Board Report - April 20

Board Reports

 

Board Considers Changing School Policies on Graduation Requirements, Weighted Grades and Class Rankings

The Board of Education in a first reading considered revisions to two board policies affecting graduation requirements and weighted grades and class ranking procedures. The Board will consider approval at its next meeting on May 11.

The proposed revisions will add a grade forgiveness provision when calculating the grade point average (GPA), explained Dr. Todd Nelson, senior executive director of Research-Design-Assessment.

“The grade forgiveness provision allows a student to retake a course in order to improve the grade for that course in the calculation of the GPA,” Nelson stated. “The retake course must be in an in-person format, and all coursework and grades will remain on the student transcript. This practice, which is not uncommon to school systems, is also known as ‘pounding’ due to the ‘#’ symbol on the transcript indicating that the ‘forgiven’ grade is not included in the GPA calculation. Since the student must sit for a full course in person to request grade forgiveness, it is expected that the use of the grade forgiveness provision will be rare.”  View proposed changes

Board Approves Changes to District’s Worker’s Compensation Carrier

Board members approved a mid-year change to the worker’s compensation carrier, effective May 1.

Union will now work with CompSource Mutual, which was the company that previously provided the claims service for OSAG. “This change would be a slight increase in cost for the remaining of this fiscal year but would potentially provide a reduction in premiums of more than $200,000 at the July 1 renewal,” stated Jay Loegering, executive director of Human Resources.

Loegering explained they wanted to change carriers because the previous company had changed the way they made claims. He said there were communications issues with employees about receiving proper care, and Human Resources was dealing with ongoing concerns about claims on a weekly basis.

Board Reorganizes

As part of the Board of Education’s annual reorganization, Dr. Chris McNeil was named president of the Board.

Heather McAdams was named vice president, Stacey Roemerman was named Board clerk and Steve Nguyen was named Board deputy clerk.

Board Approves Numerous Requests Concerning School Operations

Board members approved several requests affecting school operations around the district, including:

• Approved an agreement with Finalsite to continue web-hosting and electronic mass notifications for the next three years at a cost of $188,050.
• Accepted a bid from Barrier Electric for $506,830 for a lighting and controls renovation project at the UMAC. This project will provide new house lights in the arena and new LED lights and controls in the Redhawk Room. The arena lights are old LED and have lost their illumination effectiveness. The Redhawk Room lights are old metal halide lights that have become obsolete. 
• Approved the purchase of custodial warehouse supplies from Brady Plus for $106,277.
• Accepted a bid of $403,147 from Builder’s Unlimited, Inc., to build a new concrete bus loop at the Freshman Academy. Dr. Josh Robinson, director of Operations, said the concrete will be stronger than the current asphalt surface.
• Approved an agreement with CJC Architects, Inc., for $219,550 for architectural designs services to turn the old Luxe Building into an athletic/cheer facility for the district.
• Approved the purchase and installation of a new chiller at the High School from Harrison Energy Partners for $674,800. The Board also approved the purchase and installation of a Dedicated Outdoor Air System (DOAS) from the same company for $518,879 for the Union Collegiate Academy at the High School.
• Approved an eight-year contract with Ideal Impact Inc. for $2.6 million for professional services, equipment and energy saving strategies to reduce the district’s overall cost of gas and electric utilities. Conservative estimates show net savings to the district of $10.2 million over the next 15 years.
• Accepted a bid of $287,000 from Magnum Construction to make repairs and improvements to all of the sinks and countertops at Andersen Elementary, as well as repairs to existing cabinets.
• Accepted a bid of $169,000 from Magnum Construction to re-waterproof the south wall at the High School Studio Theater.
• Approved the purchase of 150 laptop carts from SH for $255,058 at the Union 6^th and 7^th Grade Centers. Starting with the 2026-2027 school year, sixth and seventh grade students will no longer be able to take their laptops home to use.  To charge the laptops overnight and between classes, students will need to place their laptops in a cart.   These carts will be placed in key rooms so that all students will be able to use laptops throughout the day.  The laptops will not leave the classroom, and one laptop will be used by multiple students throughout the day.
• Accepted a bid of $235,143 from Shoemaker Mechanical for duct replacement in one of the gyms at the Freshman Academy.
• Accepted a bid of $1.4 million from Sooner Recon, LLC., to replace the roof in several sections at the High School.
• Approved the purchase of 2,200 student laptops from Trafera, using available bond funds. Todd Borland, executive director of Information Technology, said they intend to purchase laptops for $779 per unit for a total price of $1.7 million.

Pictured, left to right: Board members Joey Reyes and Steve Nguyen, senior Leo Kim, Superintendent Dr. John Federline, seniors Rylan McClain, Axton Ors and Edwin Chen, and Board members Heather McAdams and Stacey Roemerman. Not pictured is senior Jacob Coulter.

Board Recognizes National Merit Finalists

The Board of Education recognized and congratulated five seniors, who were named National Merit Finalists for this school year.

The five seniors from Union High School named 2025-2026 National Merit Finalists are:

• Edwin Chen, son of Zhenyu H. Chen and Jane Luo, of Tulsa;
• Jacob Coulter, son of John and Jane Coulter, of Broken Arrow;
• Leo Kim, son of Erin M. Vance, of Tulsa;
• Rylan McClain, son of Jeremy and Chenelle McClain, of Broken Arrow;
• Axton Ors, son of Anthony and Crystal Ors, of Tulsa.

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