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DATE: 
April 7, 2021

TO:
All Jordan School District Principals (with bus route students)

FROM:
Scott Thomas, Administrator of Auxiliary Services
Paul Bergera, Director of Transportation
Kathy Jones, Transportation Trainer/Risk Coordinator

SUBJECT:   
State Required Bus Evacuations and School Bus Safety 2020-2021


State required semi-annual school bus evacuations have been scheduled for this spring. This applies to those students that ride the bus daily to and from school.

The evacuations will be conducted during the week of:

Monday, April 19, 2021 through Friday, April 23, 2021

Your school’s regular bus drivers will perform this evacuation one day during the week as they drop your students off in the morning. This procedure takes place at your school and is located in your normal bus drop off/pick up zone. All professional school bus drivers that transport students are required to perform evacuation procedures in case of an emergency. Due to Covid-19, bus evacuation will be through the front door this year. Students will then, under the direction and supervision of the bus driver, evacuate and meet in a safe place approximately 100 feet away from the bus.

Your assistance is welcome but not mandatory to complete this required evacuation drill quickly, safely and effectively.

We appreciate all you do to help us safely transport your students.

DATE:  
April 5, 2021

TO:  
Applicable School Principals and Administrative Assistants (Financial and Membership)
All Area Administrators of Schools and Administrative Assistants
Caleb Olson, Planning and Enrollment
Steven Harwood, Support Services and Programming Manager

FROM:     
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Daniel Ellis, Director of Accounting and Audits
Jason Mott, Accountant/Internal Auditor

SUBJECT:   
External Audit Visits


Please see attached memo.

With District and Health Department approval, beginning April 14th, 2021, JSD Nutrition Services will transition from our current meal service as follows:

  • Discontinue the use of hinged Styrofoam containers (except curbside/door-side meal service and ‘grab and go’ meals offered to virtual learners and students who are not able to eat in the school cafeteria.)
  • School cafeterias will return to a pre-COVID meal service utilizing serving lines.
  • Meals will return to an offer vs serve format, where students may choose or refuse some menu choices. Menu items that students choose/pick up themselves must be wrapped or in a portion cup with a lid.
  • Nutrition Workers will monitor students in serving areas, so students touch only the item(s) they are choosing.
  • Manual meal counting will continue for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year (No registers will be in use.)
  • Elementary schools will return to serving lunches on washable trays.
  • Secondary schools will return to serving meals on disposable plates, boats etc.
  • Cafeterias will maintain current district social distancing guidelines.

Hope you were able to register for the Instructional Leadership Conference, “Teaching Begins with the Learner.” In the next week, participants will receive an email from “Summit Events” with a username, password, and information to access the conference sessions. You will have access to the sessions from April 3 - April 12.

Visit Session Summaries for a small collection of questions to guide your viewing.

DATE:   
Thursday, March 25, 2021

TO: 
Middle School Principals
High School Principals

FROM: 
Shelley Nordick, Ph. D., Administrator of Teaching & Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
Research Project


The Research Review Committee has reviewed a research project in which your school has been asked to participate.

Project Title: Examining Teacher Grading Perceptions and Practices

Applicant: Michael Anderson, Brigham Young University

The project has been approved by the District Research Review Committee. The applicant has been directed to contact you to discuss the extent of the project and to obtain your permission to conduct the study at your school. Participation in the study is at your discretion. If you have questions or concerns relating to participation, please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243.

The project will involve dissemination of a survey to all secondary educators.

Thank you for your assistance.

Job postings can be viewed at: https://www.teachers-teachers.com/employer/jordan-school-district-5390

As per, District Policy DP304 -Teacher Transfers, principals will interview at least two (2) qualified transfer candidates if available through June 1.

During screening, Principals will consider both internal/current applicants listed on the Teacher Transfer Request Report, which is generated by email each Monday, and external applicants listed in K12jobspot. Human Resources will also review both lists to ensure this policy is followed before approving any new hire request.

