Jordan School District
TO:
Principals
FROM:
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Brian King, Ph.D., Assistant Director of Special Education
Mike Trimmell, Ed.D., Special Education Administrator
Attached is the Special Ed Newsletter for November 2025.
DATE:
November 12, 2025
TO:
Administrators of Locations with Employees Paid with Federal Dollars
FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Dan Ellis, Director of Accounting
Natalie Grange, Accounting Administrator
SUBJECT:
Federal Program Work Certification
Federal Regulations require the district to certify the payroll of any employee being paid with federal funds. Accounting identifies employees that meet this federal criteria and prepares certification forms by location. Principals and department heads please review the attached instruction memo and look for your payroll certification email the week of November 10, 2025. Certifications are due Friday, December 12, 2025.
Please review your certification ASAP and contact Natalie Grange if you have any questions or concerns. natalie.grange@jordandistrict.org, ext. 88312
TO:
Principals and Administrative Assistants
FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Daniel Ellis, Director of Accounting and Audits
Natalie Grange, Accounting Administrator
District allocations for individual schools were updated in Skyward on October 30. Adjustments were made based on the October 1 headcount. Carryforward balances and transfer requests are included in the total allocation.
Please review these adjustments and contact Natalie Grange (801) 567-8312 with any questions or concerns.
The following is a new administrative assignment:
New Assignment effective October 31, 2025:
TO:
All Administrators
All Administrative Assistants
FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources
Brittany Bauer, HR Specialist
Jane Olsen, HR Specialist
Valued Licensed Employees:
The Human Resource Department is notifying you of important information regarding the upcoming timeline and incentive approved by the Board.
LICENSED EARLY NOTIFICATION (Resignation or Retirement)
Licensed employees resigning/retiring at the end of the current contract year, who give official early notification in SKYWARD – EMPLOYEE ACCESS, will be eligible for a tiered incentive. Informing your principal/school administrator either verbally or in writing is not sufficient. To qualify, notification must be submitted on or before the following dates:
The incentive will be paid on the last regular paycheck. Notifications of resignation/retirement received after the dates listed above will not qualify for an incentive. The official District “Notice of Resignation” form is found in Skyward Employee Access under “Task Processes”. Please see District policy DP318 for more detailed information regarding resignations.
If you do not know your Skyward username or password please contact the Help Desk at 801-567-8737.
Licensed employees who do not submit an official “Notice of Resignation” form in Skyward Employee Access with at least thirty (30) calendar days’ written notice WILL BE FINED $500, which will be deducted from their final check. Informing your principal/school administrator either verbally or in writing is not sufficient. See District Policy DP318 – Resignations - Licensed.
School/District Administrators must submit an official “Notice of Resignation” form in Skyward Employee Access with at least sixty (60) calendar days’ written notice WILL BE FINED $500 in accordance with District Policy DP318A – Resignations-Administrators.
TO:
All Administrators
All Administrative Assistants
FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources
Jane Olsen, HR Specialist
Valued Paraprofessionals:
Utah Valley University has developed a 2-year program designed for working paraprofessionals to obtain a Special Education Professional Educator License. Courses would be in the evening or during the summer to accommodate working paraprofessionals and scholarships are available.
If you are a paraprofessional interested in becoming a Special Education educator here in Jordan this is one of many opportunities for you to explore.
Please review the attached flyer for details.
TO:
All Administrators
All Administrative Assistants
FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources
Jane Olsen, HR Specialist
Valued Educators:
Please see the information below and the attached flyer regarding Ph.D. programs available to you through Utah State University. Your continuing education is valued in Jordan School District. To see how investing in a Ph.D. would impact your salary, please review the current salary schedule: JSD Educator Salary Schedule
Utah State University’s School of Teacher Education and Leadership (TEAL) invites applications for our doctoral programs, the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). Both doctoral degree programs are designed for educators who aim to deepen their expertise, apply research methods, and expand their impact.
Our Ed.D. in Teacher Education and Leadership is a 46-credit, Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED)-aligned professional doctorate designed degree for working educators and leaders. The program is practice-driven, allowing participants to address real-world “problems of practice” while maintaining their careers. Learn more here: Ed.D. Program Details.
