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Author: shooper

Published on

DATE:    
July 18, 2024

TO:  
Administrators
Administrative Assistants

FROM: 
June LeMaster, Administrator, Human Resources
Brent Burge, Human Resource Administrator, ESP

SUBJECT: 
Labor Day Annual-Personal Leave before-after Critical Day

If you are a contracted employee and need to take Annual/Personal Leave on a Critical Day before/after Labor 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.

 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.

School Holiday Date of Holiday Critical Days* Window
Labor Day Sept. 2, 2024 Aug. 30 and Sept. 3, 2024 July 20 – July 30, 2024

*Critical Days are the first student attendance days before or after a school holiday. If a non-student attendance day falls before or after a school holiday, the Critical Day is the day before or after that non-student attendance day when students are in attendance.

Published on

TO:
Administrators
Administrative Assistants

FROM:
June LeMaster, Administrator Human Resources
Rebecca Eastman, HR Generalist

A friendly reminder for the Employee-Funded Sick Bank Policy,

Employees are automatically enrolled in the sick bank each year through the annual donation of one (1) annual leave day to the sick bank. More information regarding the Employee-Funded Sick Bank can be found in policies, DP326NEG -Sick Leave-Educational Support Professionals and DP 324NEG -Sick Leave-Licensed.

For those who wish to opt out of participation in the Employee-Funded Sick Bank, keep an eye out for instructions starting in the July issues of JEM and JAM.

*First-year Educational Support Professionals and hourly employees are not eligible for sick bank, therefore, a sick bank day will not be deducted (if applicable).

Published on

DATE:
July 18, 2024

TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals

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

SUBJECT:
Early Warning System – Panorama Users by Role

Panorama, the District’s Early Warning System (HB84), will begin nightly data downloads for the 2024-25 school year during the first week of August 2024. To ensure that all the appropriate permissions are activated users by role must be validated by each school.

There are two (2) roles that must be identified:

  1. Administrative Roles:
    a.   Have access to all students throughout the school
    b.   See all discipline information (number, type, and action of each consequence)
    c.   Receive reports about their school and district
    d.   Typically, the principal, assistant principal(s), school counselors, school psychologists, and clinical support staff have this access. The administrator may choose others that receive this access (special education team leaders, student trackers, athletic directors, etc.)
  2. Survey Coordinator Roles:
    a.   Receive reports about the school
    b.   Have access to all students throughout the school
    c.   Should NOT be the school principal
    d.   Coordinate survey administration and messaging

Using the 2024-25 Panorama Administrators and Survey Coordinators sheet select your school, list the names of the users (first and last name), select the role, and enter the users district email address. Schools should enter this information prior to August 1, 2024 to ensure seamless use at the beginning of the school year.

Schools who wish to have their faculty activated should email Travis Hamblin (travis.hamblin@jordandistrict.org).

Published on

Jordan School District Employees are responsible for knowing and adhering to all District policies and procedures. The Crucial Concerns and Policy Review is now available to District employees in Skyward through “Online Forms.” As a condition of continued employment, all employees (i.e. Licensed, ESP, Substitutes, Coaches, Miscellaneous adults, etc.), with the exception of minor students, will be required to complete this training. We ask your assistance in notifying your employees of this required training and ask that this training be completed by November 1, 2024.

A message will appear upon login of Skyward Employee Access for the employee to complete an “Online Form.” Employees can complete the steps at that time or can return to the review at another time by selecting “Online Forms” under “Employee Information.” Attached is a tutorial to assist in completing the review.

Reports of completion will be available through Skyward so you can verify that your staff members have completed this process. A tutorial is attached for your reference. If you or any staff members need technical help, please call the help desk at 801-567-USER (8737).

Note: The Crucial Concerns and Policies review was significantly reduced for the 2024-25 contract year. See the table below.

2024-2025 Estimated Time Required
Administrator Lic. Time Required 2 HR 41 Min 16 Sec
Licensed Time Required 2 HR 37 Min 16 Sec
ESP Time Required 2 HR 4 Min 14 sec
Sub/Misc Time Required 1 HR 42 Min 48 sec

Published on

DATE:
July 18, 2024

TO:
Secondary Principals
Secondary Assistant Principals
Secondary Attendance Secretaries
Secondary Registrars

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

SUBJECT:
Assigning Discipline Officers and Counselors for New-to-School Secondary Students (2024-25)

Each year in August, Information Systems runs a utility to assign secondary students a discipline officer and a counselor in Skyward.

