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DATE: 
April 12, 2023

TO:  
School Psychologists and School Psychology Interns

FROM:  
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Fulvia Franco, Program Specialist – Guidance

SUBJECT: 
May School Psychologist and School Psychology Interns Meeting


A meeting for school psychologists and school psychology interns has been scheduled for Friday, May 5, 2023, from 12:00 to 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Auxiliary Services Building (7905 South Redwood Road). We will start at 12:00 p.m. with a luncheon. Jamison Law, Ed.D., Director of Clinical Education for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at UVU, will provide us with a presentation that addresses Secondary Trauma and Compassion Fatigue.

Part-time Staff: I would appreciate it if you could adjust your schedules in order to attend this meeting.

cc:
Principals

Please take a moment to consider nominating a school or educator for this prestigious honor presented annually by the state-wide program Resilient Utah. Each year education organizations and individuals are chosen that have shown exemplary efforts in building resilience in their schools, homes and communities. The Education Tribute Awards will be announced during “Resilient Utah Month” in May 2023.

Deadline to nominate is April 21, 2023

LINK to Nomination Form

DATE:       
April 12, 2023

TO: 
Administrators
All Current or Future Panorama Users

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services

SUBJECT:   
Panorama for Positive Behavior Training Sessions


Training sessions for Panorama’s Positive Behavior have been scheduled to assist all schools using or interested in using the Positive Behavior module in Panorama. The sessions are designed to provide navigational support for teachers and administrators. Each session will include a demonstration from a Panorama product expert and former educator, practice time, and valuable leave behind resources to support immediate action in your daily work.

Please see memo below for dates and times of the training sessions.

The attached document has more detailed information and may also be accessed here.

DATE:     
April 13, 2023

TO: 
All Administrators & Threat Assessment Teams

FROM:    
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness
Angie Rasmussen, Student Safety & Wellness Specialist

SUBJECT: 
Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) National Study Participation


Thank you for the work you do as a member of your school threat assessment team. Our district is participating in a national study conducted by Dr. Dewey Cornell’s research team at the University of Virginia. As part of the study, you are asked to complete an anonymous survey about your threat assessment team.

Please complete the CSTAG Implementation Fidelity Survey at this LINK

The deadline is 6/2/23.

The survey will take about 20 minutes. Each member of the school’s threat assessment team should complete this survey. If you serve on more than one team, complete separate surveys for each school team.

If you have questions about the survey, please reach out to Angie Rasmussen at angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org.

This survey does not replace documentation for each individual threat assessment done at your schools. Thank you for providing your valuable time and input.

DATE:      
April 6, 2023

TO: 
All Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
You and your staff are invited to a Wellness Accelerator Event!


You and your staff are invited to a Wellness Accelerator Event at JATC South Auditorium on April 14th, from 1:30-3:30.

The 2023 Wellness Accelerator is an opportunity to learn from passionate educators like you. There will be a variety of topics covered through brief, prepared table-top discussions from educators around Jordan District on strategies for student and staff wellness. Participants should plan on walking away with practical ways to enhance wellness for yourself and others!

Who should attend? You! Jordan School District administrators, school leaders, and staff committed to SEL/wellness initiatives (substitutes can be provided upon request) are invited to attend.

Review the attached flyer and share with those that would benefit from attending.

Please contact McKinley Withers (mckinley.withers@jordandistrict.org) for additional information and questions.

If you are a contracted employee and need to take Annual/Personal Leave before or after Memorial Day for any reason not listed in policy DP335NEG or DP335B, you must submit a request as follows:

How to Request
During the window, the employee must send the request through email. Please include your name, school, position, and the date you are requesting the leave. Requests left on voicemail or over the phone will NOT be accepted.

Licensed employees submit their request to licensedpersonalleave@jordandistrict.org

Education Support Professionals submit their request to classifiedpersonalleave@jordandistrict.org

The employee will receive an email confirmation within two working days after submitting the request. If the employee does not receive a confirmation email, then Human Resources has NOT received your request and your leave will not be approved.

Please note: Employees shall not be considered for paid annual leave the day before or after a school holiday more than once during any contract year.

School Holiday Date of Holiday Window
Memorial Day May 29, 2023 April 14 – April 24, 2023

Annual/Personal Leave Taken Before or After a Holiday 2022-2023

A notification was sent in the Jordan Employee Memos on March 2, 2023 indicating the need to submit a request for the lottery to use Annual or Personal leave for the day before/after the April 24, 2023 Mid Spring non-contract day.

Due to the nature of this new leave day, employees WILL NOT be required to request the day before/after April 24, 2023 as part of the lottery process. Any employee requesting to use an Annual or Personal leave day before/after April 24, 2023 may do so without penalty.

Those who submitted a lottery request for April 24, 2023 will also be emailed individually. We apologize for any inconvenience this miscommunication may have caused.

