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Category: High Schools

Published on

DATE:       
January 10, 2018

TO:  
Principals
Resource Team Leaders

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

SUBJECT:  
Projected Caseload Process for 2018-19 Resource Allocations

Based on Administrative recommendations, the hiring window has been moved up to meet the increasing demands caused by teacher shortages, particularly in specific job categories. The Staffing 2.0 allocations are scheduled to be released by mid-February. To address this advanced timeline, the Special Education Department will be making resource staffing allocations differently than in the past. This method should make the workload on special education teachers and team leaders much easier. Please read through this information carefully because it is a new process. If you have any questions, please contact your assigned teacher specialist.

Caseload Information

  • No mid-year SCRAM report will be required. Please continue to send in SCRAM changes as they occur throughout the year. You will still be completing an End-of-Year SCRAM report.
  • Your December 1 SCRAM report will be used as the baseline for next year’s caseload estimate.
  • A 3-year average of incoming students to your school has been calculated to provide an estimate of incoming students in the youngest grade at your school. This number was added to your December 1 SCRAM numbers.
  • The number of students leaving your school in the exiting grade has been calculated. This number was subtracted from your December 1 SCRAM numbers.
  • Finally, we’ve maintained a trend line (for some schools since the 2002-03 SY) that shows estimated caseload versus actual caseloads on Oct. 1 and Dec. 1 SCRAM. We will use this trend line to make adjustments to estimates as needed.
  • All allocations will be conservative and may be re-evaluated at the end of this school year or after the Oct. 1 2018 count has been finalized.

Timeline

  • Initial allocations of certified special education FTE will be provided to the Human Resources Department in time for your 2.0 FTE Allocation.
  • Each Principal will receive a letter outlining their estimated caseload numbers for 2018-19 and the projected resource FTE allocation for 2018-19.
  • We will only be sending the allocation letter to each school’s principal.

Requests for Resource Instructional Assistants

In April, we will send a packet of information to each Resource and Support Class team to request instructional assistants for 2018-19. This will include a regular resource assistant allocation and the information needed to request Critical Needs Instructional Assistants. This timeline should allow your teams to have a better idea of which students with additional staffing needs will be attending your school for 2018-19.

Published on

DATE:
January 18, 2018

TO:
Principals
Special Education Staff

FROM: 
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum/Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education
Julie Brown, Program Specialist-Special Education
Courtney Titus, Program Specialist-Special Education

SUBJECT: 
Extended School Year (ESY) Qualification Procedures and Timelines

Please see attached memo for guidelines.

Published on

School nurses work hard behind the scenes to ensure the health and safety of the students in our schools. Do you love your school nurse? If you recognize the critical role your school nurse plays in your school, please complete the attached application (to the extent that you are able). Send it and at least two of the required letters to Nancy Ward in Educational Support. The other requirements will be completed for you. Many thanks!

Published on

DATE: 
January 9, 2018

TO:  
School Psychologists/School Psychology Interns

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

SUBJECT: 
January School Psychologists’ Meeting

A school psychologists’ meeting has been scheduled for Friday, January 19, 2018, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Auxiliary Services Building Auditorium. Verne C. Larsen, Regional Prevention Director with the Division of Substance Abuse Mental Health, will provide us with a presentation titled Unleashing the Power of Prevention.

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

cc:
Principals

Published on

Beginning January 2018, the “District/School Related Activity or Request for Third Party Reimbursement Form” will be significantly modified as follows.

  • Requests for District/School Related Activities will no longer be required or submitted. Absences entered into AESOP and Skyward must include notes to indicate details of the District/School Related Activity.  These reports will be reviewed monthly by both the HR Substitute Office and Payroll Department.  The administrative assistant or person responsible for substitutes at your location will be contacted if insufficient information is submitted or discrepancies exist.
  • A NEW “Request for Third Party Reimbursement Form” was created and is required when any outside agency will be reimbursing the District for the cost of a substitute. (See attached)

 

NEW HR Websites:                      

http://workatjordan.org/

(replaces hr.jordandistrict.org)

http://workatjordan.org/adminonly/

(replaces hr.jordandistrict.org/AdminOnly)

http://workatjordan.org/hrconnections/     

(replaces hr.jordandistrict.org/secretaryconnections)

 

For your convenience, please bookmark these new websites.

Published on

Please be aware of the increasing popularity of vaping among our youth.  A new device is showing up in classrooms called JUUL, an e-cigarette that can be concealed easily because it looks like a USB flash drive and has cartridges that are available in many kid-friendly flavors.  JUUL now has the highest market share (in tracked channels), surpassing Reynolds’ Vuse as the most popular e-cigarette product.  Here are some recent news articles about JUUL and youth:

·         “A mango-scented flash-drive-looking device lets kids smoke in class,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 12, 2017:  http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2017/12/12/JUUL-vaporizer-nicotine-flash-drive-small-concealable-e-cigarette/stories/201712120151

·         “Teenagers Embrace JUUL, Saying It's Discreet Enough To Vape In Class,” NPR, December 4, 2017: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/12/04/568273801/teenagers-embrace-juul-saying-its-discreet-enough-to-vape-in-class

·         “Juul e-cigs: The controversial vaping device popular on school campuses,” USA Today, October 31, 2017: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2017/10/31/juul-e-cigs-controversial-vaping-device-popular-school-campuses/818325001/

Published on

Utah Retirement Systems is offering individual Retirement Planning Sessions on February 7, 2018 at Oquirrh Hills Middle School. Please review the attached flyer to sign-up instructions.

Published on

HR has been busy working on a fresh, new website which will go live on Monday, January 8th. The url is workatjordan.org for all of your HR needs. The AdminOnly and SecretaryConnections (now called HRConnections) websites will be accessed through workatjordan.org/adminonly and workatjordan.org/hrconnections. Please update any bookmarks you may have.

HR will be holding the 2nd administrator training of the year on Thursday, January 11th at both 9:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. for your convenience. Hiring Best Practices along with procedures related to Non-Renewals, RIS, Transfer Fairs, and Hiring processes will be discussed. As the hiring season is upon us, it is highly recommended that all administrators attend in order to review these processes and procedures. We hope to see you at one of the trainings. (see attachment)

Some reminders from the “Critical Dates” timeline: (see attachment)

  • You may post hard to fill positions in January to replace licensed employees who have submitted resignations.
  • The due date for submitting Non-Renewals and Provisional Status Extensions is February 5th.
  • Teacher Transfer Fair is on February 20 for both Elementary @ Columbia Elementary and Secondary @ Elk Ridge Middle. (see attachment)

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The mileage reimbursement rate is based upon the IRS rate. Effective January 1, 2018, the reimbursement rate is $0.545 per mile. Please use the attached form when submitting for mileage reimbursement. All 2017 mileage reimbursement requests should be submitted as soon as possible.

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Please note that the District Office will be closing at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, December 22, 2017. If any adjustments need to be made on December paychecks it will need to be taken care of by noon on this day. Any other questions or concerns will need to be taken care of prior to 4:00 p.m. The District Office will reopen on Tuesday, January 2, 2018 at 8:00 a.m.