East Union Comm School District Packet Summary — 2026-08-17
Regular Board Meeting
Scheduled: August 17, 2026, at 6:30 p.m.
Location: Collaborative Learning Center MS/HS
The East Union Comm School District Board is scheduled to consider policy updates, new state-required behavior oversight committees, facilities and drainage work near the football field, transportation pay changes, fire-alarm maintenance, payroll-record retention, school-calendar revisions, and a three-year Hudl agreement. The agenda also includes routine consent items, administrative reports, public comment, and a proposed closed session concerning litigation strategy.
Key Items on the Agenda
New Board Policies — Second Reading and Adoption
The board is scheduled to consider the second reading and adoption of new district policies for the 2026–2027 term. According to the packet, administrative review has been completed and the proposed policies address modern electronic communications and updated remote-work protocols.
Administration recommends approving the new policies as presented.
Behavior Oversight Review Committees
The board is scheduled to consider six appointments to building-level Behavior Oversight Review Committees required under Iowa Senate File 2428. The packet says each attendance center must have a committee consisting of two teachers and an administrator or behavioral professional to review classroom removals involving disruptive behavior and make recommendations concerning interventions and return-to-classroom protocols.
Administration recommends approving six committee appointments for the 2026–2027 school year, with each member receiving a $725 annual extra-duty stipend.
2026–2027 School Calendar Changes
The packet proposes several changes to the 2026–2027 school calendar to correct administrative calculations involving staff scheduling. The stated purpose is to ensure certified staff complete their required 170 contract days without changing required student instructional days or hours.
Proposed revisions include:
- December 7: Professional Development Day; no school for students.
- March 29: Professional Development Day; no school for students.
- April 26: Teacher Work Day.
- May 25 and May 26: Teacher Work Days.
Administration recommends approving the revised calendar. The packet states that the changes maintain required student instructional hours and do not require a public hearing.
Major Financial and Contract Items
The board is scheduled to consider Estimate #674 from Hayes Concrete Construction Company, Inc. for $18,910.50. The project would address erosion in the handicap parking area near the football field.
The proposed work includes replacing affected areas with six-inch concrete reinforced with half-inch rebar on three-foot centers and installing curb and gutter to manage runoff. The packet says three quotes were solicited, with Hayes Concrete submitting the sole bid.
Administration recommends approval.
A related proposal would address underground drainage in the football field parking area before the concrete improvements are installed.
Estimate #1130 from Friday Excavation LLC totals $8,792 and includes:
- Shaping the parking area for an intake.
- Installing 250 feet of eight-inch tile.
- Installing a beehive intake grate.
- Mobilization.
- Rock.
Administration recommends approval, describing the work as complementary to the proposed concrete project and intended to reduce future erosion and water buildup.
Five-Year Smoke Detector Service Agreement
The board is scheduled to consider a five-year Planned Service Agreement with Johnson Controls Fire Protection LP, Proposal #CPQ-1315956, covering August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2031.
The agreement covers annual service for:
- 99 addressable smoke sensors at the main campus — $1,561.21 annually.
- 31 conventional smoke detectors at the Infant Toddler Center — $520.40 annually.
- Total annual cost: $2,081.61.
The agenda states that the district's break-fix provider, Specialty Underwriters, verified that the services are covered under existing insurance arrangements and would either pay Johnson Controls directly or fully reimburse the district. Administration therefore describes the agreement as having no ultimate net cost to the district and recommends approval.
Payroll Record Retention — $1,750 Data Export
The district is transitioning from Time Management Systems to Vista Time through the Iowa Business Suite and is scheduled to consider formally disconnecting its existing TMS service.
According to the agenda, maintaining read-only TMS access for five years would cost $12,000, based on a $200 monthly fee. Instead, TMS offers a one-time download of as many as seven years of timecard data in CSV format for $1,750.
The district proposes purchasing that download and importing the historic records into the Vista Iowa Business Suite. The agenda calculates the resulting savings at $10,250 and says the approach will allow the district to meet its payroll-record retention requirements.
Three-Year Hudl Agreement — $15,000
The board is scheduled to consider a three-year agreement with Hudl, Inc. for East Union High School athletic services covering August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2029.
The contract totals $15,000, with annual payments of $5,000. Services listed in the agreement include:
- Hudl Package — Level 1.
- Hudl Silver+ Org Access.
- Hudl Registration.
- Hudl Tickets.
The agreement also identifies an estimated $7,699 credit because existing subscriptions are being replaced. The actual credit is to be reflected on the district's next invoice.
Administration recommends approving the agreement and the first installment.
Transportation Pay Change
Flat Rate for Coaches Driving Activity Vans
The district proposes changing compensation for coaches who drive school vans to athletic competitions.
The current structure uses a distance-based rate of $40 or $50, depending on the trip. With a new time-clock system allowing drivers to record a single trip, the administration proposes replacing those rates with a flat $45 per trip.
