Category: Middle School Action Required

Reduction In Staff (RIS) resources for administrators are included below.  Please contact an HR administrator and/or your respective AOS with any questions.

1. District Policy : Reduction In Licensed Staff - DP327 NEG

This policy includes a link to the RIS Guidelines (RIS Rubric Criteria for Teachers and Counselors)

• • • https://policy.jordandistrict.org/dp327-neg-reduction-in-licensed-staff/

2. Reduction In Staff Licensed Employee Request Form

By February 26, 2021, principal are to submit their RIS recommendation(s) to their Administrator of Schools and the Administrator of Human Resources for approval. However, if additional time is needed, please contact your AOS and respective HR Administrator. Once RIS requests are approved, principals will then receive a letter from an HR administrator for each approved RIS, which will prompt principals to meet with the RIS’d employee, complete the Right To Return Form, obtain signatures and return this form to the respective HR administrator.

• • • https://employment.jordandistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/RIS-Request-2017-fillable-2.pdf

DATE:   
Thursday, February 25, 2021

TO: 
All Principals

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

SUBJECT: 
USBE School Climate Survey

Please see the attached memo and documents that are mentioned in the memo.

2021 USBE School Climate Survey

Parent Notification and Opt Out Secondary

Parent Notification and Opt Out Secondary SPANISH

Climate Survey FAQ 02-22-2021 – ED

Parent Notification and Opt Out Elementary

Parent Notification and Opt Out Elementary SPANISH

Parent Survey Invitation Letter

School Climate Survey Questions

The LAND Trust Plan needs to be a component of your TSSA Plan. Your School Community Council reviews the data and provides comments on the TSSA Plan. Understand what the TSSA Plan is and be familiar with the data.

When presenting the data to SCC present what is in place in your LAND Trust and TSSA Plans. Make it parent friendly with the statements used. Give time for them to ask questions. Make sure they feel comfortable.

When putting together your 2021-22 LAND Trust Plan be a brief as possible in providing all of the necessary information.

Use the Data Review to identify critical academic needs.

Create the Goal: Goals must be – Student Centered, Measurable, and Academic
Focus on student improvement and success
Identify the goal and fit your needs to the goal. Don’t just use it as a shopping list
How do we define success?
What will we do?
What do we need?
If multiple goals are in the same subject combine it into one goal
Keep the amount of goals smaller

GOAL:
One Statement
Such as – “Improve 8^th grade science scores from 55% to 59%”

MEASUREMENT:
What is the method of coming up with the assessment? How will we know that goal has been met? “Acadience scores”

ACTION PLAN:
Have it be research based. Every expenditure should be discussed in the Action Plan and matched to the action - so it shows how it all fits together. Use:
* A bullet list or
* Outline

“If we receive more funds” – Be thinking of other things you could do, in current goals as well as additional goals.

Recent changes regarding Behavioral Intervention:
Can be a part of the action plan
No longer has a $ limit
Must be tied to an academic goal
Use data to show how it will support the goal

Regarding the website update
It will be more steam lined
The website should be ready for the final reports to be added by March 5, 2021
The 2021-22 Upcoming Plan can’t be submitted until the final report is done and submitted

Final Reports
Using a copy of the 2019-2020 School Plan as a template, prepare responses to each item (text) in each goal or question entered in the original School Plan and Amendment, as necessary.
Expenditures will not be entered by the principal but will be displayed for response and explanation by the council.
School plan expenditures from 2019-2020 may be obtained from the business administrator.

2021-22 Upcoming Plan
A template from the State LAND Trust website is attached to this JAM
Your school plan is due to your AOS by March 26, 2021
The same deadlines are necessary in order to stay on track with reviews by the AOS’ and the approval by the Jordan School District Board of Education.

Please review the attached Land Trust Guidelines in order to place the expenditures under the correct categories.

Land Trust Training Recap 2.5.21

2021-22 Upcoming School LAND Trust Plan Template

Land Trust Guidelines Rev 2.11.21

This is a reminder for principals to complete their EARS funding request form. EARS funding provides an opportunity for schools to respond to the needs of their EL (ML) students. As you begin to think of ways to use the money, the Educational Language Services Department can provide training on what great Parent Home Visits look like, how to use the WIDA Can-Do statements, and how to strengthen Tier I instruction. Please reach out to Michelle Love-Day in Educational Language Services for any questions. Please use this link to request the EARS funding for use with your EL(ML) students this year.

The Utah Legislature has allocated funding to the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) to use to incentivize educators across the state to achieve endorsements in the STEM subjects. The USBE will be using these funds to provide reimbursement for applicable STEM endorsement coursework for both elementary and secondary educators for courses. Funding distribution will be on a first come first serve basis until allocated funds are depleted.

Please see information below or click HERE.

STEM Endorsement Incentive Program FAQ

Brigham Young University Career Services is seeking feedback that will help them not only recruit people into education but also help prepare graduates in education to perform well in the hiring process. The attached survey is brief but will provide significant information. Responses will be confidential. Please help out by taking the survey. Thank you!

Principal Survey - https://byu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e3EcN4ztIyxGYkJ

This meeting will follow the format of the past meetings. The agenda and meeting links will be sent out by Monday, February 1st. The meeting will start at 8:00 a.m. and a beverage service will be available beginning at 7:30 a.m.

At this meeting we are going to have Natalie Gordon, from the State Land Trust Office, come and do training with all of you on how to make a concise Land Trust Plan. The plan needs to be Student Centered, Measurable, and Academic. She's going to explain what needs to go into the different parts of the plan; Goal, Measurements, and Action Plan Steps. She will also be available to answer questions at the end.

