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DATE:  
December 14, 2023

TO:  
Building Administrators
Elementary Administrative Assistants
Secondary Attendance Secretaries
Secondary Registrars

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Kim Lloyd, Director of Special Education
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Caleb Olson, Enrollment Consultant, Student Services

SUBJECT: 
Rule Change: Withdrawing Non-Attending Special Education Students


In December's Principal and Assistant Principal meetings, the Special Education Department presented the following (see attached memo) updated rule from the June 2023 update of the USBE Special Education Rules:

In anticipation of next year's enrollment planning and scheduling, Information Systems turned on pre-transfers the afternoon of December 7th. You are able to start running reports and see your next year's students.

Below are 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 Path tab shows the current year permits under Previous Reason Code and next year permits under Reason Code.
  • Current permits for 6th and 9th grade students have been removed for next year as of December 7th. 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 has been rolled over for next year's scheduling preparation.

Please contact the help desk (ext. 88737) with any questions or concerns regarding the pre-transfer process.

Licensed employees resigning/retiring at the end of the current contract year, that give official early notification of resignation/retirement, will be eligible for a tiered incentive. To qualify, notification must be submitted online on or before the following dates:

  • December 15, 2023     $500.00
  • January 15, 2024     $300.00
  • February 15, 2024     $200.00

The incentive will be paid on the last regular paycheck. Notifications of resignation or retirement received after the dates listed above will not qualify for an incentive. The official District resignation/retirement notification form is found in Skyward under “Employee Access”. Please see District policy DP318 or DP319 for more detailed information regarding resignations and/or retirements. If you do not know your Skyward username or password please contact the Help Desk at 801-567-8737.

The Jordan Ethnic Advisory Committee, Language and Culture Services, and Equity Diversity and Inclusion cannot wait to see you at the annual "What I Wish You Knew Conference"!

Save the date for Tuesday, Jan. 16 from 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. at Bingham High school. More information to come.

Welcome back to another exciting school year! A lot is happening this quarter. Winter is closely approaching us, along with all the holidays. Daylight savings has made our days seem shorter.We will soon start to see colder weather, and hopefully some rain and snow.

We at LCS hope you and your loved ones can enjoy this holiday season that is quickly approaching us.

The full newsletter can be found at the link below. Stories include:

  • ELLevation Tips and Tricks - Did you know??? If you have an activity that you like, you can choose the Example tab, and select a grade level and content area. It will then give you ideas for incorporating that activity into your lesson!
  • Culture Corner - Teaching about different cultural holidays helps promote awareness, acceptance and diversity in our classrooms. How can you incorporate more culture in your classroom? November: Native American Heritage Month December: Kwanzaa, Christmas, Hannukah
  • Teaching Strategies - Have you ever used the Magic Switch setting on Canva? This allows you to translate a document that was made within Canva by a click of a button. You can choose from 130 different languages. Also, it allows you to translate certain part of your document, while other parts can be in a different language. This really allows educators to translate documents for our ML students easily.
  • Reflective Questions - How much do I really listen to my learners? Do I engage in active observation in my classroom, paying attention to subtle nuances and dynamics among my learners? In my interactions with my learners? Can I describe my own cultural conditioning? For example, what cultural values affect how I behave and communicate with others? What are some of my core beliefs and how have they been culturally influenced?
  • ELD Lead Celebration - Heidi Rivera is a kindergarten teacher & ELD Lead at Riverton Elementary. She works closely with the ML students and helps them develop language proficiency and prepares them for WIDA. She has done a great job of creating a sense of belonging among the ML students and has contributed to a great sense of community and culture among Riverton Elementary.

DATE:     
December 1, 2023

TO:   
High School and Center-Based School Principals
High School Special Education Team Leaders

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

SUBJECT:  
Destruction of Special Education Records


As of January 31, 2024, such notice will have been advertised to parents for students whose birthdates are prior to September 1996 (i.e., students who are 27 years of age). Any records for students over the age of 22 will be stored off site until they are ready to be destroyed when the student turns 27 years of age.

See the full memo below.