Our Ph.D. in Education is a 60-credit, research-intensive program focused on theory and academic scholarship. Through coursework, professional experiences, and research, participants are prepared for higher education, curriculum designers, and researcher, with concentrations in cultural studies, school leadership, literacy education, mathematics education, and science education. More information is available here: Ph.D. Program Details.
DATE:
November 12, 2025
TO:
Department Administrators
Department Administrative Assistants
FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources
Brent Burge, Human Resource Administrator
Brittany Bauer, HR Specialist
SUBJECT:
2025 FTE Audits - due 11/20/2025
Once again, we request your assistance to review the 2025-26 FTE Audit report and make necessary changes as soon as possible. Your FTE Audit will be sent out by the end of the day on November 10th. This report will include essential details such as faculty/staff verification, FTE, title, and budget code(s). Please read the important information below and refer to the Instructions sheet for guidance on completing the audit.
Important Deadlines and Actions:
Corrections and New Hires:
Optional HR Meeting:
If you are a new administrator and/or a veteran administrator and would like to meet with an HR Administrator/Specialist to review or assist you with your FTE audit, a scheduling link is available on the Instructions sheet in your audit documents. Please review the audit thoroughly and come prepared with the necessary changes.
Thank you for your time and cooperation.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Brittany Bauer - brittany.bauer@jordandistrict.org x88214
Brent Burge - brent.burge@jordandistrict.org x88224
TO:
All Administrators
All Administrative Assistants
FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources
Rebecca Eastman, HR Generalist
If you are a contracted employee and need to take Annual/Personal Leave on a Critical Day before or after Winter Recess for any reason not listed in policy DP335NEG or DP335B, you must submit a request as follows:
How to Request
During the window, the employee must send the request through email. Please include your name, school, position, and the date you are requesting the leave. Requests left on voicemail or over the phone will NOT be accepted.
Licensed employees submit their request to licensedpersonalleave@jordandistrict.org
Education Support Professionals submit their request to classifiedpersonalleave@jordandistrict.org
The employee will receive an email confirmation within two working days after submitting the request. If the employee does not receive a confirmation email, then Human Resources has NOT received your request and your leave will not be approved.
| School Holiday | Date of Holiday | Critical Days* | Window |
| Winter Recess (Licensed) |
Dec. 22, 2025 - Jan. 2, 2026 | Dec. 19, 2025 and Jan. 5, 2026 | Nov. 7 – Nov. 17, 2025 |
| Winter Recess
(ESP) |
Dec. 24, 2025 - Jan. 2, 2026 | Dec. 19, 2025 and Jan. 5, 2026 (245 works Dec 29, 30, 31) | Nov. 9 – Nov. 19, 2025 |
*Critical Days are the first student attendance days before or after a school holiday. If a non-student attendance day falls before or after a school holiday, the Critical Day is the day before or after that non-student attendance day when students are in attendance.
Licensed Annual/Personal Leave Taken on a Critical Day 2025-2026
DATE:
November 6, 2025
TO:
All School Administrators
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness
SUBJECT:
FREE Mental Health Education for Parents and Caregivers
Jordan District has partnered with the Cook Center for Human Connection to provide ongoing mental health education for parents and caregivers. This collaboration offers FREE access to live, virtual educational sessions covering various topics. Please share the following resources with your school community:
Please share the attached flyers/resources with your school communities. Should you have any questions, please reach out to Angie Rasmussen at angie.rasmussen@jordandistrict.org.
TO:
All Administrators
FROM:
Scott Thomas, Administrator of Auxiliary Services
Brandon Conti, Risk Management Coordinator
Storing combustible materials is prohibited in boiler, mechanical, electrical equipment, and fire command rooms to reduce fire risk, as these areas contain potential ignition sources and crucial building systems.
Check out all the information in the document below.
TO:
All Administrators
FROM:
Scott Thomas, Administrator of Auxiliary Services
Brandon Conti, Risk Management Coordinator
57% of fall victims were holding objects with one or both hands. Use a tool belt!
See the attached document for more ways to follow safe work practices when using a ladder.