Applicant Process:
Internal (Transfer) - Current JSD teachers apply by submitting a request through the Teacher Transfer Request located in Skyward Employee Access. A Teacher Transfer Request Report is emailed to Principals each Monday.

External - New applicants apply through K12jobspot and these applications are immediately available to principals and/or designated administrators.

For additional assistance, please contact
Stacy Krahenbuhl, Elementary - stacy.krahenbuhl@jordandistrict.org,
Jill Lisonbee, Secondary - jill.lisonbee@jordandistrict.org

DP304 NEG Teacher Transfer Policy

K-12 REDCap school partners:

We are excited to announce a new REDCap update that will speed up the process of inputting results to allow for a more efficient testing event. This update will be implemented on Friday March 19th, between 8:00 pm and 10 pm. As a result of this update, the following new features will be implemented on Saturday March 20th. If you are conducting a testing event on Saturday March 20th, please notify us by filling out this form and requesting “REDCap Troubleshooting” and we will send staff to your testing location.

The New Features:

  • Faster result input with decreased delays.
  • All individuals currently in your school REDCap account will remain if they have been tested in the past two months. The new link cannot be manipulated or changed, ensuring all registrants will be registered with their assigned school.
  • A centralized REDCap email account has been created where you can submit questions, request help, and request an account:  REDCAP_notificiations@utah.gov.

Important Note!

  • Anyone who registers after Friday 03/19/2021 will need to use a new link to register. That link will be specific to your school and will be emailed to you on Thursday, March 18th.  The link will come from the REDCap email (REDCAP_notificiations@utah.gov) with the subject line: Updated REDCap Registration Link.  Unfortunately, the old link will no longer work. Anyone who tries to register using the old link will not be in your records. Again, anyone who has already registered in REDCap and been tested in the last 2 months will remain in the system. The new link is only for people registering for the first time.

What changes should school officials be expecting?

If a student has been tested in the last 60 days with your school- their record will still be accessible. However, after 60 days of no activity in a student’s record- the record will expire and if additional results need to be entered the student will need to re-register. These records can still be accessed by reaching out to 385-273-7878 for printed results or questions.

DATE: 
March 11, 2021

TO:    
Principals
Assistant Principals
Attendance Secretaries
Financial Secretaries

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

SUBJECT:   
Accepting and/or Denying Late Enrollment Permit Applications


Permit applications submitted after the third (3rd) Friday of February for the following school year or any permit for the current school year must be determined by the “adjusted capacity” of the school. The adjusted capacity is the total number of students who could be served in a school if each teacher were to have a class size based on the staffing ratio for each grade level (§53G-6-401).  Late enrollment permit acceptance is determined by the staffing ratio as follows:

  • Elementary schools use the student to teacher ratio for each grade level to determine if there is space available.
  • Secondary schools use the student to teacher ratio for each core class within each grade level to determine if space is available.

Schools must use the following standards for accepting and/or rejecting an application (§53G-6-403):

The standards for accepting or rejecting an application for enrollment may include:

  1. For an elementary, the capacity of the grade level;
  2. Not offering, or having capacity in, an elementary or secondary special education or other special program the student requires;
  3. Maintenance of reduced class sizes (Title I, or school trust money used to reduce class sizes);
  4. Willingness of prospective students to comply with district policies; and
  5. Giving priority to intradistrict transfers over interdistrict transfers.

The standards for accepting or rejecting an application for enrollment may NOT include:

  1. Previous academic achievement;
  2. Athletic or other extracurricular ability;
  3. The fact that the student requires special education services for which space is available;
  4. Proficiency in the English language; or
  5. Previous disciplinary proceedings, except as follows:
    1. There has been a serious infraction of the law of school rules;
    2. The student has been guilty of chronic misbehavior which would, if it were to continue after the student was admitted:
      1. Endanger persons or property;
      2. Cause serious disruptions in the school; or
      3. Place unreasonable burdens on school staff.

