Board Report - September 9

Board Reports

Board Approves Agreements with Health Care Providers

The Board of Education approved an agreement with United Health Care and CareATC for health care services for the 2025 calendar year.

Board members approved the administrative services agreement with United Health Care (UMR) to become the health plan third-party administrator and approve the monthly premium rates applicable to employees, retirees, Board members and COBRA participants as part of the district’s self-insured PPO medical indemnity plans, effective January 1, 2025. The agreement does mean a rate increase of 3 to 7 percent for employees; however, Union employees will still pay about $7,500 less annually in their premiums compared to other school districts in Oklahoma. 

The Board approved an agreement with CareATC to provide national shared site clinic services, effective January 1, 2025. The rate proposed in this agreement will be $80,916 per month, and includes all medical supplies and medications dispensed at the clinics – a 5 percent increase in the rate. 

Employees and their dependents who are on the PPO plan can visit any of the CareATC clinics nationwide. The copay to visit the CareATC clinics will be a $0 copay and no-cost generic prescription medications will continue to be available. These direct contract facilities are available at reduced savings to the employee, saving not only out-of-pocket costs for employees, but also savings to the Union's self-insured plan.

In a related matter, the Board approved an agreement with Rooney Insurance Agency for employee benefit consulting services, effective January 1, 2015. The team's broad knowledge of the benefits market, in general, and their specific knowledge of self-insured health plans, EGID, stop-loss coverage issues, and other critical components of the district's benefit offerings, as well as their strong negotiations and advocacy, have all been instrumental factors in the management of the Union's self-insured plan and in decisions regarding other district-offered benefit products.

Board Members Accept Reports on State College Remediation 

The Board of Education accepted remediation reports from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. Union’s college-going rate was 49.8 percent for students attending in-state schools in 2022-23, with 702 attending college for the first time (an increase of 89 students). By comparison, 34.8 percent is the state average for those who went on to attend in-state colleges and universities in 2022-23. 

Remediation rates for Union students attending in-state schools – those required to take remedial courses – were 29.4 percent (an increase of 5.5 percent over the previous year). 

Board Approves Allocation for More Textbook Purchases

The Board of Education approved spending $1.8 million to purchase textbooks, supplemental curriculum and software for the coming school year. This amount includes more than $907,000 in funds carried over from the 2023-2024 school year.

The general fund allocation will be used to buy textbooks and software for all grade levels.
In a separate matter, the Board approved future purchases through a job order contract with Recon Construction for $250,000. The job order contract allows the district to complete multiple minor renovation and small capital improvement projects throughout the district under one contract. To continue to utilize an existing contract, the board was asked to approve future expenditures that will not exceed a total of $250,000, bringing the total asked to $850,000.  Each project will be identified and packaged into deliverables and priced based on the agreement of the contract approved in April 2023.

Since approval, the district has completed 45 projects at a total cost of $551,213. 

In other action, the Board:

• Approved a memorandum of understanding with the Union Classroom Teachers Association regarding the extra duty pay schedule.
• Accepted a bid to replace four hydronic air handler units at the 8th Grade Center from Shoemaker Mechanical for $312,393.

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