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DATE: 
May 10, 2023

TO:
Principals
All Certified Special Education Staff

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

SUBJECT:
Year-End Checkout for Special Education


The items listed below need attention as you prepare to close out the 2022-23 school year.

 

Effective Teacher Training (ETT) will be offered this summer. Spots are limited and fill quickly, so learners need to register on JPLS as soon as possible. Pacing is flexible in this online course, so learners will be able to complete the content even with summer vacations.*

For: All general education and special education teachers

Also Welcome: Specialists, mental health providers, ESPs

Note for instructional coaches: You can request to be an observer in the course instead of registering as a learner.

Please email Melanie Dawson or Katie Jarvis if you are interested.

Fall Mentor Training will be available online through Canvas from July 31 to September 5, 2023. Mentor Training will be provided to new mentors based on the administrator's recommendation. After checking with potential mentors, please complete the Google form 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.

Google Form Link

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU…

The HR TEAM values you and your opinion regarding HR practices and procedures. Therefore, we invite you to complete the following brief survey. Names are optional.

Survey LINK

THANK YOU for taking the time to complete this survey. Your feedback is important to us.

DATE: 
Thursday, May 11, 2023

TO: 
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:     
2023 WIDA Access Results in Tableau


The WIDA Access results for the 2022-23 school year have been added to Tableau accounts. School administrators will be able to see composite proficiency scores (language proficiency levels) as well as scores for language domains and reporting categories as far back as 2017. Reports are available as overall school results or individual student results.

In addition, there is a table that lists WIDA Access results by student based on 2023-24 enrollment (as it was listed in Skyward at the beginning of May when the report was ran), which means that school administrators can use this information, among other things, to assign students to ESL study skills classes or ensure that these students are enrolled in classes where the teacher has an ESL endorsement. Middle schools will be able to see scores for incoming 7th graders and high schools will be able to see scores for incoming 10th graders.

Aggregate school reports may be found here.

Student results, including results by next year’s enrollment, may be found here.

Please contact Ben Jameson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability with any questions about these Tableau dashboards.

DATE: 
Thursday, May 11, 2023

TO:  
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
State Testing Reminders


The following are friendly reminders from the state’s testing ethics policy:

  • “Utah LEAs and Licensed Utah educators may use a student’s score from a statewide assessment to improve the student’s academic grade for or demonstrate the student’s competency within a relevant course.”
  • “Licensed Utah educators shall ensure that:
    • “Students are not penalized who have been exempted by a parent from a statewide assessment
    • “Students aren’t provided a nonacademic award for participating in or performing well on a statewide assessment
    • “Students are provided an alternate learning activity if they are exempted by a parent from a statewide assessment”

The following additional guidance may help address specific questions that arise from the part of the state’s testing ethics policy quoted above:

  • Using a student’s score from a state assessment can only improve a student’s grade – not hurt it.
  • Educators may not use a student’s score on a state assessment to determine an overall grade for the course. It can be used in conjunction with other evidence to help determine a student’s overall grade.
  • Educators may not assign participation points on students’ grades for taking a state assessment.
  • The alternate learning activity for students whose parents have opted them out of taking the state assessment can be an alternate assessment. That said, using a student’s score on the alternate assessment or activity on a student’s grade can only improve the student’s grade – not hurt it.

Beginning July 2023, Skylert will have an updated look! From the new interface you can create templates, view the success rate of recent broadcasts, quickly access favorite broadcasts, and create one message to go out via phone, email, and text. Take a sneak peek at the new Skylert!

Skylert: New User Interface

DATE:  
May 5, 2023

TO:  
All Principals and Directors

FROM:   
June LeMaster, Ph.D., Administrator of Human Resources
Brent Burge, Human Resource Administrator

SUBJECT: 
Education Support Professionals (Non-Exempt) Employee Overtime Reminder


Please see the memo below.

DATE:   
May 11, 2023

TO: 
Principals
Elementary Administrative Assistants
Secondary School Registrars

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

SUBJECT:  
Permanent Records – Transfer Processes and Procedures


Permanent records for students leaving the school (either a boundary change or 6th and 9th grade advancement) need to be delivered in person to the appropriate school by the sending schools staff. Records need to be delivered on or before June 12, 2023. This record transfer MAY NOT be done through secure district mail if the quantity of records being sent from one location to another is greater than ten (10) total files.

The receiving school will need to check the student list against each permanent record to assure all permanent records were received. Each bundle must be accompanied by two (2) alphabetized lists which includes the name of the sending school and receiving school. Computer lists or PDM’s may be used.

Dead files that did not earn high school credit should be kept at the school of origin for three years post-separation before destruction. Dead files that earned high school credit should be transferred to the boundary high school for retention with other files of the same cohort.

General Permanent Record Transfer Procedures (Policy AS61):

  • A parent release is not required when transferring student records from one school to
  • Any school receiving a written request to forward a copy of a transferring student’s record to the new school shall comply within 30 days of the request, and within 10 days of the request for a military child’s records, unless the record has been flagged as a “Missing child,” in which case the copy may not be forwarded and the requested school shall notify the police department.
  • Transfer the ORIGINAL records for students in grades K through
  • A CERTIFIED COPY of the cumulative/permanent record along with the original health record (Utah School Immunization Record) of students in grades 9 through 12 shall be transferred to requesting schools outside of Jordan School The ORIGINAL RECORDS and a copy of the health record of students in grades 9 through 12 shall be archived at the Jordan District high school.
  • Maintain a record of the date the record transfer request was received and the date and school where the record was sent.

