The Examiner U-46 News Feed

Two U-46 proposals set for vote at next meeting

By Seth Hancock
  The Board of Education in School District U-46 will vote on two proposals costing over $900,000 at its upcoming meeting on Monday, Jan. 22. The proposals were presented at the Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 meeting.
  One proposal, costing $468,437 with Currie Motors, is to replace a total of 13 trucks. The funding would come from the operations maintenance fund if approved.
  According to the proposal, the rationale is “to replace aged vehicles, which will decrease down time and improve our efficiency” and according to the executive summary: “All of the vehicles listed for replacement are at least 10-17 years old and have in most cases exceeded their useful life. Due to the deterioration and mechanical failures we recommend the attached list for immediate replacement.”
  Included for replacement are six F350 4X4 pickups ($34,355 per truck/$206,130 total), five full-size transit vans ($26,747 per/$133,735 total), one F550 4X4 with box ($51,057) and one F550 4X4 dump truck ($77,515).
  The district says the replacement will lead to lower maintenance and repair costs as well as increased safety.
  Board member Sue Kerr said that some of the vehicles in the district are listed as in worse condition than those being replaced and asked if those vehicles are still in use.
  “We’re getting by with what we have,” said Chris Allen, director of plant operations, who added: “These are the vehicles that have been targeted for immediate replacement.”
  The second proposal is with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to purchase the 2014 edition of On Our Way to English for first and second grade. The cost would be $442,954 and would come out of the educational fund if approved.
  The purchase would be used to replace an out of print version currently used in U-46 according to the proposal, and the textbook “is a comprehensive resource that supports English language development and enhances the rigor and relevance of students’ linguistic and academic development in the Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI) at Liberty Elementary as well as the 80:20 Dual Language Program.”
  The proposal goes on to say the textbook is “designed to meet the rigor of Common Core State Standards while developing the English language in the four language domains: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. It includes a focus on thematic, content-based instruction, which supports the ELL (English Language Learners) content-based thematic units, including but not limited to content-based ESL (English as a Second Language) science and social studies instruction at the elementary level.”
  The textbook is currently used in kindergarten and fifth grade classes according to the proposal, and the plan is to implement it in the first and second grades in the 2018-19 school year. Full implementation in all grade levels will be by the 2019-20 school year according to the plan.
  The board was also presented with its 2018-2019 meeting schedule at the December meeting.
  Donna Smith, the board’s president, said it’s “basically first and third (Monday of each month) except the changes with holidays.”
  The first and third Monday’s will be used for meetings in August, October, November, December, March, April and June while there is only one meeting in July (the 23rd) and January (the 14th) and three in May (the 6th, 13th and 20th). The second and fourth Mondays of September will be used as meetings and first and fourth in February.

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