The Examiner U-46 News Feed

U-46 emergency expense approved among others

By Seth Hancock
  The Board of Education in School District U-46 unanimously approved, via a 7-0 vote, of $807,652 in expenditure items that were presented and approved the same evening on Monday, June 26.
  The practice of presenting and approving items the same evening is generally reserved for emergency purchases, such as the $109,200 in operations and maintenance fund proposal with West Side Electric Supply to purchase 60,000 fluorescent light bulbs. The purchase had already been made and delivered earlier in June.
  That purchase stemmed from a fire on June 7 in the library at Streamwood’s Tefft Middle School. It was determined that “faulty electrical lighting,” the proposal states, was to blame.
  “As such, all retrofit LED bulbs will be replaced with fluorescent bulbs districtwide…. Out of an abundance of caution, a plan was implemented to inspect and replace any retrofitted LED bulbs with fluorescent bulbs. While there were fluorescent bulbs currently in inventory, at least an additional 50,000 bulbs will be needed to complete this project,” the proposal added.
  The other items were non-emergency proposals for the early learner’s department. Included was $512,164 with five companies for curricular materials and $104,719 with eight companies to purchase books, both education fund items.
  The proposal’s rationale for both stated: The proposed units for preschool and kindergarten will allow the Early Learners Initiatives Departments to implement and support a challenging and standards-based curriculum across all content areas.”
  The executive summary from both state that an equity audit and teacher feedback made it “clear that our curriculum for our early learners needed improvement.”
  Additionally, $81,568 from federal funds was approved with five companies to purchase classroom furniture and materials for early learner classes.
  “A district priority is to expand preschool throughout the district and into elementary buildings,” the proposal states. “As such, classroom furniture and other materials are needed to ensure the new classrooms align with the district standard and offer an experience on par with existing classrooms.”
  The board also voted 7-0 to approve $17.4 million in itemized bills.