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Category: Middle School Action Required

Published on

DATE:     
December 14, 2016

TO:
All Elementary, Middle, and Traditional High School Principals

FROM: 
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Heather Ellingson, Director of Accounting, Budgets, and Audits

SUBJECT: 
December 2016 Budget Transfer Request

Please review your budgets and complete the attached Budget Transfer Request if you would like to transfer between your postage, supply, textbook and equipment budgets. The signed form is due back to Heather Ellingson no later than January 3, 2017.

Published on

Date:  
November 22, 2016

To:  
All School Head Financial Secretaries

From:  
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Heather Ellingson, Director of Accounting
Dan Ellis, Accountant/Internal Auditor

Subject: 
2016 W-9 Forms 1099 Information

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS THOROUGHLY – CALL IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS

Published on

Principals:

There are two issues that are causing great concern related to Transportation where we need your help.

First, there is a very serious disregard for the safety of our kids by motorists who are illegally failing to stop for our buses when the red lights are flashing and the stop arm is out. Last week we did a one day survey of stop arm violations and witnessed 61 motorists in one day passing our buses when students were loading or unloading and the red lights and stop arm were deployed. Of those 61, three were on the right (loading) side of the bus. Would you please make every effort to educate your patrons about this serious issue. We do not want our precious students injured by one of these careless motorists.

Second, we need your assistance keeping parents out of the bus loading/unloading zone at your school when buses are present. We are placing our bus drivers and buses in a dangerous situation where cars are blocking their unobstructed ingress and egress at your school. Please help us out by restricting cars from your bus pickup/drop off zones until the buses have a chance to leave.

Your support is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please contact Transportation Services 801-567-8840.

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Please see revised copy of the Classified Leave Policy Overview. This will be emailed to all benefit eligible Classified employees with a Jordan School District email account.

If you have employees without regular access to a computer or who are hired throughout the year please provide them a hard copy of this policy.

If employees have any questions regarding the need to miss work, please direct them to Penny Peart, HR Generalist at (801) 567-8249.

Published on

DATE:
October 3, 2016

TO:
Principals

FROM:
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Clyde Mason, Director of Evaluation, Reasearch and Accountability

SUBJECT:
Certification of Educators' Having Received Educator Evaluations Training

See attached memo and evaluation sign-off form.

Published on

USBE is assessing the quality of professional learning throughout the state based on the Utah Professional Learning Standards. All educators are invited to complete the Standards Assessment Inventory (SAI).  Administrators will be provided with access to data reports and resources that could be used in school improvement.  Please encourage your teachers to participate in the survey. You will receive more detailed information before the survey is distributed.

Published on

The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) is taking steps to assess the quality of professional learning throughout the state based on the Utah Professional Learning Standards. Learning Forward is supporting this effort by inviting all educators to participate in the Standards Assessment Inventory (SAI), a 58-item survey that will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Participating schools will have access to data reports and an extensive series of “Resource Briefs” that include activities and resources to address the Utah Professional Learning Standards that could be used in school improvement planning. Please encourage your teachers to participate in the SAI from October 10 – 21. All educators will receive an email once the survey is available. A FAQ sheet from Learning Forward is included as an attachment. If you have questions, please contact Shelley Nordick at shelley.nordick@jordandistrict.org or 801-567-8110.

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At the beginning of the school year a document was sent to all secondary principals discussing changes to student Active Directory accounts and passwords. – As a reminder a student’s Active Directory account is what students use to login to Windows and Mac computers. – Due to the number of student password reset calls still coming into the help desk and the low numbers of students who have enrolled in the Self Service Reset Password Manager (SSRPM) we are sending out that document as well as additional instructions on how students use SSRPM to reset their passwords after they have enrolled. Please make sure that all teachers who make use of school labs and mobile carts in their classes receive a copy of these two documents which are attached to this message.

Additionally, principals need to designate two members of their staff to reset student passwords. Principals should submit a request to the help desk for these individuals to be given the necessary securities and training to reset passwords by Oct 31. Suggested staff members to give this permission to are; Media Center Coordinators, Head Secretaries, Registrars, etc. It is unadvised to give this permission to teachers as they would be unavailable to reset passwords during classes. This is being done to reduce the number of calls coming into the help desk for student password resets and hopefully reduce the amount of time a student who has forgotten their password is out of class.

Please contact the help desk at 801-567-8737 or your school tech for any questions.

Published on
Constitution Day commemorates the formation and signing of the U.S. Constitution by thirty-nine brave men on September 17, 1787.  Each school is required to, in some way, commemorate Constitution Day each year.
 
