In planning school calendars for 2019-20 please remember to not schedule any school activities for March 24, 2020 in order for employees and community members to attend their local Caucus'. Secondary schools, you may be asked to host the local Caucus Night. More information will be given as we get closer to this event. Thank you!
Category: Other Admin Action Required
FAA Makes Major Drone ID Marking Change – February 2019
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) posted a rule in the Federal Register requiring small drone owners to display the FAA-issued registration number on an outside surface of the aircraft. Owners and operators may no longer place or write registration numbers in an interior compartment. The rule is effective on February 25. The markings must be in place for any flight after that date.
When the FAA first required registration of small drones in 2015, the agency mandated that the registration marking be readily accessible and maintained in readable condition. The rule granted some flexibility by permitting the marking to be placed in an enclosed compartment, such as a battery case, if it could be accessed without the use of tools.
Subsequently, law enforcement officials and the FAA’s interagency security partners have expressed concerns about the risk a concealed explosive device might pose to first responders upon opening a compartment to find a drone’s registration number. The FAA believes this action will enhance safety and security by allowing a person to view the unique identifier directly without handling the drone.
This interim final rule does not change the original acceptable methods of external marking, nor does it specify a particular external surface on which the registration number must be placed. The requirement is that it can be seen upon visual inspection of the aircraft’s exterior.
The FAA has issued this requirement as an Interim Final Rule—a rule that takes effect while also inviting public comment. The FAA issues interim final rules when delaying implementation of the rule would be impractical, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. In this case, the agency has determined the importance of mitigating the risk to first responders outweighs the minimal inconvenience this change may impose on small drone owners, and justifies implementation without a prior public comment period.
The FAA will consider comments from the public on this Interim Final Rule, and will then review any submissions to determine if the provisions of the ultimate Final Rule should be changed. The 30-day comment period will end on March 15, 2019. To submit comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for “RIN 2120-AL32.”
As Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao promised last month, the FAA also posted proposed new rules to let drones fly routinely at night and over people, and to further integrate them safely into the nation’s airspace. The comment period for these proposals is now open and ends on April 15.
RISE Summative and Utah Aspire Plus Summative Help Sessions for Resource Teachers and EL Leads – February and March 2019
DATE:
January 31, 2019
TO:
All Principals
FROM:
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
SUBJECT:
RISE Summative and Utah Aspire Plus Summative Help Sessions for Resource Teachers and EL Leads
A member of the Evaluation, Research & Accountability Department will be available at the following dates, times and locations to assist resource teachers and EL leads as they input student accommodations into the RISE Nextera admin system and the Utah Aspire Plus PearsonAccessNext system.
In addition, school test coordinators may also come to these help sessions if they require assistance.
Date: | Time: | Location: |
Monday, Feb. 4, 2019 |
3:00 – 5:00 pm |
PDC 101 |
Monday, Feb. 11, 2019 | ||
Monday, Feb. 25, 2019 | ||
Monday, Mar. 4, 2019 | ||
Monday, Mar. 11, 2019 |
School principals and department heads are asked to provide this information to all school test coordinators as well as special educators and EL leads that will be involved in RISE or Utah Aspire Plus Summative testing.
ADD & TECC Training – Final Make-up Class – January 14, 2019
The ADD and TECC presentations will be available for viewing by those that have not been able to attend or view the training previously. This is for administration substitutes and licensed personnel. Principals, please give this information to any teacher who has not yet completed this training.
Monday, January 14, 2019
8:30 a.m.
District Office, Room 129
Thank you for your help.
W-4 Tax Withholding for all Employees
Administrators,
Please post the attached W-4 Withholding information so all employees at your school/department can view this important information.
