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With the recent return of our winter inversion, it is a good time to review the Utah Department of Health's air quality guidelines for schools. Attached you will find the "Recess Guidance for Schools" with additional helpful information at the following link:   http://health.utah.gov/asthma/airquality/recess.html .There are two buttons on this website that will be of special interest: "Current Air Quality Levels" and Utah Recess Guidance Tool." 

If you are interested in receiving alerts when the PM2.5 levels require students to stay indoors, you may sign up for those email alerts at bguerra@utah.gov . A free downloadable app is also available at UtahAir.app which will allow you to check air quality levels from the convenience of your phone.

As a reminder, we respect parents' decisions to have their children stay indoors due to poor air quality. Thanks for your efforts to keep our students safe. Enjoy the winter!

Facility Access During Winter Recess

Please submit Card Access Scheduling requests in Sprocket to have doors open for activities that will occur during Winter Recess, when the facility is normally closed.

Principals that would like to keep the exterior doors locked and allow employees to have badge access will need to submit a Card Access Scheduling request indicating the applicable dates and times.

Remember to submit a Sprocket Heating and Cooling request to correspond with the time the building will be occupied.

Call Alarm Response at 801-567-8865, in advance of any unscheduled opening and closing.

Please call Sandi Abplanalp with any card access and door scheduling questions: 801-567-8616.

 

Date:
December, 6 2017

To:
Elementary, Middle, and High School Principals

From:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Dan Ellis, Director of Accounting, Budgets, and Audits

Subject:
Fee In Lieu of Cell Tower


As was discussed in the recent Principals' Meeting on December 5, 2017, schools which have a cell tower have the option to send in a check to their In Lieu of Cell Tower account. This check should be issued from the 21.xxx.2012.1090.610 account and sent into Accounting noting that the funds are to be deposited into the In Lieu account.

Schools may only send up to the amount in the Optional School Check column (column L) from attached spreadsheet. This will allow these funds to be used for personnel wages/salaries and related benefits.

If you have questions or need assistance, please call Dan Ellis at (801)567-8389.

Thank you.

On Tuesday an email was sent from USBE Purchasing staff to all principals requesting some information.  Please disregard this request as it has been taken care of at the District level.  As a reminder, USBE staff is supposed to communicate directly with the District for such requests.  Before investing time into fulfilling USBE requests, please inform your Administrator of Schools of the request.

DATE:
December 1, 2017

TO:
High School and Center-Based School Principals
High School Special Education Team Leaders

FROM:
Laura Finlinson, Admin. of Curriculum/Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education

SUBJECT:
Destruction of Special Education Records


School districts are required to keep special education records five years past the student’s twenty-second birthday. In compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Jordan School District must notify parents and afford them the opportunity to receive special education records before destruction of those records can occur.

As of December 1, 2017, such notice will have been advertised to parents for students whose birthdates are prior to September, 1991 (i.e., students who are 27 years of age).  Any records for this time period that have not been requested by January 31, 2018 should be submitted for destruction following the procedures identified below:

  1. A list must be submitted to the special education teacher specialist assigned to your school which identifies each student’s name, birthdate and student number for all files to be destroyed.
  2. The special education teacher specialist will review the list and notify the team once it is verified that the records may be submitted for destruction.
  3. NEW PROCEDURE: Follow the Shredding of Confidential Records procedures outlined in the September 8, 2014 memo from Auxiliary Services which reads:

Records to be destroyed will now need to be retained in a secure place at your school. When you have accumulated more than 10 boxes, please contact Columbus Secure Document Solutions at 801-262-1588 to schedule pickup and disposal.

Please remove records from loose leaf binders or hanging file folders. All confidential records must be boxed, taped shut and visibly labeled as CONFIDENTIAL TO BE DESTROYED. Boxes not secured and labeled will not be accepted. Please collect all boxes in one central location. At the scheduled date and time, please have someone available to direct workers where the boxes are for quick and efficient pick up.