Secondary History Dept chairs have been emailed resources that may help teachers. For resources and ideas, principals and elementary teachers, please go to socialstudies.jordandistrict.org/resources/

Published on

JSD Administrators and Administrative Assistants:

You will soon receive an email link to the Emergency Procedures and Contact Information 2016-17 manual (aka The Red Book).  Please take a moment to open it up and verify that your contact information is correct before we send it for printing.  If a correction is needed, please contact Peggy at ext.88753 or peggy.margetts@jordandistrict.org by end-of-day Friday, September 2nd.

You will receive your hard copy as soon as they are back from the printer.

Many thanks from the JSD Safety Team,
Paul Bergera, Auxiliary Services Staff Assistant
Lance Everill, Facility Operations Manager
Ron Boshard, Risk Management Coordinator
Peggy Margetts, Administrative Assistant

Published on

DATE:
August 31, 2016

TO:
Principals

FROM:
Administrators of Schools
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Clyde Mason, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:
An Upcoming Skylert Message:  2016 SAGE Individual Student Reports – Available in My Family Access

On September 7, 2016, the Communications Department will be sending out the following Skylert Message:

“Parents, if your student participated in 2016 SAGE assessments, her/his 2016 SAGE Individual Student Reports are available online within “My Family Access” under the “Report Card / Academic Progress” tab. Please contact your student’s school if you have questions about accessing or understanding your student’s 2016 SAGE Individual Student Reports.”        

Please be prepared to respond to parent questions regarding access to, and understanding of, the 2016 SAGE Individual Student Reports.

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Principals:

The course catalog committee will be recommencing on September 26th. If you would like to add a new course to the Jordan District Secondary Course Catalog, please complete the “Secondary Course Request Application” and submit it to the Course Catalog Committee for review through the established audit process for Jordan School District. The final Course Catalog Committee meeting will be held on Monday, November 21st at 1:00 p.m. If possible, please have all new course request applications submitted to Holly Bell before that time. If requests are not received by then, there is no guarantee that we will be able to complete an out-of-committee audit in time to have the course approved and included in the printed edition of the 2017-2018 Secondary Course Catalog.

Included is a file attachment for the committee calendar:
The Secondary Course Request Application link is as follows: http://jordandistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/fgen_Secondary_Course_Request_Application.pdf

It may also be located on the Jordan District website, under Resources/Forms and Documents/General, or at the following link:  jordandistrict.org/resources/forms/general/

Published on

Administrator Home and Hospital Forums

Home & Hospital has moved to the ASB (Auxiliary Service Building) on Redwood Road. Mary Ann Erdmann is the Home and Hospital administrator. Her office is located by the ISC, ASB South Entrance, near Purchasing.  Schools will continue to receive support and service for their home and hospital students.

Each site is asked to send an administrative representative to attend one of the following mandatory meetings to receive important information regarding home and hospital.

  • Monday, August 29th @ 1:00 p.m.
  • Tuesday, August 30th @ 9:00 a.m.
  • Wednesday, August 31st @ 1:00 p.m.
  • Thursday, September 1st @ 9:00 a.m.

All forums will be held in the Presentation Room C-100 (former Board Room) at the ASB and will last only one hour.

Published on

DATE:     
August 4, 2016

TO: 
All School Principals and School Head Financial Secretaries

FROM:   
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Heather Ellingson, Director of Accounting, Budgets and Audits
Daniel Ellis, Accountant/Internal Auditor

SUBJECT: 
Unclaimed Property

 “The Utah Unclaimed Property Act (Section 67-67-4a) requires that a holder report to the State Treasurer property which is presumed to be “abandoned” or “unclaimed” after the stated dormancy period.”

For school purposes, unclaimed property is defined as property (checks, book refunds, lunch refunds, or other unclaimed balances, but not current school lunch balances) that is due to a payee but have never been cashed or collected and that are dormant for a period of one year as of June 30, 2016.  Checks written BEFORE July 1, 2015 AND not cashed by June 30, 2016 are considered unclaimed property.

Every effort should be made to contact the student or payee and ensure that they receive payment that is due to them.  If you cannot locate a student or payee, then the money must be sent to the State.  It is preferable to void an old check and reissue a new one than to send the money to the State.  Schools may not simply “write off” a check and add the money back into school accounts just because it was never cashed.  Nor may a school take uncollected refunds and add the money back into school accounts.  It is illegal.  If an outstanding check should legitimately be voided, then documentation must be made as to why the check was voided.  Otherwise, the State will consider a voided check without documentation to be unclaimed property.

Attached is a reporting form that must be completed and sent to Dan Ellis by September 30, 2016 along with a school check written to Jordan School District for the amount of reported unclaimed property.  If you have no unclaimed property, report $0.00.

All individual items that are under $50 per item may be combined and reported in one lump sum.  For example, if you have 10 checks and/or unclaimed book refunds individually each for less than $50, then you may have one line item on the report for the total of those items.  You should put “aggregate” in the column requesting the owner’s name, the total aggregated in the column of amount due owner, and MS99 in the property code column.  You do not need to report each item less than $50 individually.

