Union Operations

• The department served 1,570,529 lunches, 112,992 supper meals, 921,391 breakfasts and more than 800,000 fresh fruit and vegetable snacks during the 2024-25 school year. 
• Child Nutrition trained about 150 employees in culinary arts and safe food handling. The district has one chef and four dietitians. 
• The percentage of students qualifying for free/reduced price meals for the 2024-25 school year was 76.91 percent.
• The district purchased fresh vegetables and fruits and grass-fed beef from five local farms. Local products are served on school menus at least once a week, and these offerings are continued each month. Child Nutrition purchases have enabled farmers to increase their revenue, stabilize their livelihood and hire additional farm help. 
• All 13 elementary schools participated in the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, which provided $497,261.02 to purchase fresh produce for snacks every day in the classroom.  
• District dietitians taught 207 nutrition education classes across the district, including classes with the Youth Medical Mentorship program. Three schools enjoyed “Blender Bike” classes that reached all students during specials time and two schools participated in the Farm-to-Student event where students rotate stations to taste fresh foods and learn about nutrition and how food grows.
• 17 Union schools participated in the after-school supper meal program. The program reduces hunger among students who otherwise might not get a good, healthy afternoon meal and encourages participation in afterschool programs that tend to drive class attendance and performance.
• Child Nutrition partnered with the Redhawks R.I.S.E. program to provide hands-on experience in food service for a student at the Freshman Academy kitchen. 
• The 8th Grade Cafeteria kitchen and serving area renovations were completed, providing greater food choice and variety to students. 
• In the summer of 2025, the walk-in freezer and cooler at Moore Elementary was replaced.

• More than 10,132 students rode the bus on a regular basis during the 2024-25 school year. Our route buses completed 360 routes per day, transporting students to and from school. 
• The district maintained a fleet of 100 school buses and 96 support vehicles and ran 19 daily shuttles to Tulsa Tech.
• Union provided transportation for students in the following programs: McKinney-Vento foster care, hearing- or sight-impaired students, special needs students and newcomers.
• Union shuttled students at midday for athletics, band, Career Connect, TCC and Innovation Lab programs, utilizing 45 buses. The transportation trip miles totaled 98,042 and the route miles totaled 827,092.
• The district purchased 157,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 52,358 gallons of unleaded fuel for a combined cost of $484,674.35.

• Employs 112 full-time custodians, a district custodial coordinator and a district building engineer.
• More than 3.5 million square feet of floor space is cleaned nightly. On average, each full-time custodian cleans more than 35,000 square feet on a nightly basis. This includes more than 1,000 individual classrooms.
• Custodians staff nearly 1,500 district and community events across the district.
• Larger custodial projects include the stripping and refinishing of tile and terrazzo surfaces across the district and the refinishing of wood floor gymnasiums.
• Daily custodial checklists have been updated to place a higher emphasis on surface disinfection.
• Every custodian has been provided with an electrostatic ionizing backpack sprayer, enabling them to deep clean and disinfect large areas in a short period of time. This is especially important in the event of widespread illnesses at schools.
• Every elementary school has been provided with new vacuum equipment, replacing aging and obsolete machines.
• Union High School has seen the deployment of the district’s first robotic floor cleaning machine.
• Monthly lead custodian training and crew meetings have been implemented to ensure all staff are trained and adhere to district cleaning and safety protocols.
• All of these tasks has been accomplished while facing a severe staff shortage. The custodial staff has gone above and beyond to maintain the cleanliness of the district the “Union Way.”

The Grounds Division employs 12 full-time groundskeepers and equipment operators, one small-engine mechanic and one district grounds foreman. They maintain more than 450 acres of land. During peak mowing season, each grounds man is responsible for maintaining more than 40 acres of land. Grounds is responsible for mowing, edging, blowing, fertilizing and treating all district grass and naturally surfaced athletic fields. All landscaping design and maintenance are handled in-house. This includes all district flowerbeds and trees.

Grounds is also responsible for:

• The laydown and removal of large event set-ups across the district, including the portable basketball floor at the UMAC. 
• Inspecting and maintaining all playground equipment across the district.
  Plowing, clearing and sanding the entire district during severe winter weather events.
• Resealing and repairing smaller sections of our asphalt parking lots in-house. This increases the longevity of the lot and reduces the cost of resurfacing.
• Providing signage and painting for all district parking lots and bus loops across the district. 
• Assisting with painting, plumbing, and power-washing projects across the district.