TO:
All Licensed Administrators
FROM:
Cabinet
All licensed administrators are invited to complete this form by November 14, 2025. This formal process of gaining your input will serve as a conversation starter with your Administrator of Schools about work assignments for the coming school year (2026-27) in Jordan District. Personal preference is one of many factors considered when determining administrative assignments. This does not take the place of the need to sign up for a formal Principal interview.
TO:
School Principals
FROM:
Michelle Love-Day, Director of Language & Culture Services
All administrators are invited to one Zoom session next week, November 6th at 9:00 or November 7th at 2:00, to learn about facilitating conversations with students related to discriminatory language. Administrators will receive access to Nearpods and other resources that can be used with students in one-on-one settings to help teach them the impact of discriminatory language.
DATE:
October 3, 2025
TO:
All Administrators
All Office Staff
FROM:
Steffany Ellsworth, Manager - Information Systems
SUBJECT:
2025 Utah Skyward User Conference
Happy fall, y’all! With fall, comes the annual Utah Skyward User Conference. This year, it’s even more exciting as we’ll be previewing Skyward’s new Qmlativ Finance and Student systems! Join us on Thursday, November 6th at Canyons School District in their Support Services Center. Please see the agenda for the address and session times.
This conference is a great opportunity to learn directly from Skyward experts, as sessions are taught by their staff. This year’s lineup includes several outstanding sessions focused on Qmlativ. Many sessions offer a side-by-side comparison of Qmlativ and our current finance and student system, SMS.
Our district will be live on Qmlativ Finance on May 4th, 2026 (see Qmlativ JAM for more info), so this conference is a chance to preview how the system looks, operates, and can make your daily work easier. You’ll also find Skyward student sessions that will demonstrate how to use both SMS and Qmlativ, giving you a chance to compare processes in both systems.
During these sessions there will be an opportunity to ask questions. However, if you have an issue that may be more timely to resolve, we ask that you contact our helpdesk for assistance.
We hope this year’s conference will inspire you with new insights, practical tips, and a deeper understanding of what’s possibly in Skyward. There is no need to register in advance. For questions about attending the conference, please feel free to call the help desk at extension 88737.
TO:
School Principals
District Employees
Administrative Assistants
FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
In order to maintain a professional work atmosphere for students and staff members, respect staff time, and to avoid ethical and fraudulent conflicts of interest with vendors, building administrations are asked to abide by the following:
Vendors are not allowed into District schools/facilities to solicit business from employees during business hours. Building administrations may allow vendors to leave promotional materials (e.g. brochures, business cards, posters, etc.) with the front office and request these materials be placed in an area, such as the employee break room or bulletin board, so staff may view them and take one, if they so choose. Materials may not be placed in staff boxes. Vendors are not allowed to make sales pitches during faculty or staff meetings. Vendors are not to provide a snack, treat, or meal for employees in the break rooms while the vendor remains to solicit business. Building administrations may allow a vendor to leave a snack, treat, or meal along with promotional materials and a note indicating who brought the items and who employees should contact if more information is desired. Employees, including building and district leadership, should never feel like they are required to meet with vendors and hear their sales pitches.
Decision makers are advised to avoid gifts from vendors in order to guard against the appearance of misconduct. A vendor providing a gift or meal for the staff or large groups is a very nice gesture of thanks and support. A vendor providing a special, private gift or lunch to only the decision maker(s) can create an ethical conflict of interest that can influence decision making.
Vendors must follow the same protocol expected of all other visitors to District buildings by checking in at the front office and proceeding beyond the front office only after being invited to do so.
If an employee desires to meet with a vendor at a District location to discuss services the vendor may offer to them personally, the employee and vendor must meet outside of normal business hours for that building. For schools, this means no contact between one-half hour before school starts and one-half hour after school ends, including lunch time and prep time. These hours are considered work hours and must be respected by the employee and vendors.
The District’s finance system is not to be used to pay for employees’ personal business (e.g. mortgage payments, utility payments, insurance payments, donations to churches, credit card payments, etc.). Payroll deductions are not permitted for non-Jordan District purposes unless the funds are tax sheltered through a District-allowed plan (see #6 below). It is not appropriate for the District to engage in employee personal bill pay at taxpayer expense. Any payment arrangements made by employees with vendors should be done using the employees’ personal financial institution.
