Skip to content

Category: Elementary Action Required

Published on

Dear Principals,

We've received new guidelines from the State LAND Trust office regarding School Community Councils and Rules of Order and Procedure. In order to update each of you we have scheduled three one-hour training meetings to be held over Zoom. You only need to attend one of the three meetings. You are welcome to have an assistant principal attend if desired, but each principal is required to be in attendance.

We recommend that you do not finalize your Rules of Order and Procedure with your SCC until after attending this training.

The trainings will be held:
September 1st 10:00-11:00 am
September 5th 9:30-10:30 am
September 8th 10:00-11:00 am

The Zoom link will be on the calendar invite you will receive.

Please go to this LINK, find your name, and initial under which date you will be attending. You will then receive a calendar invite. Sign up needs to be completed by Wednesday, August 30th.

Items that will be on the agenda:
Creating School Community Councils and holding the first meeting video - Video
Here’s what’s new Training Video  -  Video
Updated Timeline with Website Information - Timeline
Jordan District - Beginning of Year Documents

 

Published on

DATE:
August 17, 2023

TO:
All Principals

FROM:
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Mike Trimmell, Ed.D., Special Education Administrator

SUBJECT:
Inputting of Goals and Services into Embrace

Until you complete a new IEP in Embrace, please use these steps to both complete progress reports when that time comes, and do Medicaid Logs for applicable services.

As you do so, keep in two things in mind:

  1. The person entering this data should update ALL of the goals and services from the previous IEP, not just their own. (Talk among your team to divide and conquer).
  2. When you start this process - you need to complete all the steps and finalize it for the student the SAME DAY.

STEPS

  1. Create an Annual Review Event using the ORIGINAL IEP DATE.
  2. Select the following two documents
    1. Goals and Objectives Page
      1. Add additional Goal pages as needed
    2. Services Page
  3. Goals and Objectives Page
    1. For PLAAFP – “See IEP dated ________”
    2. Copy the Goals (include all goals in all areas)
    3. Input the Goal data – Accuracy, Baseline, Goal Percentage
  4. Services Page
    1. Include the services and minutes
  5. Save
  6. Make this Event Date the Active IEP

If you need to add additional goals to a student after activating the IEP, you will need to contact Brenda via the EMBRACE REQUEST to unlock that IEP.

 

 

Published on

DATE:
Thursday, August 17, 2023

TO:  
All School Administrators and District Department Directors/Consultants

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

SUBJECT:  
2023-24 Required Testing Ethics Professional Development Procedures for Education Support Professionals

Licensed teachers will do their testing ethics training as part of their annual crucial policies and procedures review. School administrators do not need to train their teachers on testing ethics for the 2023-24 school year; however, administrators will need to conduct a training for any education support professionals (classified employees) who will assist with district, state or federally-mandated testing. This will include 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 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 “2023-24 Principal’s Testing Ethics Checklist for ESPs” form, which is due to the Evaluation, Research & Accountability Department by Friday, September 22, 2023.

As has been done in the past, administrators may provide in-person training on testing ethics using the pdf slide deck attached with this memo. Alternatively, administrators may refer education support personnel to the YouTube video that provides the same ethics training. Once education support personnel have been trained, either in-person or using the video, they are required to sign the “2023-24 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:

  • 2023-24 Principal’s Testing Ethics Checklist or ESPs – This form needs to be filled out and sent to Evaluation, Research & Accountability by Friday, September 22, 2023.
  • Testing Ethics Presentation, 2023-24 – This is the slide deck if principals choose to present the training in-person.
  • 2023-24 Standard Test Administration and Testing Ethics Policy – This document should be distributed to every Education Support Professional that assists with state or federally-mandated testing.
  • ESP Testing Ethics Video – This is the training video that may be used in lieu of in-person training. The video may also be found at this link:

ESP Testing Ethics Video

  • Standard Test Administration and Testing Ethics Training Signature Form, 2023-24 – Administrators should retain a signed copy of this form for all Education Support Professionals who assist with district, state or federally-mandated testing.

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

Published on

Special Education Resource and Self Contained Team Leaders will soon receive a SCRAM report via District Mail of all students who should be receiving services through your school’s special education program(s) at the start of the 2023-24 school year. All team members and service providers need to verify each student on this list as either correct, changed, exited/moved, and/or incomplete. Since only one copy is being sent per “team” (i.e., Resource and Cluster), it is important that resource teams, cluster teams, SLPs, Guidance Specialists and other itinerant providers work together to check and complete the requested information. Please read the memo carefully for instructions on completing the report.

