The Examiner U-46 News Feed

U-46 Board approves varied expenses, bills list

By Seth Hancock
  The Board of Education in School District U-46 unanimously approved, via a 7-0 vote, of $2.5 million in expenditure items at its meeting on Monday, Aug. 22.
  Included was a 36-month agreement with Esscoe, LLC costing $1.3 million, from the operations and maintenance fund, for service maintenance of access controls and video surveillance systems which includes 11,000 key fobs, 910 cameras and 330 doors.
  “In 2010, the Board of Education made an initial investment and approved a proposal from district administration to begin installing security systems in district buildings,” the proposal states. “Since that time, the district has made additional investments in security, including video surveillance equipment and access control systems throughout the district. These systems aid in fostering a safe environment for students, staff, and guests and are managed by the Building Access Security Control Office (BASCO). District administration has held service maintenance agreements to assist in maintaining these critical building systems since their installation. The last contract was entered into in 2016 and is set to expire in September 2022.”
  Costing $855,819 (education fund), the district will purchase 715 desktop computers from Lenovo.
  The computers will “support the current curriculum as well as provide the district with the ability to add new programs as needed,” the proposal states, including the “growing E-Sports programs” at district high schools.
  The district will enter into a three-year contract with Gallup, Inc. for the Gallup Q12 survey for staff, which has a price tag of $271,080 (education fund).
  The goal of the survey is to improve employee engagement which the proposal states is tied to “performance, attendance, retention, and other important outcome measures.”
  The district will also renew a contract with High Scope for a preschool curriculum that has been in use in the district since 1985. The contract costs $53,324 which will be paid via an Illinois Preschool for All grant.
  The board also unanimously approved $8 million in itemized bills.