Board Report - September 14

Board Reports

Union To Participate In Oklahoma’s Teacher Empowerment Program

The Board of Education approved Union’s participation in the Oklahoma Teacher Empowerment Program for the current school year.

The Oklahoma Teacher Empowerment Program enables exceptional educators to enhance their professional growth and compensation as leaders in their district without transitioning into an administrative role, explained Associate Superintendent Sandi Calvin.

“These funds allow districts to identify and designate up to 10 percent of their excellent teachers as advanced, lead or master teachers. This is approximately 100 teachers for Union Public Schools,” she stated in a memo.

Depending on the designation level, teachers will receive a stipend ranging from $3,000 to $10,000. Teachers employed at a school with economically disadvantaged students (40 percent or more) 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.

Calvin said one change to the program is that there will no longer be an attendance requirement that was previously part of the program.

Union has participated in OTEP since the 2024-2025 school year. Union teachers received $804,000 for the 2024-2025 school year; during the 2025-2026 school year, Union teachers received $1,090,500.

Union Contracts with Firm For Employee Benefit Consulting Services

Board members approved an agreement with HUB International for employee benefit consulting services, beginning in January.

Recommending the change, Jay Loegering, executive director Human Resources, stated, “HUB international has an exceptional reputation and presented multiple ideas and will provide additional services beyond our previous broker, at no additional cost.”   

The compensation flat fee annual rate is $196,474, however, that rate will be reduced by commissions earned from our products, he said. “HUB calculated that savings to be approximately $40,000 based on previous years commissions and is basing their monthly rate on their fees minus the commissions. At the end of the year, actual commissions will be calculated, and HUB and the district will true up the actual savings. Additionally, HUB also provides a performance guarantee, placing up to 25 percent of their fees at risk if agreed upon performance measures are not met.”

In related human resources matters, the Board approved agreements to continue services with United Health Care (UMR) for its PPO plan, noting a three percent increase in premium rates. The Board also renewed agreements with CareATC for health care services as well.

Board Approves Union’s 2026-2027 Annual Budget Proposal

Board members approved the 2026-2027 annual budget proposal, which contains operational budgets for the district’s three appropriated funds: general, building and child nutrition.

The proposal illustrates for the Board's review the current budgeted amounts plus a four-year historical overview of revenue and expenditure by category.

The Board also approved Finance’s Estimate of Needs for the new school year, setting appropriation limits for the general fund at $182.2 million, the building fund at $20.6 million and the child nutrition fund at $18.6 million.

In other action, the Board:

• Approved the purchase of 60 time clocks from Kronos SaaShr, Inc., for $134,850
• Approved the purchase of the Ellevation Platform and Strategies software for two years for $260,190. Ellevation Education is a web-based software platform that organizes all English Learner student data, supports critical meeting and monitoring processes, enables accurate reporting and supports instructional planning for multilingual students. Amy Smith, Director of the English Learners Program, said parents have been very responsive to the new Family Communication feature in the platform.
• Approved a job order contract with BT Builders for $500,000. The contract allows the district to complete multiple minor renovations and small capital improvement projects throughout the district under one contract. To continue to utilize the contract, the board is asked to approve future expenditures that will not exceed a total of $500,000, bringing the total asked to $1 million.  Each project will be identified and packaged into deliverables and priced based on the agreement of the contract approved in June of 2025.  Since approval, the district has completed 29 projects at a total cost of $416,547.35. 

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