Checks issued prior to July 1, 2015 that are currently outstanding should be voided in Skyward.  You will need to write a check to Jordan School District charging the account(s) that were charged with the original check.

Please call Dan Ellis at (801)567-8389 with any questions.

Published on

DATE:
July 1, 2016

TO:    
Principals
Head/Financial Secretaries
Special Education Teachers (Resource and Cluster)
Speech-Language Pathologists

FROM:   
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curric./Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education
Julie Brown, Program Specialist

SUBJECT:  
Special Education Budget Allocations 2016-17

See attached memo and budget guidelines.

 

Published on

Principals:

In an effort to increase participation in School Community Councils the Jordan School Board School Community Council committee has created a flyer and poster to provide information to those interested in learning more about School Community Councils. The flyers are to be distributed at your Back-To-School Night and other activities at the beginning of the school year.

The poster, in both English and Spanish, is attached to this JAM. Please post in prominent locations in your school.  

You will receive your school specific flyer and instructions of how to distribute it to your patrons through email.

Published on

DATE:
July 18, 2016

TO: 
Principals
All Special Educators and Service Providers

FROM:  
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curric./Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education
Julie Brown, Program Specialist

SUBJECT:  
SCRAM for 2016-17 School Year

See attached memo for guidelines and multiple deadlines.

Published on

DATE:    
July 30, 2016

TO: 
Principals

FROM: 
Administrators of Schools

SUBJECT: 
Crucial Concerns and Policies 2016-17

Jordan School District Employees are responsible for knowing and adhering to all District policies and procedures. The Crucial Concerns and Policies acknowledgement process has been put in place to provide employees a summary of important policies and procedures to be reviewed each year. The policy review will be available to all District employees in Skyward through “Online Forms.” The review provides summaries of selected policies and asks that employees review the summaries and then sign an acknowledgement of completion and agreement. Employees will be asked to read the summaries of policies but will not be required to answer any questions. In addition to acknowledging completion of the review, employees will also acknowledge agreement to the Employee Acceptable Use Policy and the JSD Social Media Guidelines. You will not have to collect signature pages as you have in the past.

Care has been taken to select important points of the selected policies to save administrators time from having to review each policy and to save employees time from having to read the entire policy. Please emphasize to employees the implications of not being aware of policies and encourage them to review the summaries and read the actual policy where needed. Also emphasize to your staff that the summaries are not policy and it is imperative to read applicable policies in their entirety when dealing with school, student, and personnel issues.

The Crucial Policies and Concerns process will be available to all employees July 20. A message will appear upon login of Skyward Employee Access for the employee to complete an “Online Form.” Employees can complete the steps at that time or can return to the review at another time by selecting “Online Forms” under “Employee Information.” Employees will need to review the policies and complete the acknowledgement before September 30, 2016. Reports of completion will be available through Skyward so you can verify that your staff members have completed this process. If you or any staff members need technical help, please call USER support at
801-567-USER (8737).

The lists of crucial policies and concerns for both classified employees and licensed employees included in the review, as well as instructions for completing the review, are attached.  Please note: JPAS Orientation and Testing Ethics are not included in this review and will need to be shared with appropriate staff. State law now requires child abuse prevention training for all employees using materials approved through the Utah State Board of Education. A training kit will be provided to all schools for this purpose when it becomes available in August or September.

 

Crucial Policy and Concerns Review for Licensed Employees

Jordan School District employees are responsible for knowing and adhering to all District policies and procedures. The following is a list of policies and concerns that are to be reviewed annually. A review of these policies will be available to all employees through Skyward’s Online Forms. Employees will receive a message upon login to Skyward Employee Access to complete the process. In addition, the form will be available through Skyward Employee Access by selecting “Online Forms” under “Employee Information.”  The summaries provided in the review are not policy, so it is imperative to read applicable policies in their entirety when dealing with school, student, and personnel issues. The Jordan School District Policy Manual can be found at http://policymanual.jordandistrict.org/.

Call USER support at 801-567-USER (8737) for assistance.

