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Category: Middle Schools

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Greetings Utah Educators and Leaders!

I hope you are all well and enjoying the fleeting last weeks of the “New Now” school year.  It has been absolutely marvelous to see all of the amazing work that Utah educators are doing to support their students and communities.  Every time I get out of the house for a drive as a break from isolation, I am blissfully berated by beautiful signs, posters, and balloons supporting both students and teachers.  It is a bright spot in my day and makes me smile as I reflect on the monumental work you are all doing.

Last Thursday, the Utah State Board of Education approved five educator licensing rules/amendments; this also makes me smile!  Thanks to feedback from LEAs, educator preparation programs, and educators, we have made some modifications to the pending licensing structure.  I have linked each of the rules’ draft if you want to look at the precise language.  For your convenience in these busy times, I have provided a shortlist of the changes within each rule.

R277-301 – Educator Licensing

  • Communication Disorders license area now called: Audiologist
  • Associate Educator Licenses, License Areas, or Endorsements are valid for THREE years, with a one-year extension available.
  • Currently licensed educators who apply to add an Associate Educator License Area, do not need to complete the Canvas Pedagogical Modules.
  • Applicants with an educator license from out-of-state and at least one year of teaching may waive the content knowledge (PRAXIS) and pedagogical assessment requirements.
  • LEA-Specific licenses may be granted in special education and preschool special education license areas provided the LEA meets other requirements for LEA-Specific licensure and provides educator special education law training within the first month of employment.
  • Eminence License rules outlined, moved from R277-309.

R277-302 – Educator License Renewal

  • Professional educator licenses may be renewed with 100 points in four categories:  professional learning experiences, educator collaboration opportunities, professional service, and alternate learning opportunities.  Note that teaching experience is no longer an option for points’ accrual.  Please see the rule for more details.  Resources and renewal forms from USBE are forthcoming.
  • LEAs are required to provide a minimum of 20 points/hours of professional learning to educators each year.
  • Professionally licensed educators may choose to use the current renewal system (200 points including teaching experience points) until June 30, 2025.

R277-303 – Teacher Preparation Programs

  • An Alternate Pathway to Professional Educator Licensure (APPEL) program may be developed by and individual LEA or a consortium of LEAs.

R277-306 – EPPs for School Psychologists, Audiologists, SLPs, SLTs, and Counselors

  • School Counselor license area requires a master’s degree in school counseling or a master’s degree in a related field and a licensure program.

R277-309 – Appropriate Licensing of Teachers

  • Eminence License rules removed and moved to R277-301.

R277-500 – Licensing Renewal (REPEALED)

As we move into “The Near Future,” services are becoming more available; educator-related services are included!  Specifically, fingerprinting services and testing services are now opening!  Hooray!!!

Some fingerprinting locations have started processing fingerprints on a limited basis.  Please encourage educators who need to complete a background check to call ahead to verify hours and operation precautions, such as wearing a face mask.  If your LEA is doing fingerprinting, please work to establish policies and procedures, including the use of appropriate PPE (gloves, masks, etc.), to keep your employees and those you serve safe.

ETS has announced the Praxis® tests at home solution in response to closures of testing centers. Registration for the first wave of tests begins on May 15 with the first test administration taking place on May 18.  While not all of the content assessments will be offered in the first wave of tests at home, most will be available by June 1st.  ETS’ COVID-19 website has been updated with some key information regarding the at home solution.

As you encourage your educators to meet requirements for licensure, including background checks and testing, the Educator Licensing team is optimistic that these adjustments will help educators become appropriately licensed prior to the upcoming school year.  Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.  I know that many changes to licensing (an already complicated arena) lend itself to more questions.  We are here to help you support teachers!

Thank you for all that you do to support Utah’s students and teachers!  We will charge into “The New Future” together!

Kindest regards,

Malia

 _________________________

Malia Hite, Ed.D.

Educator Licensing Coordinator

Teaching & Learning   |  Utah State Board of Education

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School Technology Check-in and Cleaning Guidelines:

  1. Make check-in appointments using proper social distancing inside and outside the building.
  2. Collect devices using masks and gloves.
  3. Wipe down devices with disinfectant provided by the custodial department. Do not spray disinfectant directly onto devices.
  4. Store devices for at least a week before reissuing.
  5. Principals should contact their AOS with questions regarding technology fines for damages.

Published on

DATE:
May 12, 2020

TO:   
Principals
Elementary and Middle School Resource Team Leaders
High School Special Education Team Leaders
Self-contained Support Class Teachers

FROM:      
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Special Education Director

SUBJECT:
Progress Report Statements

The Progress Report Statements memo contains instructions about statements that should be included in your year-end Goalview Progress Reports. Please share this information with the Special Education team at your school.