Using the waitlist in PowerSchool and the standards listed above, permit applications are granted (seated) by the school on a first-come, first-served basis for the entire school year.

Regardless of acceptance or denial, all applications submitted from December 1 to February 19 must be notified of the status of their application by April 2. Applications submitted after February 21 must be notified within two weeks. All applications are notified of their waitlist position when their permit application is processed. While this should satisfy the notification requirements, schools may desire to send an additional notification if they do not plan to accept any permits. Please contact Caleb at x88251 should you have any questions.

The date for the 2021 Jordan School District High School Graduation exercises is Thursday, June 3, 2021. Valley High School graduation exercises are scheduled for Wednesday, June 2, 2021. School graduation plans and times will vary from school to school.

Principals and Directors are encouraged to provide flexibility to parents or grandparents requesting the opportunity to attend the graduation ceremonies of family members.

Licensed employees are responsible for requesting a substitute through the Frontline Absence Management System (formerly AESOP), if applicable. In the blue “Notes to Administrator” box, the employee should add “graduation” along with his/her relationship to the graduate.

For additional assistance, please contact Juli Martin at juli.martin@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8219.

Special Calendar requests for the 2021-22 academic year are being collected at this time by the HR Department. If you have a licensed employee currently on a special calendar at your location, you will receive an email with a list of those employees along with instructions to follow. If you do not receive a Special Calendar Request email, there are no licensed employees at your location and you may disregard this information.

Please note that failure to submit a Special Calendar Request for a licensed employee on a special calendar, may cause an employee to be paid incorrectly. All questions regarding special calendar requests should be directed to Kim Richins, HR Senior Assistant, at kim.richins@jordandistrict.org or (801) 567-8220.

DATE:   
March 2, 2021

TO:  
School Psychologists, Elementary Counselors, and School Social Workers

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

SUBJECT:   
March School Psychologist, Elementary Counselor, and School Social Workers Meeting


A virtual meeting for school psychologists, elementary counselors, and school social workers has been scheduled for Friday, March 12, 2021, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Casey Pehrson, School Psychologist from Herriman High School, will provide us with a presentation on the Thrive and SELFIE programs she has developed.

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

cc:
Principals

The 2021 School Safety Survey will be administered to building administrators, through Qualtrics, beginning April 12th and closing May 21st. Please schedule some time to complete this survey.

The School Safety Survey is the current method of gathering state-wide data on the implementation of best-practices, challenges, programs being used, innovations, and current issues in school safety. The topics include (but are not limited to) building security, law enforcement partnerships, school-based mental health efforts, student threat assessment, and prevention programs. The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) Safe and Healthy Schools Team will be sending out additional information and details in the next month.

The following are new administrative assignments:

New Assignments effective as soon as possible:

  • Staci Moore, assistant principal at Jordan Ridge and Majestic Elementary appointed assistant principal at Majestic Elementary.
  • Jayme Gandara, Facilitator in Provo School District appointed assistant principal at Jordan Ridge and South Jordan Elementary.
  • Kimberly Ranney, assistant principal at Rose Creek and South Jordan Elementary appointed assistant principal at Rose Creek Elementary.
  • Jared Covili, Product Manager/Instructor at Utah Education Network appointed Consultant, Digital Teaching and Learning.

The Utah Department of Health as issued an updated State Public Health Order.  The School Manual and School Manual Summary have also been updated.

Utah Department of Health School Manual

This information can also be found by clicking HERE and going to Moving Forward at Jordan District.

One of the board rule requirements of being able to use LEA-specific licenses (Formerly known as letters of authorization) is that we post the percentage of the different types of licenses that are used in the individual schools. Chad Margetts has worked behind the scenes to help us get this requirement fulfilled. (Thank you, Chad!!) You may notice an additional link at the bottom of your school website “Educator Licensing”. This link will take you to the HR website with some additional licensing information including the required information on LEA-Specific licenses.

Short video with additional information.