2022-23 Personal Leave Before/After a Holiday - Updated

 

Surplus of School Chromebooks and iPads:

Surplus Chromebooks and iPads, along with their associated charging cord, cases, etc., may be given (not sold) to students (not staff) if all of the following are done:

  • The Chromebook has either:
    1. Reached its end of life date; or
    2. Is estimated to have less than $50 value remaining
  • The iPad either:
    1. Cannot be managed remotely; or
    2. Is estimated to have less than $50 value remaining
  • The device is deemed surplus by the Principal in consultation with the School Tech
  • The School Tech wipes the device of all files before physical transfer takes place
  • The physical transfer to the student takes place at or after the end of the school year
  • The normal surplus form is completed and submitted to Purchasing, indicating the items were given to students

All other surplus technology items are to be sent to the surplus warehouse as normal.

DATE:  
Thursday, April 13, 2023

TO:   
All Middle and High School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
Utah Aspire Plus OnDemand Reports


School administrators are encouraged to pass the following information on to their 9th or 10th grade ELA, math, and science teachers. See the memo below.

DATE:  
Thursday, April 13, 2023

TO:  
Elementary School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:   
EOY Acadience Testing Updates and Reminders


Evaluation, Research & Accountability would like to welcome Janice Sperry as our new testing support coordinator for Acadience Reading and Math. She may be contacted at 801-567-8873 or janice.sperry@jordandistrict.org with any questions regarding Acadience Reading or Math.

The end-of-year Acadience testing window opens on April 17th. As we prepare for Acadience testing, there are a few friendly reminders that help the district testing teams be as efficient as possible while they are at your school testing students:

  • Avoid scheduling kindergarten and first grade classes back-to-back, when possible. They take longer because assessment assistants are administering both the reading and math measures.
  • Encourage your teachers to be flexible. They need to be prepared to come early or late to their allotted time. We are fully staffed, so we expect to run on time or perhaps a little early.
  • Be sure to have an adult runner available who knows the school and can quickly have a teacher come to the testing area, distribute student cards, and help the testing run as efficiently as possible. If schools don’t have a runner available, a parent who knows where teacher classrooms are is a viable option. If there is no runner, one of our assessment assistants must do it, which means she is testing less students.
  • We have left some time at the end of the testing window for assessment assistants to complete absent testing for any students at any of the 42 schools that were absent on the day(s) of testing. That said, there are typically more absences that accrue during the testing window than the assessment assistants can make up in 2-3 days at the end of the window. Any assistance schools can provide to complete some of the absent testing would be much appreciated. Please note that classroom teachers in grades K-3 may not administer the Acadience Reading and Math benchmarks to their students.

If you are interested in having your aides get trained to administer either the Acadience Reading or Math tests, there are two Canvas courses available:

DATE:
April 10, 2023

TO:
Principals
Elementary and Middle School Resource Team Leaders
High School Special Education Team Leaders

FROM:
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education

SUBJECT:
Special Education Resource Instructional Assistants for 2023-24
Special Education Support Class Instructional Assistants for 2023-24


This memo is designed to explain how special education instructional assistants can be requested and will be allocated to each schools’ special education program(s) for the 2023-24 school year. If you have any questions, please contact your assigned teacher specialist or program administrator. We want to make sure everyone has the support staff necessary to meet student’s individual IEP needs.

Please Submit all forms to your assigned teacher specialist by Thursday, April 20, 2023. You will receive a preliminary critical needs instructional assistant allocation by Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Additional Critical Needs may be requested after school starts or if the students in your class or program change significantly.

The May Assistant Principal meetings will be held on May 4 (8:00-11:00am) and May 9 (8:00-11:00am). All meetings will be held in-person at the JATC-S. All assistant principals and intern assistant principals are invited. A beverage service will be provided, beginning at 7:30 am at each of the meetings. As a reminder you only need to attend one of the sessions offered per month. Both sessions will provide the same information. Please CLICK HERE and it will take you to the Google Doc to sign up for which day you would like to attend. If you have any questions please call Nadine Page at 801-567-8182 (x88182). Thank you!

DATE:   
April 5, 2023

TO:  
All Administrators and Administrative Assistants

FROM:  
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Sarah Palmer, Director of Payroll

SUBJECT:  
Substitute Bonus (extra pay) Charged to Budgets


 Each month, substitutes can receive a bonus (extra pay) based on the number of days they substitute for the District without cancelling a scheduled day. This bonus is intended to increase the wage rate for substitutes who work these extra days. As such, this bonus is charged proportionately to the budgets which paid for the base substitute wages during the month. Therefore, you may see a charge to your budgets for this extra pay for substitutes your budget paid for during the month if the substitute qualified for the bonus.