Counselors must be active on each school’s Staff screen in order to be assigned to students. In order to be assigned as a discipline officer, an individual must:

  1. Be a District-appointed administrator or administrative intern. Individuals completing internship hours through an assignment by Human Resources who have not been officially appointed as an administrative intern by the District should not be assigned as discipline officers.
  2. Have the “Discipline Officer” box marked on their individual profile on the school’s “Staff” screen.

This utility will be run in early August to update all students enrolled at that point in time. After the initial utility has been run, Information Systems cannot easily “mass assign” discipline officers or counselors for schools. The utility, if run later in the year, would overwrite any custom assignments made by the school. In order for certain processes to successfully run in Skyward, however, discipline officers and counselors must be assigned for students who enroll after the utility has been run. This should be done as part of the registration process. An individual with responsibility for entering the student into Skyward should verify that the “Entity Info” screen has an appropriate individual assigned under ‘Discipline Officer”, “Counselor”, and “Advisor”. This process will need to be completed for students who are new to the District and for those who are transferring from another District location. Making this a part of the enrollment process will help ensure that discipline can be reported and processed accurately.

For the 2024-25 school year, information on the alphabet assignments for assistant principals and counselors will be taken from the school’s update to the Assistant Principal Directory. In order for the utility to be run in a timely manner, schools should complete updates to the directory by July 31, 2024. The directory can be updated at
this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GIy82OtQIsQ4ul40HcWhfRatxB6NNmKzDNQlddOX5m0/ 

Questions on entering discipline officers may be directed to the help desk in Information Systems at x88737. General questions on recording discipline may be directed to Caleb Olson in Planning & Enrollment at x88251.

Published on

DATE:
Thursday, July 18, 2024

TO:
All School Administrators
District Department Directors/Consultants

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

SUBJECT:
2024-25 Required Testing Ethics Professional Development Procedures for Education Support Professionals

For the 2024-25 school year, administrators will need to conduct a training for all licensed educators as well as any education support professionals (ESPs) who will assist with district-, state- or federally-mandated testing on the state’s testing ethics policy. All licensed educators will need to be trained on the policy. Administrators will want to consider including computer lab assistants who function as the school’s test coordinator, any classroom aides that assist with testing, literacy aides who assist with Acadience Reading or Math testing or progress monitoring, or any office staff that assist test coordinators with district-, state- or federally-mandated testing.

The three required procedures for completing this testing ethics professional development are listed on the “2024-25 Principal’s Testing Ethics Checklist for ESPs” form, which is due to Assessment, Research & Accountability by Friday, September 20, 2024.

As has been done in the past, administrators may provide the testing ethics training themselves using the Google slide deck linked in this memo. Alternatively, administrators may show the YouTube video linked below to school personnel. The video provides the same information as the slide deck. Once school personnel have been trained, either by a school administrator or using the video, they are required to sign the “2024-25 Standard Test Administration and Testing Ethics Policy Training Signature Form.” Administrators are asked to keep these signed forms on file at the school.

There are several materials attached with this memo for your use:

  • 2024-25 Principal’s Testing Ethics Checklist – This form needs to be filled out and sent to Assessment, Research & Accountability by Friday, September 20, 2024.
  • Testing Ethics Presentation, 2024-25 – This is the slide deck if administrators choose to present the training in-person.
    2024-25 Standard Test Administration and Testing Ethics Policy – This document should be distributed to every licensed educator as well as any ESPs that assist with district-, state- or federally-mandated testing.
  • Testing Ethics Video – This is the training video that may be used in lieu of a school administrator providing the training, though it is still recommended that school personnel view the video together. The video may also be found at this YouTube link.
  • Standard Test Administration and Testing Ethics Training Signature Form, 2024-25 – Administrators should retain a signed copy of this form for all licensed educators as well as any ESPs who assist with district-, state- or federally-mandated testing.
  • Testing Ethics Policy FAQ – Administrators should distribute this FAQ document to all licensed educators and any ESPs that assist with district-, state- or federally mandated testing.

Please contact Ben Jameson or Gaylene Miller in Assessment, Research & Accountability with any questions.