Please have your Scram Reports and corrected SCRAM returned to the District Office by Friday, September 8, 2023.

If you have questions, please contact the Teacher Specialist assigned to your school or Jen Warkentine at (801) 567-8207. Thank you for your conscientious efforts to complete this critical information. Please remember that special education funding is contingent upon the accuracy of this data.

Published on

The 2023 ESSA Updated English Learner (EL) Exit criteria has been approved. Please review your 2022 WIDA ACCESS results and exit all students who received a minimum overall composite score of 4.2 and a minimum score of 3.5 in the speaking domain. Exit letters, based on the updated exit criteria, must be sent within the first 30 days of the LEAs school year.

Teacher-parent-students conferences must be completed by the conclusion of the LEA’s scheduled fall conferences. Students that were exited with a composite of 5.0 or higher in the spring will remain exited. More information will be provided in upcoming listserv memos and in meetings.

Things to adjust:
Class schedule
ESL study skills course
Placing students in the correct LA course
Placing students in any concurrent AP courses that they have applied and
qualified for

How do you print the letters?
Check out how to create and print the letters through ELLevation here.

Mailing letters home is usually delegated to a secretary/registrar with enrollment access
with the help of ELD Leads if needed.

  1. Make 2 physical copies of each ML's 2023 WIDA Scores (Delivered personally
    by the Evaluation, Research, & Accountability department)
  2. Print Letters from ELLevation (be sure to save a copy to student profiles for
    your records)
  3. Print labels for MLs and prepare envelopes
  4. Mail letters and scores to families in English and their home language
  5. Place 2nd copy of scores in students' permanent files

THIS ANNUAL COMMUNICATION IS PART OF COMPLIANCE.

Published on

DATE:      
August 9, 2023

TO:  
All Principals

FROM:   
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Mike Trimmell, Ed.D., Special Education Administrator

SUBJECT:  
Additional Embrace Training Days

We are excited for the new IEP management system, Embrace. Many teachers and administrators attended the Special Education Summer Conference on August 8th and received initial training on the new IEP platform. For those that were not able to attend, there will be two additional training sessions. The content will be the same for both sessions, so you can choose the session that works best for your schedule.

The two training sessions will be held on:
Friday, August 18, 2023 at Riverton High School from 12:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m.
Friday, September 22, 2023 at West Jordan High School from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.

You may choose either day to attend. Please sign up on JPLS to confirm your attendance at one of these two training sessions.

The course number is #101959 and the section numbers are:
#127704 @ RHS August 18, 2023 12-3pm
#127706 @ WJHS September 22, 2023 1-4pm

Published on

DATE:    
August 7, 2023

TO:  
All Principals

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

SUBJECT: 
Providing a Consistent Space for Itinerant Service Providers

As the school year begins, please be mindful that the itinerant service providers assigned to your school require a consistent and viable space to work with the students that they are assigned to in your school. Please see attached memo. We appreciate your support in these efforts.

Published on

DATE:  
August 10, 2023

TO: 
School Administrators
District Department Directors
Financial Secretaries
Administrative Assistants

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Kurt Prusse, Director, Purchasing
Caleb Olson, Consultant, Planning & Enrollment

SUBJECT:  
Student Data Privacy Resource Review Process

Utah law (53E-9-301, 53E-9-303) requires local education agencies (LEAs) to create a publicly available metadata dictionary that contains a listing of:

  • All personally identifiable student data collected and shared by the LEA
  • A comprehensive list of all recipients with whom the LEA has shared personally identifiable student data, including the purpose for sharing the data, the justification for sharing the data (including if the sharing was required by federal law, state law, or local directive), and how the sharing is permitted under federal or state law.

This means that any third-party resource that receives personally identifiable student data from the District must be cataloged and, where necessary, reviewed for compliance with USBE data privacy expectations.

Prior to making purchases or entering into purchase arrangements, school staff should check the District’s LearnPlatform registry; software listed on the registry as approved can be submitted for purchase without any additional review. Software that is not listed on LearnPlatform must be reviewed BEFORE the purchase request is submitted. Someone with knowledge of the software should submit a review request to Planning & Enrollment using this review request form prior to entering a requisition in Skyward. The individual who will be using the software (and therefore has some knowledge of what the software does and what data it will use) should enter the review request; this is not an assignment that should default to administrative assistants.

Teachers with specific questions about the process should be directed to your location’s digital coach. Administrators and administrative assistants with specific questions about the process may contact Caleb Olson (x88251).