DATE:  
April 6, 2023

TO: 
Principals and Administrative Assistants

FROM:  
John Larsen, Business Administrator

SUBJECT:  
Legislative Supply Envelopes – Due May 1, 2023


We thought a few reminders might be helpful as you collect legislative envelopes.

1)   Carry-Over of Unused Supply Funds. Principal approval is required if a teacher would like to carry-over unused funds to the next school year. If approval is given, the principal should sign the envelope in the bottom right-hand box. The Guidelines state that “As a general rule, balances less than $50 should be carried over to the next year.” However, carry-over amounts are at the principal’s discretion. Also, if a teacher has an amount remaining at the end of the year of $5 or less, no return of the funds is needed.

A list of all teachers who have carry-over amounts should be kept so this information can be written on the teacher’s envelope for the 2023-24 school year and added to the amount of the current year funds. As a reminder, if a teacher with a carry-over amount transfers to a different school within the District and the principal allows the teacher to use the carry-over funds at the new school, please communicate this to the administrative assistant at the new school so they can record the information on the teacher’s envelope. If the principal does not approve the use of funds at the new school, the teacher will need to return the unused funds.

2)   Payroll Deductions. For teachers not approved to carry over unused funds, a payroll deduction will be needed. The request for a payroll deduction should be sent to Sarah Palmer, director of Payroll, and can be emailed to her at: sarah.palmer@jordandistrict.org. Please provide Sarah with the employee name(s), school location, amount of the deduction, and an explanation about the need for the deduction. Please provide this information by May 10 for the May 25 paycheck or by June 10 for the June 25 paycheck.

3)   Principal Use of Unused Supply Funds. Unused supply money that is returned to the District via payroll deduction or other means (check or cash) will be made available to the principal to use. After a payroll deduction is completed, the Payroll Department will provide the Accounting Department with the school location and amount and a journal entry will be done to transfer the funds to the school’s 2000 account.

4)   Teachers that Resign During the School Year. If a teacher resigns during the school year, please ask for the return of his/her legislative supply envelope before they leave. If there is a balance remaining of unspent funds, this money needs to be returned to the District via a payroll deduction made before the employee receives his/her final paycheck. If your school has a check-out procedure for teachers that resign, please add the return of the envelope to the procedures to insure the legislative envelope and unused funds are returned.

5)   Storing Legislative Envelopes. After collecting the envelopes on May 1, please keep them in a secure location at the school for a period of four years. The envelopes are subject to random audits by District auditors.

Thank you for your help with legislative supply money. If you have questions, please contact my administrative assistant, Lisa LeStarge, at 801-567-8120 or email: lisa.lestarge@jordandistrict.org.

ll/jl

DATE:    
April 6, 2023

TO:    
Jordan District Administrators, Directors

FROM:    
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Administrators of Schools

SUBJECT:   
Time Schedule for the Last Day of School


Please review the attached memo carefully for your school dismissal time, and convey this information to your students and parents.

The 2023 Wellness Accelerator is an opportunity to learn from passionate educators like you. There will be a variety of topics covered through brief, prepared table-top discussions from educators around Jordan District on strategies for student and staff wellness. Plan on walking away with practical ways to enhance wellness for yourself and others!

See the flyer below for all the details.

DATE:      
April 6, 2023

TO:
All Administrators & Threat Assessment Teams

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness
Angie Rasmussen, Student Safety & Wellness Specialist

SUBJECT:  
Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) Level 2 Workshop


CSTAG training consists of two (2) training levels and both levels must be completed by all administrator’s and threat assessment team members. The CSTAG Level 2 workshop is for all who have completed the Level 1 training (the six (6) hour web-based training from Navigate360). This workshop will build upon your knowledge of threat assessment by providing practical application and implementation of the CSTAG process in your school. If you have already completed level 2, you are welcome to attend this training as a refresher.

The Level 2 workshop will;

  1. Review CSTAG level 1
  2. Focus on implementation and use of the threat assessment process
  3. Focus on sustainable ways to use CSTAG in your school
  4. Review and training on the decision tree
  5. Review the CSTAG forms and best practices for documentation
  6. Practice using real-world scenarios.

An upcoming session for the level 2 workshop will be offered June 9, 2023. Select the link below to register for a session of CSTAG Level 2 training.

In-Person Training:
Friday, June 9th (In-Person)
JATC South Auditorium
10:00am-12:00pm Section # 117422

Please sign up using JPLS for the session you will be attending on JPLS
The course number is 101883.

If you are not certain about having completed the CSTAG Level 1 course or should you have any questions please reach out to Angie Rasmussen at angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org.

DELAYED - 2023- 24 Special Calendar Request Information – Licensed Only

Once approval is granted for the 2023-24 JORDAN SCHOOL DISTRICT Employee Calendars, the HR Department will provide Special Calendar request information to principals and licensed employees. Please continue to watch for information in JAM and JEM.