Falconer appoints board member
Among other board matters are superintendent replacement, purchase of filtration systems
LAKEPORT >> Superintendent Jill Falconer appointed Jennifer Williams-Richardson as the district’s new board member during their hybrid Thursday meeting at the Marge Alakszay Center in Lakeport, substituting Jeannie Markham. On Friday, the Board scheduled a special closed session to finalize the Superintendent substitution. Nurse Diane Gunther was also recognized during the meeting for her work throughout the pandemic — “Although she isn’t present tonight, each meeting we had, I think I praised her, but I just wanted to formalize it. Diane has simply been amazing, from testing to vaccine organization. We’ve even ‘loaned’ her out to other districts to help them with training personnel to do that. She’s flexible and just outstanding,” Falconer said.
Staff Appreciation Week for the district is coming next month. Before the pandemic, an outside barbecue during the last week of school used to be offered. Last year, when the social distance rules started, the LUSD improvised an “ice cream social.”
The Board ratified approval of a purchase from HealthPro Filtration Systems. Based on the recommendation from neighboring Districts and in collaboration with the bargaining units, the District moved to purchase 18 air filtration units for school offices and communal spaces. Those units utilize a triple layer filtration technology for excellent airborne particle removal.
Officials said the filtration system is tested and certified by an independent third-party lab to filter 99.5% of harmful ultra-fine pollution particles down to 0.003 microns in size. “We purchased these filtration units for each of the classrooms, and we did that with what we had remaining of some of the initial round of COVID funding. We got additional funding we are putting through another order, so that we may have them in all of our spaces,” said the superintendent.
The board also ratified approval of the agreement with SitelogiQ for the development and implementation of facility indoor air quality improvement and energy conservation measures as funded by California Assembly Bill AB841 Indoor Air Quality Legislation and other applicable state and federal COVID related funding sources. The improvements outlined in the agreement are for HVAC mechanical systems at the high school gymnasium and all school site classrooms, as well as opportunities for energy improvement District wide. The $12,000 fee will be waived if the District chooses to enter into a contract with SitelogiQ for the improvements within 60 days. District officials said all of the campuses are being reevaluated to see if any are eligible for system replacements.
“We have been working with SitelogiQ for about a year and a half, and they haven’t really helped us with our evaluation of our solar panels. Most recently, they are recommending that we look for ways to fund the purchasing of those solar panels,” said Facolner adding that the contractor told the District that they had the worst contract of any school that they had ever seen.
“Our costs are going up, and we’re paying more for electricity than we should be. The school that we have that uses the most electricity is Lakewood Elementary School. Their heater and air conditioners are run by electricity. The other sites have propane and electricity. The costs are skyrocketing rather than going down,” added Falconer.
“We will probably enter the orange tier next week. We will have some restrictions lifted and most likely be able to have some sort of in person graduation ceremonies,” concluded Falconer. County Health officials announced Friday that the County of Lake would indeed enter the less restrictive orange tier by Wednesday.
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• March 2021 Payroll: $1,144,932.15.
• April 2021 Health and Welfare: $203,036.99.
• Ratification of the superintendent’s acceptance of Crissy Laveglia, payroll specialist’s resignation effective April 2, 2021.
• Acceptance of donated services in the amount of $600 from Interior/Exterior Wood Products.
• Approval of student teaching agreement with University of Southern California Rossier.
• Public Hearing on AB 1200 notification and certification of the District’s ability to meet the cost of the collective bargaining agreement with the Lakeport Unified Classified Employees’ Association (LUCEA).
• Natural Continuation High School, Lakeport Alternative School and Lakeport Community Day School.