Published on

DATE:  
August 10, 2023

TO:  
Principals
Assistant Principals

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

SUBJECT:  
School Safety Specialist

HB61 requires that each school have a designated Safety Specialist. This person will work with the assigned administrator over safety and serve on the school’s safety committee and is to be selected by the school principal. Administrators should thoughtfully and carefully select a willing individual to be the School Safety Specialist. The School Safety Specialist:

  • Should be a full-time employee
  • Can be from any employee group or type (licensed or educational support)
  • Will receive a stipend for the 23-24’ school year ($3,000 for a full-time employee before benefits/taxes)
  • Serves as a co-chair/backup to the administrator assigned school safety on the school’s safety committee
  • Will be trained and provide training and leadership to school staff regarding school safety
  • Will be trained and a part of your school’s threat assessment team.
    • They will need to be trained in Comprehensive Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG). This training is $85 per person paid for by the school. (Student Services will set up/pay for the training and work with your administrative assistant for reimbursement through a journal entry)
    • It is recommended that all school safety committee members be trained in CSTAG.
  • Will assist with safety assurances and compliance

Identify the administrator assigned to school safety and the School Safety Specialist using this form (also shared with principals via Google Sheets on 8.7.2023) as soon as reasonably possible.

Generally, the administrator assigned to school safety should serve as the school’s safety committee chairperson with the safety specialist serving as the co- or vice-chair. The school committee should meet regularly to discuss, implement, plan, and implement required school safety practices.

The District Safety Specialist will facilitate ongoing training and support. Questions regarding the School Safety Specialist should be directed to Travis Hamblin at travis.hamblin@jordandistrict.org or 801.567.8439.

Published on

DATE:  
Thursday, August 10, 2023

TO: 
Elementary School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
Ordering KEEP Entry & Exit Materials for FDK Teachers

With elementary schools adding full day kindergarten classes, it has become necessary to order more KEEP Entry & Exit testing materials from the state. Materials will include test administration manuals and student materials manuals for both the Entry and Exit assessments. If schools have hired or are planning to hire additional kindergarten teachers for the 2023-24 school year, principals or their designee are encouraged to order more KEEP testing materials.

Please use the link below to submit orders by Friday, August 25th. KEEP testing materials will be delivered via district mail to the recipient indicated on the order form.

Link: Ordering KEEP Testing Materials

KEEP Entry training is available via a self-paced Canvas course from USBE. The course may be accessed here.

Please contact Ben Jameson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability with any questions or concerns about KEEP testing.

Published on

Fall Mentor Training will be available online through Canvas July 31 - September 5, 2023. Mentor Training will be provided to new mentors based on administrator recommendation. After checking with potential mentors, please complete the Google Form by Friday, August 11th to add names of mentors you would like to have complete mentor training. We have a limited number of seats. Educators will be added first come, first served. You may add up to three mentors per form. Teachers will get paid $150 stipend for completing the mentor Canvas training.

You can access a list of currently trained mentors on your school’s mentor list shared with you via Google sheets. If you need help accessing your mentor list, please contact Michelle Williams in Teaching and Learning: 801-567-8365.

Fall 2023 Mentor Training Request Google Form Link

Published on

Elementary Principals:

Through the 2018-19 negotiations process, the Board allocated funds to pay each elementary teacher $400 for parking lot duty each year. Following are additional details and clarification for the implementation of this payment.

  • Although parking lot duty requirements will vary from school to school, the payment is the same districtwide.
  • Administrators are encouraged to reduce parking lot duty for teachers as much as possible while still maintaining necessary coverage.
  • All full-time K-6 licensed educators districtwide who are responsible for parking lot duty are eligible for the $400 stipend. Half-time educators are eligible for a $200 stipend.
  • All elementary school Special Education cluster teachers and Preschool teachers are eligible for an $800 stipend.
  • Licensed educators (psychologists, BTS teachers, etc.) who have not been assigned parking lot duty in the past may choose to participate and be paid a stipend but should not be required to do so.
  • Administrators and classified staff are not eligible for a stipend.
  • The stipend will be paid out on September paychecks.
  • Teachers are required to complete parking lot duty unless they coordinate with the principal to give their assignment and stipend to another willing teacher.
  • Teachers can take on as many parking lot duty assignments (and stipends) from other teachers as will fit in the calendar.
  • Teachers can only give up their parking lot duty assignment and stipend or accept an additional assignment and stipend in coordination with the principal.
  • Teachers can only give up or accept an entire assignment and an entire stipend.
  • Principals should adjust the parking lot duty schedule as necessary to allow as many teachers to take on as many extra assignments as needed.
  • Special Education cluster teachers and Pre-school teachers cannot give up their parking lot duty assignment.
  • Stipends for parking lot duty are included in retirement pay calculations.