As a taxpayer funded subdivision of the State of Utah, Jordan School District participates in the Utah Retirement Systems (URS). While employees have the private option of authorizing financial advisers or others to manage their retirement funds, there are inherent risks associated with any investment strategy. Jordan School District and Utah Retirement Systems does not and has not endorsed, contracted out, authorized, advocated, recommended, sponsored, or vetted other entities, including 403b agents, to represent them in these matters. Instead, URS employs retirement advisors, with a URS email and phone number, who will meet with and advise JSD employees free of charge. URS is a nonprofit trust and their advisors never earn commissions. If you want help with URS questions, please contact URS and if you choose to go outside of URS, please compare commissions and fees.
As a taxpayer funded entity, Jordan School District, its departments and schools must only work with businesses that have first gone through the proper procurement process. Competing vendors are to be treated fairly without personal preference or bias.
TO:
All Administrators
All Admin Assistants
FROM:
Jordan District Cabinet Members
We are excited to announce and provide a method for employees to pay their school meal balances remotely without going to the front office. Please see the attached instructions on how to set this up. Employees can also set up recurring payments and low balance notifications similar to parents.
Additionally, we want to remind employees that they should avoid having a negative balance on their meal account. Employees may not have a negative balance greater than $10.00.
DATE:
October 9, 2025
TO:
Principals
All Special Educators and Related Service Providers
FROM:
Lisa Robinson, Administrator of Schools
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
SUBJECT:
Important Deadline--Please Read Immediately
SCRAM Data Due by the end of day Wednesday, November 05, 2025
Updating SCRAM for December 1 Funding Count
We are fast approaching our December 1 SCRAM count deadline. Special Education Resource and SCSC Team Leaders will soon receive a SCRAM report via District Mail with all students who are currently receiving services through your school’s special education program(s). Please read this Memo carefully as several items have been modified/updated to include new procedures implemented with our new Embrace program. Once you have read through the memo, use the process you have in place at your school to include all service providers to share the report and make the necessary corrections.
Funding Implications
Special education funding and, therefore, school staffing/assistant allocations, etc. are contingent upon the accuracy of this data. Your timely and accurate response is critical!
All Corrections and SCRAM reports are Due:
By 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 5, 2025
TO:
All Administrators
FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources
Rebecca Lee, HR Administrator, Evaluations
The Beginning of the Year Interim is due by October 31, 2025. Remember that this includes a self-evaluation, three required goals, and administrator approval.
Please see the attached flyer.
TO:
All Administrators
All Administrative Assistants
FROM:
April Gaydosh, Administrator of Human Resources
Rebecca Eastman, HR Generalist
If you are a contracted employee and need to take Annual/Personal Leave before or after Thanksgiving on a “Critical Day” for any reason not listed in policy DP335NEG or DP335B, you must submit a request as follows:
How to Request
During the window, the employee must send the request through email. Please include your name, school, position, and the date you are requesting the leave. Requests left on voicemail or over the phone will NOT be accepted.
Licensed employees submit their request to licensedpersonalleave@jordandistrict.org
Education Support Professionals submit their request to classifiedpersonalleave@jordandistrict.org
The employee will receive an email confirmation within two working days after submitting the request. If the employee does not receive a confirmation email, then Human Resources has NOT received your request and your leave will not be approved.
| School Holiday | Date of Holiday | Critical Days* | Window |
| Thanksgiving Recess
(Licensed) |
Nov. 26-28, 2025 | Nov. 25 and Dec. 1, 2025 | Oct. 12 – Oct. 22, 2025 |
| Thanksgiving Recess
(ESP) |
Nov. 27-28, 2025 | Nov. 25 and Dec. 1, 2025 | Oct. 13 – Oct. 23, 2025 |
*Critical Days are the first student attendance days before or after a school holiday. If a non-student attendance day falls before or after a school holiday, the Critical Day is the day before or after that non-student attendance day when students are in attendance.
Licensed Annual/Personal Leave Taken on a Critical Day 2025-2026
