Jordan Administrative Memos

TO:
All School Administrators

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent

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Please see the updated FAQ document. Changes are in red.

 

DATE: 
October 31, 2024

TO: 
Principals
Assistant Principals
School Safety Specialists

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Matt Alvernaz, School Safety Coordinator

SUBJECT: 
Monthly Drill Preparation (SHELTER)

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Our monthly drill preparation will be held on November 6th at 3:00 PM with a second session at 3:30 PM. This month we will be covering SHELTER. Each School Safety Specialist is expected to attend along with administrators assigned to oversee school safety. All other administrators are welcomed to attend as well. The meeting is also open to any staff who may be interested.

After each monthly training all school staff should be trained by the administrator over school safety and the School Safety Specialist. After being trained each month, teachers should educate their students on each safety drill. Additionally, schools should communicate with their patrons regarding Standard Response Protocol(s) (SRP) and the drill being conducted each month. Videos, handouts, and other resources can be found at the link(s) below.

Information regarding the SHELTER response protocol can be found in the Jordan School District Safety Manual on pages 20-24. We will discuss how to implement and execute the drill. This will be an opportunity to ask questions and share ideas amongst the schools.

We will be holding this meeting over ZOOM so please join using this link.

 

 

DATE: 
October 31, 2024

TO: 
All Administrators

FROM:  
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness Consultant

SUBJECT:
Suicide Prevention Funds & Conference Registration

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Administrators,

This memo is an update to a previous JAM regarding PBIS and Suicide Prevention Funds.

Suicide Prevention Grant funds are now available for allowable expenses up to $1,000 per school. Schools may use these funds to pay for HopeSquad or Sources of Strength program renewal fees or to conduct suicide prevention training. These funds cannot be used to purchase supplies or food related to suicide prevention programming (NO T-shirts, incentives, fidgets, etc.). For questions, contact McKinley Withers (mckinley.withers@jordandistrict.org) or Angie Rasmussen (angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org) in Student Services.

As part of this allocation, schools may choose to register relevant staff members (school psychologists, school counselors, clinical support/social workers) for the Rocky Mountain Suicide Prevention Conference and code the P-Card registration fee to the grant.

Schools may register one individual for Elementary, three individuals for middle school, and up to five individuals for high school using the grant. Administrators can code the expense to program 5674 on the P-Card Reconciliation. There will not be District personnel registering school staff this year.  

If school staff have already been registered and your school would like to be reimbursed, contact Carmen Covarrubias (carmen.covarrubias@jordandistrict.org).

DATE:   
October 31, 2024

TO:
Building Principals

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Kim Lloyd, Director, Special Education
Travis Hamblin, Director, Student Services
Caleb Olson, Enrollment Consultant, Student Services

SUBJECT: 
Clarification on Enrollment Releases for Students with IEPs

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The District has seen an increase this year in requests from parents of students with IEPs to release the student from enrollment for a portion of the day. These requests can be for reasons directly connected to the disability documented on the IEP (such as therapy) or may be for traditional “non-academic” reasons.

When a student on an IEP is released from enrollment, the service minutes specified in the IEP do not decrease. As a result, the District is responsible for providing the same amount of service in a reduced amount of time (and with reduced funding due to the release).

When a release is requested for reasons connected to the disability identified in the IEP, the building principal and the IEP team should determine how those services can be provided during the school day. If the parent continues to desire outside providers to provide the service during the school day, the parent will need to check the student out each time the service occurs.

When a release is requested for “non-academic” reasons, the release should not be approved until after consultation with the IEP team on potential impacts to the services specified in the IEP.

Additional questions on this topic may be directed to the Special Education Department or Planning & Enrollment.

TO:
Principals
Administrative Assistants

FROM:
June LeMaster, Administrator, Human Resources
Rebecca Lee, Administrator, Evaluations

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NOVEMBER SUB INCENTIVE BONUS INFORMATION

Below is the information regarding the November 2024 Substitute Teacher Incentive Bonus. Remember, to qualify for this monthly bonus there are two eligibility requirements:

1) ZERO cancellations
2) Work the number of days to receive the associated bonus (see details for days and amounts below).

These bonuses are paid on the paycheck issued near the 10th of the month.

NOVEMBER 2024
15 days worked- $250
12 days worked- $150
10 days worked- $100
7 days worked- $50

If you have any questions regarding the substitute teacher incentive bonus please email the Sub Office at suboffice@jordandistrict.org.

TO:
All Principals

FROM:
June LeMaster, Administrator, Human Resources
Rebecca Lee, Administrator, Evaluations

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Please see the attached newsletter.

DATE:   
Thursday, October 24, 2024

TO:  
All School Administrators

FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:   
Schools At Risk for Being Designated for Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI)

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When a school has one or more low-performing student groups for two consecutive years, the state designates that school for Targeted Support and Improvement or TSI. The state identifies a low-performing student group by calculating a school accountability report card score for each student group. Low-performing is defined as a student group that accrues a percentage of school accountability report card points that is less than the state’s bottom 5% threshold of Title I schools. In other words, that student group is performing below the bottom 5% of Title I schools from across the state.

The student groups that can be designated for TSI are as follows:

• Asian
• American Indian
• Black
• Hispanic
• Multiple Races
• Pacific Islander
• White
• Economically Disadvantaged
• Multi-lingual Learner (ML)
• Student with a Disability

Recently, USBE released TSI calculations for the 2023-24 school year for each student group in every school in the state. A Tableau dashboard contains two views that will help you determine if any of your student groups are at risk for being designated as TSI:

• A list of schools at risk for a TSI designation in one or more student groups (there are 25 schools)
• A breakdown of school report card indicator scores for each student group for one school at a time

While individual report card scores for student groups at each school are not published on the state’s school report card website, the school accountability report card for an entire school population may be found here.

Please contact Ben Jameson in Assessment, Research & Accountability with questions about Utah’s school accountability system or TSI.