Published on

DATE:
July 18, 2024

TO:
School Administrators
Elementary Administrative Assistants
Secondary Attendance Secretaries
Secondary Registrars

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

SUBJECT:
Guidance on “Proof of Residency” Requirements

Inconsistencies districtwide in how parents/guardians have been asked to supply “proof of residency” documentation has led to difficulties in enrolling students and an unpredictable enrollment experience at different schools and levels. 

Effective immediately, all schools in Jordan School District will require TWO (2) proof of residency documents at the time of enrollment: One or two documents from Column A of the table below and no more than one document from Column B (the model document listing from the Utah State Board of Education has been used as a basis for this table):

 

Column A (1 or 2 documents)
 Column B (No more than 1 document)
  • Property deed. The deed must be for a primary residential property, not for investment or commercial property.
  • Mortgage statement from the most recent billing period.
  • Lease and payment record from the most recent billing period.
  • Government photo ID with current address.
  • Notarized Affidavit of Occupancy or Rental
  • Other documentation, as approved by Planning & Enrollment or School Administration
  • Pay stub
  • Bank or credit card statement
  • Utility bill
  • Vehicle registration
  • Voter registration
  • documentation
  • Church or religious records, including a notarized affidavit from a local congregation leader affirming that the parent resides within boundaries.
  • Other documentation, as approved by Planning & Enrollment or School Administration

If there are concerns with the provided documentation, a third document may be requested at the direction of school administration; however, requiring three documents should NOT be standard practice. Updated documentation can and should be requested when a parent/guardian submits a change of address request or when school administrators believe the family’s residency status has changed.

If the parent/guardian declares during enrollment that the family is homeless and qualifies for services under McKinney-Vento, the declaration covers BOTH residency document requirements. No further documentation can or should be requested from the parent or guardian and the student should be enrolled immediately. After enrollment, if there are concerns about eligibility for McKinney-Vento services, the school may coordinate with the district McKinney-Vento liaison for further assistance. 

An “explainer document” (in English and Spanish) to show to parents is attached to this memo. Additional information can be found in the Planning & Enrollment Manual at https://planning.jordandistrict.org/manual/enrollment/#ResProof 

Published on

TO:
All Administrators

FROM:
C. Brad Sorensen, Administrator of Schools

The Annual Jordan School District Administrative Leadership Conference is scheduled for Tuesday, August 6, 2024, at West Jordan Middle School, 7550 S. Redwood Road, West Jordan Utah. Full-time Administrative Interns (paid) assigned to your building are also expected to attend. The agenda and flyer are attached. Our first Principal meeting is also scheduled for Thursday, August 8, 2024, at West Jordan Middle from 8:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.

All administrators are assigned a one-hour "escape room" slot (see link) on Thursday, August 8th which will be held at "A Great Escape-Gardner Village" located at 1100 W. 7800 S. #3, West Jordan Utah.

Additionally, the Jordan Education Foundation will need our help with a service project set up in the West Jordan Middle School gymnasium on Thursday, August 8, 2024. We ask each administrator to spend one hour before or after your assigned “escape room” slot to stop by and help with the service project. Random prizes will be drawn at a later time for those who show up to help with the JEF service project.

Published on

TO:
Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Mike Heaps, Director of Information Systems
Jeri Gamble, Customer Support in Information Systems

21 Fund Summary Budgetary Data Mining Report: If you run the 21 Fund Summary report during July, the balances will not be correct until after Accounting has rolled June balances over to 2023-24 later this month.

Cash Receipts and Journal Entries: Make sure you are selecting 2024-25 when you add cash receipts and journal entries. You will continue to see the option for 2023-24 until October, which is when we will close out the 2023-24 year. Please review your cash receipts and journal entries that are in batch or WIP status. If any cash receipts are in 2023-24, then please edit them and change the year to 2024-25. The fiscal year cannot be changed on journal entries, so you’ll need to delete the 2023-24 journal entries that are in batch, submitted or WIP status and re-enter them.

Published on

TO:
All Administrative Assistants

FROM:
Mike Heaps, Director of Information Systems
Jeri Gamble, Customer Support in Information Systems

SKYWARD STUDENT

Rollover and Pre-transfers

Rollover has been completed which means the new 2024-25 school year is now our “current” school year. Pre-transfers have been turned off, so marking a student inactive on the Entity tab or making changes to the School Path tab will not remove a student’s entry record at your school. See the 2024-25 No Show Guidelines to follow when you are notified a student will not be attending your school for the 2024-25 school year.