Published on

DATE:  
May 13, 2020

TO:     
Principals
All Certified Special Education Staff

FROM:  
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education

SUBJECT: 
Year-End Checkout for Traditional Schools/Year-Round Schools

See Items listed that need your attention as you prepare to close out the 2019-20 school year. Please contact your school's Special Education Teacher Specialist for clarification if you have questions or concerns.

Published on

The State has contacted us to please review our discipline referral entries and to make sure each one has an incident code. It is important that the State has our accurate data. Please have this completed by May 29, 2020.

The State reports that there are many data entry issues in Jordan District when entering student discipline/incidents into Skyward. Either incidents are not being entered into Skyward or the data is entered incorrectly. As an example of the latter, we have approximately 2300 incidents in Skyward for this school year whose offense code is one that should be reported to the state. However, at least half of those have not been assigned an incident number which is a key field Skyward uses to determine if it should submit the record to the state.

PLEASE go back and review your discipline logs and make sure that all codes and incident numbers are entered correctly in Skyward. This information is collected state-wide and reported to the State Superintendent, Governor and other state officials.

THANK YOU!! Mary Ann Erdmann

Published on

Please advise your staff that Insurance Open Enrollment for this year is changing to May 15- June 30.  Let your staff know that they need to get a confirmation that they have gone in and updated or verified that everything is correct. Attached are Open Enrollment Highlights.

Insurance Open Enrollment May 15- June 30 for a September Effective Date

Enrollment elections will be made using www.infinityhr.com, the JSD online enrollment tool. All benefit eligible employees should log into the online system to verify dependents, beneficiaries and verify benefit elections. Included in attached Open Enrollment Highlights are InfinityHR enrollment instructions.

The following changes may be made during the open enrollment period.

  • Enroll in a new insurance plan
  • Change or cancel an existing insurance plan
  • Add or cancel members from an existing plan
  • Flexible Spending elections (new elections must be made each year you wish to participate)

Published on

DATE:  
May 11, 2020

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:     
May School Psychologist, Elementary Counselor, and School Social Workers Meeting

The meeting for school psychologists, elementary counselors, and school social workers that was scheduled for Friday, May 15, 2020, from 12:00 noon to 3:30 p.m. at the Jordan School District’s Auxiliary Services Building (7905 South Redwood Road) has been canceled due to the soft closure of our schools. Our Fall Guidance meetings are scheduled for August 4, 5, 6, and 7, 2020. More information about the Fall Guidance meetings will be included in your assignment letters.

cc:
Principals

Published on

DATE:
May 1, 2020

TO:
All Principals

FROM:
Administrator of Schools
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Caleb Olson, Consultant of Planning and Enrollment
Scott Festin, Consultant of Planning and Enrollment

SUBJECT:
Student Enrollment for April 2020

Please see document below.

Published on

DATE:  
Thursday, May 14, 2020

TO:   
All Principals

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

SUBJECT:    
Release of the 2020 Stakeholder Survey School Reports

In the next few days, principals will receive an email containing a shared Google folder.  The folder will contain the following:

  • The 2020 Stakeholder Survey Final Report
  • Reports for each licensed educator, administrator, counselor, and support staff

Principals should distribute individual educator reports in one of two ways:

  • As in the past, principals may print individual educator reports from the 2020 Stakeholder Survey Final Report. These reports can be included as part of checkout or they can be distributed to each educator separately.
  • Principals may also email individual educator reports.

No Educator Effectiveness Scores will be released this year because that requirement has been waived by the USBE for this school year because of the soft closure of schools.

Survey data will be released to principals via Tableau Viewer accounts sometime next week. If principals would like survey data to be released to their assistant principals, please contact Ben Jameson; otherwise, only principals will be given access to the survey dashboards.

Please contact Ben Jameson with any questions or concerns.

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Below is information from the Resilient Utah Team along with a message from Governor Gary R. Herbert. We're sending you this information, they are asking to be sent out to parents, for your information only. You do not need to send it out. It is being sent to all parents through our Communications Department.

 

Dear Utah Principals,

Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert has declared May 2020 as Utah Resilience Month. Please click on the link below to review important information for principals state-wide.

We are so appreciative of your efforts to support your administrators, faculty and teachers as they and provide students with what they need to succeed during these unprecedented times. Our educators are our heroes.

https://www.resilient-utah.org/urm-principals-message/

Many thanks,

The Resilient Utah Team
www.Resilient-Utah.org

 

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Dear Principals:

At this time, we are not taking any requests for rentals. No rentals or requests for use of our facilities/fields will be allowed until after June 5, 2020. This will be re-evaluated following that date and you will receive further communication regarding rentals at that time. If you notice that patrons are participating in organized sports on your fields, this has not been approved. Please help us control our properties and disallow this practice. You are encouraged to ask them to leave. You may also call 801-567-8865 for assistance to clear your fields.