Board Report - January 21

Board Reports

Union Schools Make Attendance Gains

Union students are making progress towards improving attendance goals, according to Dr. Todd Nelson, senior executive director of Research, Design and Assessment, who presented an update to the Board of Education.

“Average daily attendance [ADA] was at 90 percent last year, and this year we are trying to finish the year at 93 percent,” said Nelson. “As of January 9, our ADA is at 92 percent and it was 91.5 percent a year ago, so we are making progress.” 

Thirty percent of Union students were chronically absent last year – meaning they missed 10 percent or more of school days, about two days every month; the district is trying to lower chronic absenteeism to 23 percent of students.

A year ago, the chronic absentee rate was 25.3 percent compared with 24.2 percent at the end of December 2024. “So, you can see that we are making progress, but we are not quite at our goal,” said Nelson.

“At Union, we set ambitious goals so we can stretch ourselves. At the site level, all kinds of strategies, initiatives, incentives and communication efforts are in place,” said Nelson. “Our principals are leading teams of people to intervene. At the district level, we have a team that is meeting on a quarterly basis in a special effort to double-down on attendance strategies.”

Highlights of progress being made:

• Average daily attendance at the 6th & 7^th Grade Center increased 0.54 percent. 
• Average daily attendanceat the 8th Grade Center increased 0.59 percent.
• Two shining stars are the Union High School Freshman Academy, with improved ADA of 1.13 percent and Union High School up 1.22 percent.

Leaders in bringing down chronic absenteeism are:

• Moore Elementary – An improvement of 1.5 percent
• Union High School – 2.24 percent improvement
• Jefferson Elementary – 2.55 percent improvement
• Andersen – 2.94 percent down
• 8th Grade Center – 3.34 percent down
• Grove Elementary – 3.87 percent down

“We are really proud of the work and the effort that is happening at the site level,” said Nelson. “We want to reiterate to parents and students how important it is to be at school. You must be ‘present to win’.”  

Board Approves Designation System for ‘Teacher Empowerment Program’

Board members approved a designation system for Union’s “Teacher Empowerment Program” which allows Union to increase the pay of some 100 “excellent” teachers without moving them into administrative roles.

Associate Superintendent Sandi Calvin said Oklahoma's Education Lottery Trust Fund has placed an additional $21 million into the Teacher Empowerment Revolving Fund, bringing the total to nearly $45 million as year two of the program begins. These funds allow districts to identify and designate up to 10 percent of their excellent teachers as advanced, lead, or master teachers. This amount is approximately 100 teachers for Union Public Schools.

Last year, state legislators removed the requirement for districts to match funds when designating high-quality teachers for the program. Depending on the designation level (advanced, lead or master), teachers will receive a $3,000 to $10,000 pay increase. Teachers employed at a school with economically disadvantaged students (40 percent or more), or at a district with enrollment below 1,000 students, will receive an additional one-time award of $1,500 to $5,000, depending on their designation. All Union schools are above the 40 percent threshold for economically disadvantaged students.

“Along with the reward would come additional workday requirements, from 5 – 15 workdays, depending on the level,” said Calvin. “We looked at Glenpool, Bixby, Owasso and Oklahoma City Public Schools, as some of these programs have already been approved by the State Department of Education. Based on what has already been approved, we feel we have an outstanding program.”

Teachers, who have questions about the program, may email teacherempowerment@unionps.org for more information.

Board Approves HVAC Unit Replacements, Roof Repair

Board members accepted a bid from American Air Conditioning of Tulsa, LLC, to install 64 new HVAC units at 13 Union school sites for $1.69 million. The Board also accepted a bid of $900,500 for roof replacements for sections of the roof at the High School from Oklahoma Roofing & Sheet Metal, LLC.

Dr. Josh Robinson said installing new HVAC units would be a “better strategy” than repairing existing units due to their old age.  Regarding the High School roof, he said the current roofing system has outlived its serviceable life and has sustained “extensive ultra-violet damage” from the sun. The new roof will provide essential water proofing and increase the insulation factors.

In other action, the Board:

• Approved an increase for spending of $250,000 for a job order contract with Reco Construction for minor repairs and improvements around the district.
• Approved a proposal from SummerOne for $12,940 for new copiers and printers at Cedar Ridge Elementary.

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