Unit 4 Updates

Tonight Unit 4's school board will be meeting and discussing and touching on some items that were in the news last week (meeting information and agenda here). The first update is on the P-cards spending issue (more on that at a previous Cheat Sheet post here).  From the News-Gazette last week:

Unit 4 drafts policies on 'P-cards' designed to prevent alleged abuse
As the state appellate prosecutor weighs whether it will file criminal charges against any member of the Champaign school district, Unit 4 officials have drafted policies designed to prevent further instances of alleged credit-card abuse that led to a state police investigation.

Documents released by the district prior to Monday's school board meeting contain the first drafts of policies setting parameters for the use of Unit 4-issued credit cards, purchases and approval. Since purchasing cards, or "P-cards," were introduced in 2014, the district hasn't had a formal policy on how they were — and were not — to be used...

Now, district policy makers have responded to the controversy by drafting language that specifically prohibits all personal purchases, stating that P-cards "shall only be used for those expenses that are for the district's benefit and serve a valid and proper public purpose," which include "certain job-related expenses" or "purchases on behalf of the board or district or any student activity fund or for purposes that would otherwise be addressed through a conventional ... fund."

More details and information at the full article here. The draft policy is available here (administrative draft policy here) from the Unit 4 board meeting website. The other news item was on women and minority owned businesses in referendum bidding. Conflicting language in State law is making the attempt to encourage diversity in bid awards complicated. Also from the News-Gazette last week:

Champaign school board seeking to change rules on contract bids
Stymied by current restrictions, the Champaign school board plans to introduce a resolution in support of changing a state policy that it sees as preventing districts from selecting vendors based on their diversity goals for women- and minority-owned businesses.

It will take months to move forward, but it's the first step in changing language in the Illinois School Code that limits districts to choosing the "lowest responsible bidder" when awarding work to contractors or vendors.

That language often leads to the exclusion of women- or minority-owned businesses who don't come in as the cheapest bidder — something board members learned as work began on the district's eight referendum projects voters approved in 2016...

That's why the board will vote on a resolution urging the school board association to write legislation that would change the code to allow preference to local or minority- or women-owned businesses.

The resolution must be submitted by June 25 for consideration at a November membership-at-large vote, and could undergo some "refining" in the months prior, or not be adopted at all. Regardless, Shannon said, "We need to start the process."

More information at the full article here. Tonight's school board meeting also includes a proposed draft resolution to change State rules on the issue here.