrostatic ionizing backpack sprayer to be able to deep clean and disinfect large areas in a short period of time. This is especially important in the event of widespread illnesses at schools.
• Every elementary school has been provided with new vacuum equipment, replacing aging and obsolete machines.
• Monthly lead custodian training and monthly crew meetings have been implemented to ensure all staff are trained and adhere to district cleaning and safety expectations.
• All of this has been accomplished while facing a severe staff shortage. The custodial staff has gone above and beyond to maintain the cleanliness of the district the "Union Way."

The Grounds Division employs 12 full-time groundskeepers and equipment operators, one small-engine mechanic, and one district grounds coordinator. The Grounds Division maintains over 450 acres of land. During peak mowing sea- son, each grounds man is responsible for maintaining over 40 acres of land. The grounds division is responsible for mowing, edging, blowing, fertilizing, and treating all district grass and naturally surfaced athletic fields. All landscaping design and maintenance is handled in-house. This includes all district flowerbeds and trees.

Responsibilities

• The laydown and removal of large event set-ups across the district, including the portable basketball floor at the UMAC.
• Inspecting and maintaining all playground equipment across the district.
• Plowing, clearing, and sanding the entire district during severe winter weather events.
• Resealing and repairing smaller sections of our asphalt parking lots in-house. This increases the longevity of the lot and reduces the cost of resurfacing.
• Providing signage and painting for all district parking lots and bus loops across the district.
• Assisting with painting, plumbing, and power-washing projects across the district.
• Major projects included resealing large areas of the Ellen Ochoa Elementary lot, assisting with large underground plumbing repairs, and assisting with furniture moving for large remodel projects across the district.

The Maintenance Division employs 12 skilled tradesmen, 24 building engineers, and one district maintenance coordinator. Our tradesmen include five HVAC technicians, two electricians, one plumber, one kitchen technician, two carpenters, and one locksmith. Our 24 building engineers are responsible for maintaining the mechanical systems of their respective sites. They also are responsible for minor repairs.

In addition:

• Staff closes nearly 10,000 repair and preventative maintenance work orders every year.
• Larger projects include UMAC/High School Campus electrical upgrades, HVAC unit replacements, major water leak repairs, shelving fabrication, small roof replacements, and other large repairs.
• HVAC technicians and electricians worked diligently to reduce energy consumption during PSO peak events, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars returned to Union in the way of rebates.
• Implementing a building engineer training and license test preparation program has been a goal for the division. The goal of the program is to prepare future building engineer candidates from the ranks of our custodial and grounds staff, as well as to ensure all building engineers obtain a minimum 3rd class stationary engineers license or boiler operator license. 10 employees obtained their state boiler license this year.

Union Public Schools employed a director of security and a security coordinator, as well as 13 full-time security officers at the secondary schools, two at the elementary school sites and 22 part-time officers for athletic and special events. One Broken Arrow school resource officer was on call daily, in addition to nine off-duty Tulsa Police Department officers on a rotating schedule, allowing one to patrol the district each day.

Employees completed more than 26,817 assigned training courses, for a training completion rate of 80 percent. The security coordinator met with students at elementary sites weekly and performed routine safety walks at all sites, with follow-ups including the site administrator.
 

Facility scheduling not only encompasses the actual event, but all the communications, operations, and maintenance required to prepare, set up, run, and clean up every event.

Two employees coordinated 57,143 internal events and 2,421 external rentals involving scheduling, contracts, scheduling conflict resolution, staffing, and set-up and tear-down for fiscal year 2023-24.

The Facilities Department also schedules, stocks, and operates UMAC Concessions, serving 35 UMAC events last year.

Completed Projects

• Roofing improvements/replacements at Grove Elementary and Education Service Center
• Freezer/cooler replacement at Andersen Elementary
• Innovation Lab - Phase II
• Playground improvements at Grove Elementary
• HVAC replacements at Peters Elementary
• UMAC lighting and audio improvements
• UMAC video board replacement
• Building automation system integration at Freshman Academy
• 8th Grade Center kitchen renovation
• Flooring replacement and interior improvements at Jarman Elementary
• Flooring replacement at Alternative Education, Boevers Elementary, Jefferson Elementary and Rosa Parks Elementary
• High School gym RTU replacement
• High School nurse's office renovation
• Districtwide RTU replacement
• Districtwide building automation system upgrades

Ongoing and Planned Projects

• 6th/7th Grade Center improvements
• High School HVAC improvements
• High School generator replacement
• Sewer line replacement at High School stadium
• Roof replacement at High School sections 6, 7 and 8
• Freezer/cooler replacement at Moore Elementary
• Office and kitchen HVAC replacement at Andersen Elementary
• Pavement improvements at Alternative Education
• PAC sound curtains and dimming control upgrades
• Exterior improvements at baseball/softball complex
• Districtwide roofing enhancements
• Districtwide pavement improvements
• Fire alarm system replacement at Jefferson Elementary
• Exterior improvements at the warehouse
• Building improvements at Operations
• Redhawks R.I.S.E renovation
• VAV replacement at Freshman AcademyAir handling unit replacement at 8th Grade Center
• Cedar Ridge elementary playground improvements
• Flooring replacement at Peters Elementary
• Locker room flooring upgrade at Freshman Academy

• Purchased 3,300 new student laptops for all High School students.
• Installed over 40 new interactive flat panels in classrooms throughout the district.
• Replaced and added additional security cameras at two elementary schools.
• Numerous firewall and cybersecurity updates.
• Deployed a new internet filtering software and classroom management software piece.
• Replaced 300 teacher laptops at the 6th/7th Grade Centers, Jefferson, McAuliffe, Alternative Education, Jarman and Andersen.
• Transitioned all secondary teachers to a Canvas-only gradebook system.
• Onboarded all new math curriculum, grades K-12.
• Increased Union Virtual success rate to more than 80% percent. 
• Implemented the TalkingPoints communications platform for all students, 13 and older.
• Evaluated and adjusted all student communication platforms to comply with HB 3958 requiring parent notification.
• Onboarded a new Eligibility Dashboard in Canvas.