Highlights from Lietz Elementary
Principal Crista Leamons introduced her students and staff members to share about Lietz’ responsive intervention programs and how Lietz rises to the challenge and constantly adapts to meet the needs of students. As she described, Lietz has a history of coming together to meet the needs of a wide range of students in order to close achievement gaps. Teacher on Special Assignment Susan Lavelle and Intervention Teacher Annemarie Paiga outlined their current Double-Dosing reading intervention program and how a team of intervention staff develop student reading skills through a cycle of instruction, assessment, data analysis and consistent evaluation and implementation of new interventions based on students’ progress. 1st and 2nd grade teachers Anna Uhm and Annemarie Guido described how incorporating small group interventions within the classroom has benefitted students who need targeted skill support.
Students Alice, Lennon and Sofia who have participated in the reading intervention program spoke to the Board about their experiences and how the program has helped them make significant growth in reading.
STEAM and Digital Citizenship in USD
As part of USD’s Local Control and Accountability Plan, Director of Technology Lisa DeLapo and iSTEAM2 Specialist Stephanie Goldman provided an update of the District’s progress in meeting LCAP Goal 2, action 2.6, in the 2021-22 school year. In addition, Mrs. DeLapo and Ms. Goldman highlighted Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math (STEAM) plans for the 2022-23 year as well as an overview for the implementation of a new framework for all students in meeting digital citizenship goals.
Mrs. DeLapo and Ms. Goldman shared their STEAM focused activities and teacher instructional support available to bring STEAM into the classroom through professional development opportunities, a STEAM resource website for teachers and district activities like the USD School Design Challenge and STEAM Month Bingo activity. They also highlighted the recent community STEAM Fair event hosted at the elementary schools where nearly 2000 attendees district-wide enjoyed a variety of fun activities.
Mrs. DeLapo also spoke to the need for ongoing skills development in the area of Digital Citizenship and how students, families and staff are operating in an ever-evolving digital world. Developing the critical skills needed to navigate online spaces and platforms in a safe manner are a core part of the further plans for 2022-23 and continuing the work to equip students with the tools as responsible digital citizens. In addition, as important partners in our children’s education, USD will be offering parent learning opportunities related to social media, online safety and more.
Technology/Facility Need and Bond Possibility for November 2022
Over the course of the past year, staff has summarized District facility and technology needs for the next five years, and the challenges around funding to maintain the critical projects including infrastructure repairs, site safety and security improvements, additional classroom space for future expansion, network infrastructure and hardware, and instructional technology device procurement and service.
With these needs go beyond the scope of regular school facilities and technology budgets, USD is considering a school bond measure on the November 2022 ballot. The Board authorized the continued exploration of the possibility of a bond measure and tasked True North Research, Inc. to perform a Bond Feasibility Survey. The results of the study suggest that if structured appropriately, kept affordable, and combined with an effective public outreach/education effort and a solid independent campaign, the proposed bond measure has a good chance of passage if placed on the November 22 ballot.
Superintendent Dr. Carrie Andrews and Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Rita Sohal presented a recap of facility/technology needs and the potential bond measure communications and public outreach/education to date.
Click here to view the full presentation.
Field and Facility Use Management Service Approval
At the April 11, 2022 Board of Trustees meeting, Assistant Superintendent Rita Sohal presented information regarding the District's field and facility use and rental fee process. To improve upon processes, and in order to maximize utilization and increase efficiency, Facilitron was explored as a partner to facilitate and improve District field and facility marketing and rental fee collection.
The Board of Trustees approved the service agreement with Facilitron, Inc. Facility rental fees remain in alignment with the facility fee rates established by the Board. The District will evaluate and perform a cost analysis of the service after the first six months. Facilitron will provide broader opportunities for our District facilities to be utilized by organizations and community groups.
Union School District to Union District Educators Association (UDEA) Contract Opener Proposal
The current 2019-22 Collective Bargaining Agreement between Union District Educators Association (UDEA) and Union School District (USD) expires June 30, 2022. The district received the initial proposal to negotiate the UDEA-USD collective bargaining agreement at the District Office in March. The proposal was “sunshined” during the April 11 Board Meeting per Ed Code requirement.
Click here to view the sunshine proposal from USD.
The Board held a public hearing and approved the acceptance of the USD opener.
Adopted and Approved Items
The Board of Trustees approved the following:
Increase to Total Compensation for all Management, Supervisory, Confidential and Unrepresented Employees for 2021-22
In alignment with the total compensation increase given to UDEA and CSEA, the following compensation was approved for the management, supervisory, confidential and unrepresented employees for the 2021-22 school year: A 3.4% salary increase for the 2021-22 school year and a one-time off-of-the-salary schedule, $1,000 per Full-Time Equivalency (FTE) for employees who were on paid status with the District on March 1, 2022.
Resolution No. 21-22-13 Regarding Final Resolution to Reduce Classified Services
During the 2022-23 school year, it was necessary to decrease hours/services based on various student and school needs. Per the resolution passed by the Board at the February 7, 2022 Board Meeting, the Board passed a final resolution as it is necessary to reduce or eliminate certain positions in the classified services (Extended Care) equating to a reduction of .5875 FTE.
Declaration of Need for Fully Qualified Educators 2022-23
In order to comply with the Commission on Teacher Credentialing Policy and Title 5 Regulations, the Board’s approval of the Declaration of Need for Fully Qualified Educators is required in the event there is a need to issue an emergency teaching permit. Therefore, this must be filed by the Union School District to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. This is a formality to be done yearly in the event there is a need.
Revised Board Policies
The Board of Trustees approved revised Board Policies. One of the roles of the Governing Board is to ensure District Board policies are reviewed, added, removed and kept up to date in order to keep the District legally compliant. Click the links below to review the updated policies.
- Board Policy 1312.3: Uniform Complaint Procedures
- Board Policy 4030: Nondiscrimination in Employment
- Board Policies 4119.11/4219.11/4319.11: Sexual Harassment
- Board Policies 4119.25/4219.25/4319.25: Political Activities of Employees
- Board Policy 4113: Assignment
- Board Policy 4116: Probationary/Permanent Status
- Board Policy 5113.1: Chronic Absence and Truancy
- Board Policy 5141.52: Suicide Prevention
Upcoming Meetings: June 6, 2022 and June 13, 2022
Please join us for our next regular Board of Trustees Meetings on June 6 and 13, 2022. The meeting will be held at the USD District Office Board Room at 5175 Union Ave. Visit the Board of Trustees page for virtual meeting access and information on future meetings.