DATE:    
May 11, 2023

TO:  
Principals
Elementary Administrative Assistants
Secondary Attendance Secretaries

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

SUBJECT:  
Entering Attendance in Skyward for the Last Six (6) Days of the School Year


Please see the attached memo for instructions on entering daily attendance for students.

Beginning May 22, 2023, the Custodial Department will be launching a new process to both hire and train sweepers for every school. A comprehensive training on the new process will be held at 8:30 am on May 17, 2023 at the Transportation facility. It is essential that Head Custodians attend this training to become familiar with this new and improved process. Without this training, schools will not be able to hire sweepers until the Head Custodian has completed the training.

Your Support is very much appreciated.

Steven Peart
Director of Custodial/Energy Services

Next Thursday, May 11, from 1-3, at the ASB Auditorium, we will have our last ELD meeting of the year. We have a work group for secondary at 12:30 p.m. and elementary at 3:00 p.m. The sub code is on the attached flyer.

Admin, this meeting is optional for you, but please encourage and support your ELD lead in coming. We want to celebrate all our ELD leads have done this year. If you will have a new ELD Lead next year, please let Michelle Love-Day know ASAP so she can invite them to the meeting next week.

The administration of the Jordan School District, in consultation with the Board of Education and employee groups, is pleased to begin observance of the official state holiday for the Juneteenth National Freedom Day. This year, Juneteenth National Freedom Day will be observed on Monday, June 19, 2023. District offices and locations will be closed on this day. This change will impact the current year calendar for contracted and hourly employees on 242- and 245-day contracts, as well as CTE Coordinators on 207-day contracts.

Utah Code 63G-1-301(1)(f) outlines the scheduling of Juneteenth in Utah:
(f)(i) The Juneteenth National Freedom Day holiday is on June 19, if that day is a Monday.
(ii) If June 19 is on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, the Juneteenth National Freedom Day holiday is on the immediately preceding Monday.
(iii) If June 19 is on a Saturday or Sunday, the Juneteenth National Freedom Day holiday is on the immediately following Monday.

Updated employee calendars may be accessed at https://planning.jordandistrict.org/calendars/. Employees should direct questions to their immediate supervisors.

DATE:
Thursday, May 4, 2023

TO:
All School Administrators

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

SUBJECT:
2023 Raw WIDA Access Results Available in WIDA AMS

________________________________________________________________________________

The 2023 WIDA Access raw results are now available in DRC Insight. These reports are based on students who completed WIDA testing in your school this year, but they do not include students who will be enrolled in schools for the 2023-24 school year (i.e., incoming 7th and 10th graders). Many schools need these results as soon as possible so that they can finish building their ESL Study Skills classes into their master schedule. Evaluation, Research & Accountability is working to provide this information, based on your projected enrollment for the 2023-24 school year.

In the meantime, school administrators with accounts (contact JoLynn Snelgrove if you need an account at jolynn.snelgrove@jordandistrict.org) and test coordinators may access 2023 WIDA Access results for students who tested in your school using the following steps:

  1. Login to DRC Insight (WIDA AMS): https://www.drcedirect.com/all/eca-portal-v2-ui/ - /login/WIDA
  2. Click on the My Applications tab on the top left. Then click on Report Delivery under Scoring and Reporting: 
  3. Click on the Test Results tab:
  4. Click on each drop-down menu so that it looks like the screenshot below (make sure your school name appears under the School drop-down menu), then click Download Reports:
  5. Confirm your reports download by clicking on Download Reports again:

The report will download an Excel CSV file. Columns H and I contain the student names. Columns AY-BE contain the language proficiency level.

Validated and cleaned results will be published on Tableau viewer accounts in the next week or two. Printed individual student reports (ISRs) will be delivered to schools when they become available later in May.

Please contact JoLynn Snelgrove or Ben Jameson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability with any questions.

Saturday, May 13, 2023 at 9:00 AM is the 8th Annual JEF CHALLENGE RUN at Veterans Memorial Park in West Jordan. Cost per person is $20 (Teachers are free!)

THE CHALLENGE OBSTACLE RUN is a family-friendly obstacle course run open to all ages and created to make a difference in Jordan District Classrooms. Thanks to our generous sponsor GENESIS DENTAL, 100% of proceeds go directly toward Classroom Grants benefiting students & teachers in Jordan District!

Open to the community and fun for all ages, the run ends with a fun family festival with lots of free giveaways. Come see what all the fun is about! For more details and to register online, visit: www.jefchallenge.org

Volunteer reports need to be submitted to Insurance Services. Workers' Compensation insurance costs are based on numbers submitted by schools. It is important that this information is accurate and complete. PTA figures must be separate from other volunteer hours. Attached is a copy of the Volunteer Report for the period from December 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023.

Please complete this form and send it back to Bonnie Brennan, the Director of Insurance Services, by May 15, 2023.

National School Nurse Day was established to foster a better understanding of the role of school nurses in the educational setting.

Administrators: How do you celebrate National School Nurses Day? Please help our School Nurses know that they are loved and appreciated for all they do for you and our students!

Federal Regulations require the district to certify the payroll of any employee being paid with federal funds. Accounting identifies employees that meet this federal criteria and prepare certification forms by location. Principals and department heads please review the attached instruction memo and look for your payroll certification email the week of May 1, 2023. Certifications are due Friday, May 26, 2023. Please review your certification ASAP and contact Natalie Grange if you have any questions or concerns. natalie.grange@jordandistrict.org, ext. 88312