In order to streamline payment, please ask your administrative assistant to complete the attached Excel workbook. Please scan the completed submission sheet and send with your regular September payroll to the Payroll Department by September 5, 2023 so that teachers can be paid the stipend on their September 25th check. Please list each educator in your building and beside each name indicate the dollar amount ($0, $200, $400 or increments of $400, or $800) the teacher should be paid.

The budget code for Parking Lot Stipends is 10 E XXX 0050 1024 131

Please contact your Administrator of Schools with any questions.

Published on

For the Admin Assistants: Training for the new Digital English Learner Identification process has been scheduled for Friday, July 28th, from 9:00 - 11:00 am in the Presentation Room at the ASB.

Space will be limited to one in person attendee per school with any additional requests attending via Zoom. Register HERE to receive training documents and access to the zoom link.

We will be available at the end of training for questions and any one on one assistance.

Published on

Attached you will find information and guidelines regarding the Extended Year Stipend that is available to Special Education Teachers and SLP's. Please be sure to read the instructions carefully.

The state has allotted 5.5 extra days to work either two weeks before or two weeks after your contract ends. The eligible timeline for these days this fall is July 31-Aug 4 and Aug 7-Aug 11, 2023. You can work them all before contract, all after contract, or a combination of both. Please keep track of the days you worked in the fall so when spring comes you will know how many you have left.

The days you work are turned in on a Qualtrics survey that the state sends us to generate the payroll information. The link for this survey is included in the attached memo.

Published on

DATE:   
July 27, 2023

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

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

SUBJECT:  
Assigning Discipline Officers for New-to-School Students

Each year in August, Information Systems runs a utility to assign students a discipline officer in Skyward. The assignments are made off of assistant principal alphabet assignments reported by each school. 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.

Schools will receive an email from Lisa Corbett in Information Systems asking for confirmation of their assistant principal alphabet assignments.

After the initial utility has been run, Information Systems cannot easily “mass assign” discipline officers for schools. The utility, if run later in the year, would overwrite any custom assignments made by the school. In order for elements of the discipline process to run in Skyward, however, a discipline officer 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”. At the same time, assignments can be made for “Counselor” and “Advisor” (if those fields are in use at the school location).

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.

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

This is a reminder that the Botvin LifeSkills Training program must be offered to 4th, 8th, and 10th-grade students each year in Jordan School District. The Botvin LifeSkills Training Program is currently the only approved program to meet the requirements as outlined in UCA § 53G-10-406 and R277-910. The middle school and high school implementation takes place in health classes. Please share the training information with any new 4th-grade teachers and health teachers at your school who have not been trained. Administrators should ensure that all Botvin materials needed for the 2023-24 school year have been ordered.

Published on

Jordan School District Employees are responsible for knowing and adhering to all District policies and procedures. The crucial 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, 2023.  

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).

Published on

Legislative Supply Fund Clarifications

See below for clarification on the following common questions about legislative funds:

  1. Should sales tax be included in the use of funds? (Yes, sales tax may be included)
  2. What types of expenditures are allowed? What is the purpose of these funds? (Per State Rule R277, funds are to be used for educational purposes to benefit students)
  3. Are the items purchased with legislative funds the property of the teacher or the school? (Per State Rule R277, items belong to the school)

IMPORTANT Changes
There are some licensed positions that do not qualify for the Classroom Supplies Appropriation per State Board rule R277-459, but were mistakenly funded in the past by the District. As a courtesy, these positions will receive legislative funds for one more year (2023-24). We are asking principals to inform anyone with a following job description, that beginning in 2024-25, they will no longer receive legislative classroom funds:

Clinical Support Specialist
District Home & Hospital Instructor
Instructional Coach
Intern
Library Media Specialist
Occupational Therapist
Physical Therapist
School Counselor – Intern
School Psychologist
School Psychologist – Intern
School Social Worker
Special Ed Itinerant Services
Speech Language Technician
Speech Therapist
Teacher Special Ed Associate

We appreciate your help in making sure these guidelines and upcoming changes are shared with the licensed educators receiving these funds at your school. For your information, attached is State Rule R277 and the legislative funds guidelines sent out each year.

Published on

Our annual Fall Family Fair will be held Thursday, Sept. 7th. We are so excited to share District and community resources with our families. Please share and place in your parent communications. Plan on having you and your teachers attend as well!