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In THE NEWS:

East Union Esports team applied for a "Build an Esports Lab Campaign" grant for our school through the High School Esports League (HSEL) and sponsored by Army National Guard, Intel, ASUS ROG TUF, and Extreme Networks.   East Union Esports and 24 other schools throughout the United States recently learned that they are recipients of this grant!  The East Union Esports team will be joined by HSEL on April 26th, who will instruct the team on building the five gaming computers, which will also be used for future Computer Science classes.  Please click this link to learn more about HSEL and join their Roadshow "Building an Esports Lab"! 

Congratulations East Union Esports!!!

Hello Everyone, I wanted to make you aware of our Voted PPEL that will come to vote on March 3rd.

 

A top priority for our Board of Directors for the East Union Community Schools is to continue to update our buses and support vehicles as well as upgrading our facilities. After months of discussion, at the December 16th meeting the Board of Directors passed a resolution calling for a voter approved PPEL of $1.34 to be used to update the East Union Community School District transportation fleet and upgrade facilities. This allows our District to bring the question of updating our transportation fleet and upgrading facilities to our voters on March 3, 2020. 

 

It is essential that each of you understands our purpose and the benefits to our students and district. As you are the voice of East Union! If our community has questions it's YOU they will come to with questions. I am open to answering any of your questions at any time. I have included some talking points below for your information. Again, please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions.

 

What is PPEL? The Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL), pronounced “pepple” in school jargon, is one of the most important sources of revenue for public school systems. The Physical Plant and Equipment Levy may annually be certified by our Board of Directors in an amount of 33¢ per thousand dollars of assessed valuation.  District voters may authorize an additional PPEL know as a voted PPEL for a period not to exceed 10-years.  The voted PPEL cannot exceed $1.34. 

 

At this time East Union does not have voted PPEL, the District only has an approved regular PPEL of 33¢.  This 33¢ generates $52,183 in revenue for our district. An additional $1.34 voter approved, would generate $211,895 extra for the district. 

 

Why? Without the PPEL funds, many things that keep the District running need to be paid for out of the District’s general fund, which also covers teacher salaries and programming for students. Those are the things that are essential to educating students! If those items aren’t funded with PPEL, then scarce general fund dollars have to cover those expenses. Today, General Fund dollars are currently dedicated to instruction – supporting classrooms with teachers, textbooks, heat and lighting, and providing support staff to meet students needs.

 

Currently buses range in age from 2 years old to 20 years old. The current plan for updating busses and vehicles using PPEL funds is the addition of buses and support vehicles when possible. Our newest bus bought this year was $87,000 which is significantly more than our current PPEL fund provides. These funds then must come from other sources. Current ages of 12 buses; new, 2, 5, 8, 11, 12, 15, 17, 20 years old. As you will note the 2012 model if replaced even every-other-year would be scheduled to be replaced in 2032 and be even older by then

 

Administration and the school board would like to accelerate the purchase a new bus each year over the next several years, allowing us to update the fleet so that buses are used on routes for 7 years and stay in the fleet for 12 years. Support vehicles, which now range in age from 2 years old to 18 years old, would also be purchased more often and kept for 6 years. The newest bus purchased this fall is the start of this new rotation. 

 

What can the money be used for? The PPEL Funds are categorical funds that can only be used for specific purposes as it relates to building and grounds upkeep and repairs, new construction, technology (our 1:1 program for computers in every student’s hands), and equipment such as vehicles, maintenance equipment, furniture, energy conservation, and even large musical instruments for the band. The money cannot be used to pay teacher salaries, to fund student programs, or pay for utilities.

 

Future PPEL revenue will be used to fund long-term capital improvements in the district, along with a continuation of its current uses to assist in educating students through the purchase of transportation equipment, repairs, and improving and maintaining the building and grounds throughout the district.

Will this raise my taxes? The answer to this question at this time is NO.  At this time, we do not anticipate an increase in our school property taxes.  Currently our overall school levy rate is $17.00 per thousand. Our Board of Directors has been diligent in their responsibility in managing our district budget and living within our means. A great example of this can be found in the boards recent completion of our boards refinancing of our General Obligation Bonds in the amount of $2,562,000 (New refinancing bond principle). Working through the refinancing was a great thing for the school and communities. The board was able to lock in a rate of 1.93% until the bonds mature date. This is a significantly better rate than the 4.0% - 4.75%. By refinancing the bonds, the board is able to save the taxpayers $354,315.91. Including the additional savings, we have made from surplus levies the total savings from the board action is $435,540.91. A big thank you to the East Union Board of Education!! 

Why Now? There is never a "best" time to ask for additional funding, but we believe this is the "right" time. 

  1. We need to update our buses more quickly. 

  2. By 2 years of debt service pre-pay levy and the renfinancing of our General Obligation bonds the board action has saved the district $435,540.91 

  3. Looking to 2020-2021, you can expect to see an estimated tax rate of $16.90, lowest in years...and this is with your March 3rd approval of the additional $1.34 PPEL

Voted PPEL Details

  • Maximum 10-year duration.

  • A simple majority vote (50% plus 1) is required for passage.

  • East Union is one of the 18% of school districts in the 2019-20 school year that does not have a voter PPEL in place. 

  • East Union district is proposing ng Voter PPEL $1.34 tax rate. 