Thank you,
The Payroll Department
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) aka Drones on School Campuses 2018
DATE:
November 1, 2018
TO:
All Principals
All Directors
FROM:
Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Cheryl Matson, Director of Insurance Services
SUBJECT:
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) aka Drones on School Campuses
Utah State Risk Management has decided to provide property and liability insurance on any Unmanned Aircraft Systems (aka UAS or “drone”) that Jordan School District (the District) owns and operates. However, in order to cover the drones, they must be scheduled or listed. Therefore, the following information must be provided to the District Insurance Department in order to add any drones we currently have or purchase in the future, to our policy:
- 55 lbs or over (including payload) – Always excluded from coverage, do not buy or operate
- Between 0.55 lbs and less than 55 lbs (including payload) each listed separately:
- Model Name / Number
- Serial number
- FAA registration number
- Purchase cost
- Location
- Under 0.55 lbs (including payload) grouped:
- Model Name / Number
- Purchase cost
- What educational purpose they are used for
- Location
Please refer to the attached District Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) aka Drone on School Campuses Guidelines.
ALL District schools are located within some type of restricted airspace (airport or helipad). Please make yourselves aware of the requirements to notify the appropriate authority within the area of flight before each flight.
Leave Policy Overview 2018-19
Attached is the updated Leave Policy Overview, which provides a summary of leave benefits available for benefited employees. Please familiarize yourself with leave policies as you are responsible for understanding the use of leave within policy provisions. Full text of all leave policies can be viewed online at http://policymanual.jordandistrict.org/. If you are unable to view the document, see your building principal or department director for a copy.
If you have questions regarding any of the leave policies, please contact the HR Department.
Travel Request Guidelines – June 2018
All travel requests are to be submitted at least 45 days in advance of the travel. This is to a) allow sufficient time for approvals, ticketing, etc. and b) save money on travel costs.
P-Card User Location Changes – June 2018
Due to so many of the administrative assignment changes and secretary retirements with subsequent shuffling of personnel, the Purchasing Department wants you to know we are doing our best to track everyone. We have a pretty comprehensive list based upon known retirements and the administrative assignment list released by HR. If there are other changes that have not been announced yet, please notify Kris Wishart in Purchasing of those.
There is no need to cancel cards and then reapply. All we need to know is the address, phone number, and new account code for your new location. We will just make the changes in the system and your card will operate the same as usual. This is important because US Bank uses your zip code at times to verify valid charges. If an incorrect zip code is given, the transaction is rejected.
In the future, please notify the Purchasing Department of any personnel changes as they occur of P-Card holders during the year.
BYU Aspiring Principals Academy 2018-19
Principals: Please forward the attached flyer to teachers who may be interested in this opportunity.
Brigham Young University School Leadership Program
Aspiring Principals Academy
Learn the Principles of being a Principal
Apply by June 15, 2018 at: education.byu.edu/edlf/aspiring_principals.html
Safety Share – The Great Utah ShakeOut Earthquake Drill – April 2018
The Great Utah ShakeOut Earthquake Drill
On April 19, 2018, hundreds of thousands of Utahns will “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” in the Great Utah ShakeOut Earthquake Drill.
All schools are encouraged to participate in this drill, or to conduct an earthquake drill sometime in the month of April. Please take this opportunity to incorporate emergency preparedness in classroom lessons and teach proper ways to protect oneself during an earthquake. The drill will help us to be prepared for a catastrophic disaster in our area.
We encourage all schools to register at www.ShakeOut.org/Utah. After you register your school, please click on the “Resources” tab; where you will find a Shakeout Drill Manual for K-12 schools. This manual will provide you great information for your school’s exercise.
Please review the Jordan School District Incident Command procedures for the Earthquake Action Plan and Standard Operating Guidelines.
Please plan and prepare to take part in this statewide earthquake response exercise.
Great Utah Shake Out 2018
DATE:
March 12, 2018
TO:
Building Administrators
FROM:
Scott Thomas, Administrator
Paul Bergera, Staff Assistant
Lance Everill, Facility Operations Coordinator
Ron Boshard, Risk Management Coordinator
SUBJECT:
Great Utah Shake Out
On April 19, 2018, hundreds of thousands of Utahan’s will “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” in the Great Utah Shake Out.
All schools are encouraged to participate in this drill or hold an earthquake drill in the month of April. Please take this opportunity to incorporate emergency preparedness in classroom lessons and teach proper ways to protect yourself during an earthquake. The drill will help us to be prepared for a catastrophe disaster in our area.