Looking forward, the website is still under construction and it will come back up later than expected. When it comes back up the 2019-20 Final Reports will need to be completed as well as the 2021-22 plan.

A few housekeeping items for Land Trust:

At the February 2, 2021 Principal Meeting we are going to have Natalie Gordon, from the State Office, come and do training with all of you on how to make a concise Land Trust Plan. The plans need to be Student Centered, Measurable, and Academic. She's going to explain what needs to go into the different parts of the plan; Goal, Measurements, and Action Plan Steps. She will also be available to answer questions at the end.

The website is still under construction. When it comes back up the 2019-20 Final Reports will need to be completed.

Our Board of Education has asked that we verify that training with your School Community Councils has been completed prior to the 2021-22 plan being submitted. Completion of the training will be confirmed with your AOS. To help you with the training we are including some links and a Power Point as resources to provide this training.

This video gives a brief introduction of how Utah received trust lands at statehood, how the land creates revenue for schools, how that revenue is invested, and how earnings are distributed through the School LAND Trust program.
Utah School & Institutional Trust System  can be found on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/qlr0wFacsyk. 

School Community Council Training videos and more information can be found on the School Trust System on the website.
https://schools.utah.gov/schoollandtrust/training

A Jordan School District training video was recorded previously with Mike Anderson and Tracy Miller. That link can be found here:
https://jordandistrict.org/resources/communitycouncil/

Here is the PowerPoint that Mike Anderson has used in previous trainings.

SCC presentation 2020

A new record, Method of Instruction, has been created in the Skyward student profile to track a student’s learning method, whether full-time In-Person, full-time Online, or Hybrid (both in-person and online). The Method of Instruction can be used in many reports, including attendance reports, scheduling reports and data mining.  In addition, an indicator will appear in the upper, right-hand corner of the student’s profile screen for Virtual and Hybrid students.  The indicator is a blue-green .  This will help to quickly identify the student’s instruction method.

Below are some key dates in regards to Method of Instruction:

• On November 23, 2020, Information Systems pre-populated the Method of Instruction for all students.
• Beginning January 4, 2021, schools will need to maintain the Method of Instruction record as they enroll new students.
• Information Systems will again update the Method of Instruction on January 20, 2021. This will ensure accuracy after the semester change.
• After January 20, 2021, schools will need to maintain the Method of Instruction record for all students going forward. There are 3 scenarios in which the Method of Instruction would need to be added/updated:

1. 1. New enrollment – Students would need a new Method of Instruction record created.
   2. Withdrawal – As students withdraw, the Method of Instruction record needs to have an end date entered.
   3. When a student changes their schedule in a manner that would change their learning method the Method of Instruction record would need to be updated.

A tutorial on how to add/update the Method of Instruction record can be found in the Information Systems Documentation Folder.  If you have any questions regarding Method of Instruction, please reference this tutorial or contact the help desk.

Method of Instruction Tutorial

Thank you all for your patience and understanding this year with your technology orders.  We have experienced unprecedented delays on the most popular models of Chromebooks, laptops, and even Apple laptops and iPads.

Here are a few updates and recommendations regarding these devices:

• JSD’s Information Systems department has now asked that we purchase the Jamf School device management licenses for all Apple devices.  We’ve been buying these for the last year or two for the iPads, but this requirement now extends to iMacs, MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros, all iPad models, iPods, etc.  If you are requesting your own quotes from Apple, please ask the sales representative to include these on the quote for you.  You will need a license for each device.  These are ordered under Apple part# HL2M2LL/A, and run $17.50/each.
• Apple iPads are now experiencing 6-8 week order lead times.  Please plan ahead for your purchases.
• Other Apple devices are typically on 4-6 week order lead times.
• Please be aware that Apple has recently discontinued models with Intel processors, and are being replaced with the new Apple processors.  If you have an old quote, we may need to update it to the new equivalent part number.   So far prices seem to be the same.
• For your Chromebooks, for the most part these are on 16+ week order lead times, and the touchscreen models seem to be taking longer than the basic Chromebook.
• Please check with Tonya Hodges in Purchasing if you need a rush order on the basic Chromebooks.  Occasionally we can find vendors that have them in stock, but at higher prices.  We can work with you on a case by case basis to see if we may make a purchasing exception to get you some stock right away for your immediate needs, but use the better pricing and longer lead times to get the remainder of your Chromebooks.
• It is recommended to start planning now and place orders by the end of January 2021for Chromebooks you will need for the 2021-22 school year.  This would allow enough time to get the devices delivered by summer break and ready to go for the start of school in August.

Please contact Tonya Hodges in the Purchasing Department at tonya.hodges@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8706 for assistance with your Technology orders.

In anticipation of next year's planning and scheduling, we will be turning pre-transfers on earlier than we have in the past. We have scheduled this task for the afternoon of December 11th. You should then be able to start running reports and see your next year's students beginning December 14th.

A few reminders about pre-transfers:

• A pre-transfer is an active student who is currently attending Jordan School District and will be attending next year at a different school within Jordan School District. The student’s record will pre-transfer to the student’s next year boundary school based on their current address.
• Once pre-transfers are turned on the School Pathtab will show current year permits under Previous Reason Code and next year permits under Reason Code.
• Current permits for 6^thand 9^th grade students will be removed for next year as of December 10th. This will allow these students to pre-transfer to their new entity for next year.

In addition to turning on pre-transfers, the course master will be rolled over on December 10th for next year scheduling preparation.

Please contact the help desk with any questions or concerns regarding the timing of the pre-transfer process.