Personnel Policies

DP324 NEG Sick Leave – Licensed

  • DP335 NEG Personal Leave – Licensed
  • DP336 NEG Leave of Absence (1 Year) – Licensed
  • DP337 NEG Leave of Absence (15 Days) – Licensed
  • DP322 Family and Medical Leave Act
  • DP311 Evaluation of Licensed Employees
  • DP316 NEG Orderly Termination Procedures -- Licensed
  • DP318 Resignations – Licensed
  • DP356 Substance Abuse-Free Work Environment
  • DP358 Employee Discrimination and Harassment
  • DP353NEG Assault or Abuse of Employees
  • DP371 Employee Information Network Acceptable Use Policy and Social Media
  • DP374 Employment Background Checks
  • DP346 Industrial Accidents
  • AA409 Scope of Employment
  • AA444 Employee Involvement in Private, But Public Education-Related Activities

Student, Instructional, and School Management Policies

  • AS70 Child Abuse-Neglect Reporting by School Personnel
  • AS97 Management of Concussions and Traumatic Head Injuries
  • AS85 Medication in the School Setting
  • AA419 Student Conduct and Dress
  • AS67 Discipline of Students
  • AA418 Discipline of Students – Staff Responsibilities
  • AS90 Drugs and Alcohol
  • AS94 Student Discrimination and Harassment
  • AS95 Conduct related to School Activities
  • AS96 Extracurricular Activity Privileges
  • AA408 Fees
  • AA445 Student Information Network Acceptable Use Policy
  • AA432 Student Attendance and Teacher Disclosure Statements
  • D200 Philosophy of Instruction
  • DE505 Acceptable Use of Copyrighted Materials in Jordan School District
  • AA437 Parental Involvement and School Community Councils
  • DA158 School Trespass
  • AS93 Open Enrollment (School Choice)
  • DA151 Use of Public School Buildings and Grounds as Civic Centers

Video Presentations

  • Universal Precautions Video
  • JSD Social Media Guidelines Video
  • Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Overview Video
  • Globally Harmonized System (Hazard Communication Training) Video

 

Crucial Policy and Concerns Review for Classified Employees

Jordan School District employees are responsible for knowing and adhering to all District policies and procedures. The following is a list of policies and concerns that are to be reviewed annually. A review of these policies will be available to all employees through Skyward’s Online Forms. Employees will receive a message upon login to Skyward Employee Access to complete the process. In addition, the form will be available through Skyward Employee Access by selecting “Online Forms” under “Employee Information.”  The summaries provided in the review are not policy, so it is imperative to read applicable policies in their entirety when dealing with school, student, and personnel issues. The Jordan School District Policy Manual can be found at http://policymanual.jordandistrict.org/.

Call USER support at 801-567-USER (8737) for assistance.

Personnel Policies

  • DP326 NEG Sick Leave – Classified
  • DP335BNEG Personal Leave—Classified
  • DP337B NEG Leave of Absence (Personal – 15 Days) – Classified
  • DP336B NEG Leave of Absence (1 Year) – Classified
  • DP322 Family and Medical Leave Act
  • DP371 Employee Information Network Acceptable Use Policy and Social Media
  • DP374 Employment Background Checks
  • DP346 Industrial Accidents
  • DP356 Substance Abuse-Free Work Environment
  • DP358 Employee Discrimination and Harassment
  • DP353NEG Assault or Abuse of Employees
  • AA409 Scope of Employment
  • DP312 Evaluation of Classified Personnel
  • DP316B Orderly Termination – Classified

Student, Instructional, and School Management Policies

  • AS70 Child Abuse-Neglect Reporting by School Personnel
  • AS97 Management of Concussions and Traumatic Head Injuries
  • AS96 Extracurricular Activity Privileges
  • DA151 Use of Public School Buildings and Grounds as Civic Centers
  • DE505 Acceptable Use of Copyrighted Materials in Jordan School District

Video Presentations

  • Universal Precautions Video
  • JSD Social Media Guidelines Video
  • Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Overview Video
  • Globally Harmonized System (Hazard Communication Training) Video

Published on

DATE:    
July 1, 2016

TO:   
Principals

FROM: 
Administrators of Schools
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Clyde Mason, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
2016-17 Required Testing Ethics Professional Development Procedures

Instructions, materials, and documentation forms for the required 2016-17 Testing Ethics professional development, are being sent to schools via the Jordan Administrative Memo (JAM).  These materials will also be available online at http://assessments.jordandistrict.org/ethics/ .  The four required procedures for completing this testing ethics professional development are listed on the “2016-17 Principal’s Test Ethics Checklist” form provided in the materials.

It is important that all school leaders and teachers be reminded that the professional testing ethics required for all State-mandated assessments such as SAGE, ACT, and WIDA Access, also apply to all District-mandated assessments such as benchmark tests, SLO assessments, and other District-created assessments including MasteryConnect® assessments.  Students must not be given secured assessment questions as homework or discussion items.  Any use of secured assessment questions for instruction, discussion, or homework compromises the validity and integrity of the assessment questions and constitutes a violation of professional testing ethics protocol.

Principals are to make sure that teachers understand that professional testing ethics must be followed when working with District-mandated as well as State-mandated assessments. Principals are also to remind teachers that any potential disciplinary action specified for violating professional testing ethics on State-mandated assessments, also applies to any violation of professional testing ethics on District-mandated assessments.