We encourage all schools to register at www.ShakeOut.org/Utah. After you register your school, please click on the “Resources” tab; here you will find a Shakeout Drill Manual for K-12 schools. This 17 page manual will provide you great information for your schools exercise.
Please review Incident Command procedures relevant to earthquake drills.
Please plan and prepare to take part in this statewide earthquake response exercise.
Human Resource Information – January 2018
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)
Purchasing Department Contract for Printer/Copier/Fax Toner and Ink has Expired
Contract number 14DC 13-3 for printer/copier/fax toner and ink has expired. The Purchasing Department is working on new contracts, so until then, all schools and departments will need to call the vendors to get the current pricing and shipping charges or use the Office Depot and Staples supply contracts found under the state cooperative contracts. Please close all open purchase orders associated with the old contract(s).
W-2 Opt-Out Information for 2017
Please post the W-2 Opt-Out flyer for all employees at your location to see. Employees can opt out of a District printed W-2 through their Employee Access on Skyward. By opting out of a District printed W-2, your name will go into a random drawing for prizes.
Deseret News Home Show – October 13-15, 2017
The Jordan Education Foundation was given tickets to the Deseret News Home Show for this weekend. Each ticket gets one adult in for free. Tickets will be available at the District Office reception desk tomorrow, October 13th, from 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. The tickets will be handed out on a first come, first serve basis.
Please share this information with your staff.
Utah Retirement Systems Free Webinars – October 2017
Learn about your retirement benefits with free webinars from Utah Retirement Systems. Please distribute or post the attached flyer for all employees at your location to review.
Change of Schedule for 2018 Spring Break
DATE:
September 21, 2017
TO:
Jordan District Contract Employees
FROM:
Dr. Patrice A. Johnson, Superintendent of Schools
SUBJECT:
Change of Schedule for Spring Break
A week-long spring break is scheduled for the 2017-18 school year. Students and teachers at both traditional and year-round schools, as well as staff on a 10-month/206-day classified contract or a 225-day licensed contract, will be out of school Monday-Friday, April 2-6, 2018.
Currently, employees on a 12-month/242-day or 12-month/245-day contract are scheduled to work Monday-Wednesday (April 2-4) and off on Thursday and Friday (April 5-6). With Easter falling on April 1st, we are implementing a change in the employee calendar to accommodate time off closer to the holiday. Employees in these two groups will have Monday and Tuesday, April 2-3, for spring break and will return to work on Wednesday, April 4th and work through Friday.
If anyone in your department has already made plans based on being off April 5-6, please work with them to resolve any hardship this change may cause them.
Solar Eclipse Guidelines 2017
The solar eclipse is an incredible event that many may want to witness. However, because of the dangers involved in viewing it, we have secured guidelines from the National School Nurse Association and from State Risk Management. If you, your classes, or your families plan to view the eclipse, please read and share the information in the two attached documents.
New Payroll True Time Requirements for 2017-18
Beginning this new school year, the Payroll Department will no longer accept paper time sheets for current True Time employees. Using True Time for all of their pay (even for one hour) will:
- Prevent duplicate pay and overlapping time
- Avoid lost time sheets
- Keep personal information secure in the system
- Track all hours worked as required by Utah Retirement Systems and overtime pay laws
- Assist in the accuracy and efficiency of budget reporting
Please email keelee.leuluai@jordandistrict.org (preferred), or call Payroll to set up the proper pay code(s) for True Time. Time sheets received in Payroll for current True Time employees during the school year will be returned, and Payroll will assist and train the employees on how to enter the information from the time sheet into True Time (pool hours, testing, playground, etc).
Please let all current True Time employees at your location know of these changes.
Due to reporting requirements, the following currently do not use True Time: insulin shots, Home & Hospital, USTAR, athletic and activity differentials, and Camps & Clinics (high schools).
Please contact Payroll if you have concerns so we can better accommodate your needs.
We appreciate your ongoing support and assistance in paying Jordan District employees.