Note that special education records may be submitted for destruction at any time after January 31, 2018 as long as the destruction meets the criteria and has been approved by the special education department.

  1. Please remember that the Utah State Records Retention Schedule mandates that student transcripts be retained permanently.

If you have questions, please call the special education teacher specialist assigned to your school.

cc:
Paul Bergera, Auxiliary Services
Susan Sudbury,  Placement Office
Travis Hamblin, Student Services
Sandra Riesgraf, Communications

DATE:
Thursday, November 30, 2017

TO:
Principals and District Administrators

FROM:
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:
Changes in the USBE Testing Ethics Policy


On November 2, 2017, the Utah State Board of Education revised and approved the 2017-18 Standard Test Administration and Testing Ethics Policy for Utah Educators.  USBE has requested that we distribute this revised policy to educators who will proctor or administer any state-mandated testing during the 2017-18 school year.

The changes to this policy focus primarily on incentives and disincentives for students taking state-mandated tests.  In addition, some clarification was provided on how SAGE test results can and cannot be used (see Summary of Changes: 2017-18 Utah Testing Ethics Policy document attached with this memo).

These changes do not require re-training of personnel.  Principals and district administrators are asked to distribute the USBE policy document and Summary of Changes: 2017-18 Utah Testing Ethics Policy that accompany this memo to faculty and staff responsible for testing before the Winter Break.  It is also recommended that this policy be available when principals train faculty members in preparation for the 2017-18 SAGE administration.

Please refer to Ben Jameson in the Evaluation, Research & Accountability Department with any questions or concerns.  He can be reached at 801-567-8243 or ben.jameson@jordandistrict.org

DATE:
December 1, 2017

TO:
School Psychologists

FROM:
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum/Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education
Fulvia Franco, Program Specialist – Guidance

SUBJECT:
December School Psychologists’ Meeting


A school psychologists’ meeting has been scheduled for Friday, December 8, 2017, from 12:00 to 3:30 p.m. at the Jordan School District Auxiliary Services Building Auditorium (7905 South Redwood Road). We will begin with a holiday luncheon at 12:00 p.m. Pam Awana, Ph.D., a psychologist in private practice, will provide us with a presentation on Ramifications of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Children and Adolescents.

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

cc:       Principals

 

A Surplus Reallocation and Auction is running on PublicSurplus.com which began on Thursday, November 2 and runs through Thursday, November 16. The reallocation items will roll to public auction until the end of November. Remember reallocation items are marked with a key icon; everything else is on the public auction. Please check to see if there are any items you may need at your schools. To see our items go to PublicSurplus.com

Please keep sending in your surplus paperwork as you get it so that we can continue to schedule pick-ups as needed. All paperwork is to be signed by your principal and then sent to your Administrator of Schools.

Thanks for all your help.

DATE: 
August 15, 2017

TO:    
Principals
School Psychologists
Counselors

FROM: 
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum/Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director–Special Education
Fulvia Franco, Program Specialist–Guidance Programs

SUBJECT:   
Procedures for Intervention with High-Risk Students


Attached is a copy of the document Procedures to be Followed with High-Risk Students that has been revised and modified to reflect changes in personnel and agency fee schedules.

Attachment

cc:
G. Norma Villar
Holly Bell

DATE: 
Thursday, November 9, 2017

TO:   
Secondary School Principals

FROM:  
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
2018 SAGE Writing for Grades 9-10


During their November meeting, the State Board of Education directed that the writing portion of the 9th and 10th grade ELA SAGE Summative assessments be removed for this year. This change will take effect starting with the spring 2018 SAGE Summative window, which begins on March 20, 2018. Students will still earn an overall scale score and proficiency level based on the ELA reading portion of the SAGE.

The writing portion of the ELA SAGE for grades 3-8 will still be administered.

The Evaluation, Research & Accountability Department will notify individual school Testing Coordinators.

Please contact Ben Jameson via email or at 801-567-8243 with any questions.