  • The funds generated support facilities construction and maintenance, buses, leases, lease-purchase or purchase of technology (laptops, non-instructional software, computer hardware, etc.) and equipment (such as musical instruments and science lab equipment or school security/safety equipment).

Where?  

VOTE

Tuesday, March 3rd

Afton Methodist Church 
Arispe Methodist Church
Lorimor City Hall

East Union Food Service featured in Iowa Dept of Ed newsletter

FFA - Career Day

(Submitted by Mr. Mike Cooley - FFA Adviser)

We had an Awesome day at Osceola on Tuesday September 17th.. With 60 students competing in 6 different events. There were over 1100 students from about 40 schools around the state. The contests tests the students knowledge in career based contests.

 

EVERY STUDENT DID WELL IN THEIR EVENTS AND WE HAD SEVERAL TEAMS AND INDIVIDUALS IN THE TOP GROUP OF THEIR RESPECTIVE CONTESTS!

 

I AM VERY PROUD OF EVERYONE'S EFFORTS.

 

THANKS TO MS. BALLENTINE FOR ATTENDING WITH US...THE TRANSPORTATION CREW FOR GETTING US BACK AND FORTH AND ALL OF THE TEACHERS AND STAFF THAT COOPERATE WITH US SO THAT WE CAN TAKE PART IN LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES LIKE THIS!

 

Out of 43 teams in DAIRY FOOD competition our teams of Ashley Toppin, Matthew Luce, Sara Collins and Onxe Ibbotson placed 19th, Also Grace Nixon and Dylan Cook competed as individuals.

 

NOVICE LIVESTOCK JUDGING had 385 contestants and 122 teams. We had 5 teams

 

East Union Team of Noelle McKnight, Steven Fry, Ryleigh Kelley and Bryson Raney placed SECOND OUT OF 122 TEAMS!

Individually: Noelle 4TH PLACE, Steven 5TH PLACE, Ryleigh 6TH PLACE OUT OF 387 INDIVIDUALS!

 

14TH PLACE EAST UNION TEAM:  Chloe Gross(64TH PLACE INDIVIDUAL), Kason Parker, Alayna Kelley(20TH PLACE INDIVIDUAL)

 

OUR OTHER TEAMS PLACED 51ST, 64TH AND 77TH AND MEMBERS OF THOSE TEAMS INCLUDED:

Ronnie Brown,Hunter Pryor, Tyler Tate

Louis Gonzales, Cooper Sterling, Haven Klos

David Robb, Jake Akers, Erik Allen and Shawn Hall

 

ADVANCED LIVESTOCK JUDGING 28 teams, 82 individuals

4TH PLACE TEAM OF Taylor Miller 12th place, Karah Kirland 24th, Mallory Raney 21st, and Kaitlyn Mitchell 53rd

 

NURSERY/LANDSCAPE CONTEST

TIED FOR 2ND PLACE TEAM of Kanyon Huntington(6TH), Shane Jensen(10TH), Kiefer Welch(7TH),  Allivea Skarda

 

SOIL JUDGING 55 total teams 157 individuals

1ST PLACE TEAM EAST UNION: Abbie Wuebker (1ST PLACE INDIVIDUAL), Elizabeth Hadley (4TH PLACE), Kaylin Lack (5TH PLACE), Wyatt Carlson (61ST PLACE)

2ND PLACE TEAM EAST UNION: Riley Long (3RD PLACE INDIVIDUAL)), Peyton Long (8TH PLACE), Emmet Long (31ST PLACE), Cale Eklund (86TH PLACE)

8TH PLACE TEAM: Lily McMillan (12TH PLACE), Faith Houseman (58TH PLACE), Alissa Weinkoetz (60TH PLACE)

10TH PLACE TEAM: Danny Thomlinson (6TH PLACE INDIVIDUAL), Scott Driskell (77TH PLACE), Jasmine Williams (109TH PLACE)

OUR OTHER TEAMS PLACED 21ST, 36TH, 40TH, AND 48TH the rest of the members that participated on the rest of the teams:

Kyla Cass(22ND PLACE INDIVIDUAL), Jaylyn Hunter, Jaden Froit, Chris Froit, Brian Robb, Cody Robb, Emmaline Mitchell, Jordan Jones, Maleena Allison, Connor Johnson, Kiersten Sickels

So in SOILS we had 4 TEAMS IN THE TOP 10 OUT OF 55 TEAMS there! In addition, we had 6 OF THE TOP 8 INDIVIDUALS 0UT OF 157 STUDENTS COMPETING.

 

HORSE JUDGING TEAM  39 teams, 111 individuals 

14TH PLACE TEAM of Raeanna Price(20TH), Olivia Cheers(41ST) and Jarryn Stephens(83RD)

EU Participants - CDE 2019

2019 CDE Awards

Skip the Trip:  

 

East Union 14 year olds and their parents have an opportunity to "Skip the Trip" to receive their driver's permit. These opportunities will be provided in the PLUS Room Starting October 15th.  Students need to reserve a 30 minute time to take the written portion of the test.  It will be available when an appointment is made via the PLUS room sign-up under the student tab on the school's web site.  The best time to take the test is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 7:45-8:15 AM.  It can also be completed during homerooms on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Fridays.

 

https://governor.iowa.gov/2018/09/gov-reynolds-announces-new-partnership-to-make-getting-a-learner%E2%80%99s-permit-more-convenient

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