Major projects this year included resealing the Grove Elementary playground lot, assisting with large underground plumbing repairs and assisting with furniture moving for large remodel projects across the district. 

The Maintenance Division employs 12 skilled tradesmen, 24 building engineers and one district maintenance coordinator. Our tradesmen include five HVAC technicians, two electricians, one plumber, one kitchen technician, two carpenters and one locksmith. Our 24 building engineers are responsible for maintaining the mechanical systems of their respective sites. They also are responsible for minor repairs.

In addition, 

• Our maintenance staff closes nearly 10,000 repair and preventative maintenance work orders every year.
• Larger projects include lighting upgrades, HVAC unit replacements, major water leak repairs, shelving fabrication, small roof replacements and other large repairs.
• Our HVAC technicians and electricians work diligently to reduce energy consumption during PSO peak events, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars returned to the district in the way of rebates.
• Implementing a building engineer training and license test preparation program has been a goal of the division. The purpose is to prepare future building engineer candidates from the ranks of our custodial and grounds staff, as well as ensuring all building engineers obtain a minimum 3rd class stationary engineers license or boiler operator license.

The district employed a director of security and a security coordinator, as well as 13 full-time security officers at secondary schools, two at elementary school sites and 22 part-time officers for athletic and special events. One Broken Arrow school resource officer was on call daily, in addition to 15 off-duty Tulsa Police Department officers on a rotating schedule, allowing one to patrol the district each day. 

District employees completed more than 26,720 assigned training courses with a completion rate of 80 percent. The security coordinator met with students at elementary sites weekly and performed routine safety walks at all sites, with follow-ups that included the site administrator.

Facility scheduling not only encompasses the actual event, but all related communications, operations and maintenance required to prepare, set up, run and clean up every event. Two employees coordinated 47,699 internal events and 2,242 external rentals involving scheduling, contracts, scheduling conflict resolution, staffing and set-up and tear-down for fiscal year 2024-25. The Facilities Department also schedules, stocks and operates UMAC concessions, serving 37 UMAC events last year.

Completed Projects

• High School generator replacement
• High School storm water and sewer line replacement
• High School choir room flooring replacement
• High School RTU replacement
• Backstage renovation at Performing Arts Center
• Fire alarm system replacement at Jefferson Elementary
• Freezer/cooler replacement at Moore Elementary
• Exterior painting project at Moore Elementary
• Office and kitchen HVAC replacement at Andersen Elementary
• Pavement improvements at Alternative Education
• Redhawks R.I.S.E. renovation
• Exterior improvements at Baseball/Softball Complex
• District-wide roofing enhancements

• Exterior improvements at the Warehouse

• Building improvements at Operations
• VAV replacement at Freshman Academy
• Locker room flooring upgrade at Freshman Academy
• AHU replacement at 8th Grade Center
• Playground improvements at Cedar Ridge Elementary
• Flooring replacement at Peters Elementary
• District-wide kitchen fire suppression system retrofit
• District-wide RTU replacement 2024
• Innovation Lab Phase III renovation

Ongoing and Planned Projects

• 6th/7th Grade Center improvements
• High School HVAC improvements
• Roof replacement at Jarman Elementary
• Roof replacement at High School sections 6, 7, and 8
• Boiler replacement at High School
• Unit ventilator replacements at Freshman Academy

• Fascia replacement at Alternative Education

Projects Planned or in Design

• PAC sound curtains and dimming control upgrades
• District-wide pavement improvements
• Window replacement at Education Service Center
• Tennis court resurfacing at Freshman Academy
• 8th Grade Center fire alarm system upgrade
• High School PAC roof replacement
• High School fire riser north wing replacement
• UMAC elevator replacement
• Luxe Cheer building renovation

• Transitioned to a new student single sign-on and rostering tool, Classlink.
• Piloted AI data analysis within the Canvas learning management system at the district, site and class level.
• Increased Union Virtual success rate at over 80%.
• Onboarded TalkingPoints attendance automation for parent messages.
• Canvas has grown as the district’s 6-12 Learning Management System, with most of our curriculum vendors integrating directly into Canvas for textbooks and assignments. TalkingPoints has grown in popularity among parents, with the district sending and receiving over 4 million messages during the school year.
• Replaced 700 iPads across the district.
• Implemented a “no-touch” erase to restore systems for all student iPads, freeing up valuable time for the IT Department.