The packet says using coaches to transport teams helps address activity-route driver shortages and can reduce costs associated with regular hourly driver pay and compensation for waiting during events. Administration recommends approving the $45 flat rate.
Consent Agenda
Administration recommends approving the consent agenda as presented. Items include:
- Minutes from July 20, 2026.
- Financial reports and invoices.
- Staff resignation of Brenda Callison, ITC Associate.
- Staff contracts and letters of assignment, including a school-based interventionist position, Teacher Leadership Team assignments, paraprofessional positions, and an ECC student associate.
- Open-enrollment requests.
- Out-of-state or overnight trips.
- Fundraisers.
- Contracts, including a Global PD renewal.
Among the proposed personnel items, the school-based interventionist position carries an annual salary of $45,000, prorated to $38,423.08 for the partial-year contract. Five Teacher Leadership Team assignments are listed at $3,500 annually each, while three associate/paraprofessional assignments are listed at $13.50 per hour.
The open-enrollment list includes students transferring both into and out of the district, as well as two requested transfers into the district from Creston identified in the packet as denied.
Financial Reports and Invoices
The August bill listing included with the packet reports expenditures across several district funds for the period ending August 17. Reported fund totals include:
- General: $131,965.53.
- Management: $80,576.18.
- Local Option Sales Tax: $53,220.26.
- PPEL Levy: $28,735.47.
- School Nutrition: $7,303.29.
- Child Care Fund: $5,568.40.
- Playground Capital Project: $3,465.00.
- Activity: $3,076.87.
Notable individual entries include $42,139.57 to Imagine Learning LLC for online coursework, $33,310 to Dollamur Sport Surfaces for wrestling facility practice mats, $16,235.47 to Quality Glass Company for the wrestling room remodel, $12,500 to Denovo Construction Solutions for a facilities study, and $11,986.68 to CAM Community School District related to open enrollment.
Administrative and School Reports
Elementary School
The elementary principal's report covers preparations for the new school year, including registration, new-teacher orientation, leadership planning, testing schedules, and new hires.
The report also notes Back to School Night on August 24 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. and says elementary administrators are considering strategies from the PASS framework for disruptive-behavior prevention.
Middle/High School
The secondary principal's report says the school-based interventionist position has been offered and accepted. Because the secondary school does not currently have a licensed school counselor, the report describes plans for staff to work closely with the elementary counselor to support secondary students.
The report also notes that online registration has been successful during its first year of use, fall sports and activities have begun, and professional development for the coming year will focus on increasing academic rigor and classroom culture.
A separate conference-related issue involves Nodaway Valley's request to leave the Pride of Iowa Conference for the West Central Activities Conference. According to the report, the Pride of Iowa Board of Control is expected to vote on the request on September 10.
Business Office
The School Business Official's report focuses heavily on closing FY2025–26 while establishing FY2026–27 financial, payroll, and compliance systems.
Major reporting deadlines identified for September 15 include:
- Certified Annual Report.
- Special Education Supplement.
- Annual Transportation Report.
The Business Office is also reviewing budgets, state funding, tuition rates, payroll information, internal controls, transportation requirements, federal programs, purchasing procedures, and other compliance obligations.
Closed Session on Litigation Strategy
The agenda includes consideration of entering a closed session under Iowa Code § 21.5(1)(c) for consultation with litigation counsel.
The stated subject is strategy concerning an amended federal complaint in Penguin Random House v. Robbins, involving Senate File 496 and district library materials. The packet identifies attorney Lindsay Vaught of Ahlers & Cooney, P.C. as litigation counsel for the proposed consultation.
This is listed as a proposed closed session; the packet does not establish whether the board ultimately entered closed session or what, if anything, occurred there.
The agenda provides a public-comment period near the beginning of the meeting. Speakers are instructed to submit a form to the Board Secretary before the meeting and are allotted a maximum of three minutes each.
The packet states that board members will receive comments but may not engage in dialogue or respond to questions during the public-comment session. Issues raised may instead be addressed at future board meetings.
Scheduled reports include updates from the Early Childhood Center Director, elementary principal, secondary principal, Board Secretary/School Business Official, superintendent, and board members.
What to Watch at the Meeting
Several agenda items would establish commitments extending beyond the meeting itself. The Johnson Controls proposal covers five years of annual smoke-detector service, while the Hudl agreement would establish a three-year athletics subscription arrangement.
The football field parking area also has two related proposals totaling $27,702.50: $18,910.50 for concrete and runoff-control work and $8,792 for excavation and drainage. The packet describes the drainage infrastructure as work that should precede the concrete installation.
The proposed calendar changes could directly affect families and staff by adding or changing professional-development and teacher-work days, although the packet states that required student instructional hours would remain unchanged.
The board is also scheduled to confirm upcoming regular meeting dates. The agenda lists the next regular meeting for September 21, 2026, at 6:30 p.m., followed by another regular meeting on October 19, 2026.
Civic Translator summarized publicly available meeting materials provided by East Union Comm School District.