Please remember, when entering new students for the 2024-25 school year, use the entry date of 08/20/2024.

Family Access Tutorial in Spanish

Breaking News!  There is now a Spanish tutorial available on jordandistrict.org for lunch and student fee web payments. It can be found by navigating to Parents & Students, Family Access (Skyward), Lunch and Fee Payments.

SKYWARD FINANCE

 21 Fund Summary Budgetary Data Mining Report:  If you run the 21 Fund Summary report during July, the balances will not be correct until after Accounting has rolled June balances over to 2023-24 later this month.

Cash Receipts and Journal Entries:  Make sure you are selecting 2024-25 when you add cash receipts and journal entries. You will continue to see the option for 2023-24 until October, which is when we will close out the 2023-24 year. Please review your cash receipts and journal entries that are in batch or WIP status. If any cash receipts are in 2023-24, then please edit them and change the year to 2024-25. The fiscal year cannot be changed on journal entries, so you’ll need to delete the 2023-24 journal entries that are in batch, submitted or WIP status and re-enter them.

Published on

DATE:
April 11, 2024

 TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals
Kindergarten Teachers

 FROM:
Anthony Godfrey, Superintendent
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Schools
Becky Gerber, Administrator of Schools
Jill Durrant, Administrator of Schools
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools

 SUBJECT:
Additional Preparation Days for Kindergarten Teachers

USBE recently announced, beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, the KEEP test will no longer be required for kindergarten students. As a result, the option to allow the use of testing days at the beginning and end of the school year has also been removed by USBE.

To mitigate the impact of the loss of testing days, the Jordan School District Board of Education has approved up to 3 additional preparation days for each kindergarten teacher per session taught. Teachers will receive a stipend of $500 per day worked up to the maximum allowed. These days may be used any time before the start of the school year to meet with parents and students and make preparations for a child’s entry into kindergarten.

Kindergarten teachers will need to complete a timesheet for the days worked and submit to the school principal by Friday, August 30, 2024 for payment on the September paycheck.

Timesheets should be sent to the Elementary Administrators of Schools for approval.

cc: Cabinet
Sarah Palmer, Director of Payroll

Published on

DATE:
May 30, 2024

TO: 
All Principals
All Licensed Educators

FROM:
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Melanie Dawson, Program Administrator of Behavior

SUBJECT:
ETT: Supercharge Your Classroom Management Skills

This course is geared towards teachers who want to supercharge their classroom management skills! Effective Teacher Training (ETT) will be offered this summer from June 12-July 31. An $800 stipend is available to all licensed educators who complete the entire course.

Space is limited, so please distribute the attached flyer before your teachers leave for the summer and have them register on JPLS by June 7, 2024.

Published on

TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals
School Safety Specialists

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

The School Safety Center (SSC) is excited to share that we are hosting the 2024 Utah School Safety Conference. This will be the conference to attend! We have created a unique conference experience for Utah. Registration is now open.

WHO: School Safety & Security Specialists, School Building Administrators, Crisis-Response Team Members, School-Based Mental Health Professionals, School Resource Officers (SROs) and Law Enforcement, and other school employees who support school safety.

WHAT: 2024 Utah School Safety Conference

WHEN: Thursday and Friday, June 13-14, 2024 | 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM each day

WHERE: Riverton, Utah

ACTION: REGISTER HERE  *Registration is free of charge

MORE INFORMATION: See the attached flyer

Please direct all questions to schoolsafetyprograms@schools.utah.gov.

Published on

TO:
Administrators

FROM:
Paul Bergera, Director of Transportation

School Administrators,

I received the following letter from State Risk Management. State Risk is witnessing a major increase in reported accidents in and around school bus zones. Regretfully, Jordan School District has experienced several accidents in and around school bus zones this school year. The letter highlights the importance of dedicated school bus zones being used solely for the purpose of school buses and also emphasizes the importance of keeping bus zones free from all vehicles other than school buses. Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Jordan School District is more than willing to provide personnel and resources to you as you develop your school's safety plan. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to Matt Alvernaz, JSD School Safety Coordinator, at matt.alvernaz@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8623 or Brandon Conti, JSD Risk Management Coordinator, at brandon.conti@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8876. Thank you for your continued cooperation and support.