DATE: 
November 30, 2023

TO:  
All Administrators
Principals
Assistant Principals

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Matt Alvernaz, School Safety Coordinator

SUBJECT:
Standard Response Protocol (SRP) Schedule of Drills/Evacuations and Trainings 2023-24


A uniform, planned, and practiced response to any incident is the foundation of a safe school. Effective school safety measures require schools to anticipate the unthinkable and practice how they will respond, react, and behave when a crisis occurs. Consistent ongoing emergency safety training and practice is required to adequately educate students, staff, and parents.

Beginning January 2024, monthly SRP emergency safety drills will be implemented district-wide at each school. Each month a different SRP safety drill will be assigned by the District and conducted by the school. Schools will schedule the specific date and time the drill will be conducted during that month. (i.e. If “HOLD” is assigned for the month of February, the school will schedule the date and time during the month of February to conduct the dill.) Currently schools are required to conduct four (4) emergency evacuation drills annually – the number of evacuation drills will not increase unless the school chooses to do so (see March below).

Training will be provided monthly to assist schools in implementing the monthly SRP safety drill. Beginning Wednesday, January 3, 2024 – and every first Wednesday of the month, two (2) virtual training sessions will be held (3pm and 3:30pm) to train on the monthly SRP safety drill (links will be provided in a JAM prior to the first Wednesday of each month). Administrators over safety and School Safety Specialists should attend. Following the monthly virtual training, the resources used in the training will be shared with schools to train their staff and students. Schools should communicate frequently with patrons about emergency safety drills and procedures. It is expected that the School Safety Specialist will assist in all safety training and education efforts.

After school staff and students are trained, the school should conduct the assigned SRP safety drill for that month. (i.e. – If ‘Fire Drill’ is the drill assigned to January, then the administrator/school safety specialist will attend the training on Wednesday, January 3, 2024 at either 3pm or 3:30pm. After the Zoom training the administrator and school safety specialist will receive the materials to train school staff – the school staff will then be trained. School staff will then educate and train their students. After school staff and students are trained the school will then conduct the drill.)

The schedule of SRP safety drills & trainings for the remainder of the 2023-24 school year is as follows:

Month SRP Safety Drill Virtual Training

(1st Wednesday at 3 or 3:30pm)

January Fire Drill (10 days after winter break) - Evacuation Wed. January 3
February Hold Wed. February 7
March Lockdown – Evacuation Optional Wed. March 6
April Great ShakeOut – Evacuation

April 18, 2024

Wed. April 3
May Shelter Wed. May 1

Schools should adjust their current plans to match the schedule provided.

The updated District safety manual, printable posters, and other SRP materials may be found on the Jordan School Safety webpage. Additional resources including printable signs, guidebooks, videos, and parent handouts may be found on the I Love Your Guys website.

Please contact Matt Alvernaz (matt.alvernaz@jordandistrict.org) or 801-567-8623 should you have any questions or would like any help or training.

Language and Culture Services is excited to open our second Family Engagement Center for Jordan District.

Please join us as we celebrate the opening of our West Jordan location on Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. in the Joel P. Jensen media center.

Our next ELD meeting is Dec. 14 in the Auxiliary Services Building Auditorium from 1-3 p.m. There will be resources, tools and strategies shared. We also have ELD Meetings scheduled for March 7 and May 9.

Please give time during your faculty meetings after for your ELD lead to share the information.  For additional questions, please contact your Teacher Specialist or Michelle Love-Day in Language and Culture Services.

DATE:   
November 29, 2023

TO: 
All Administrators

FROM:    
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness

SUBJECT:  
FREE! Well-Being Course with Practical Strategies


Jordan District educators are invited to participate in our 2024 FREE Educator Well-Being Continuing Ed Courses for administrators, teachers, counselors, and specialists. This course is an opportunity for all JSD employees to address their own well-being by exploring practical strategies associated with connection, happiness, self-care, conflict resolution, growth mindset, problem-solving, and more! Participants will collaborate, learn from, and connect with other educators throughout the District as they work towards meeting their own wellness goals.

This course is FREE for JSD employees and Winter, and Summer sessions are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Space is limited for this great opportunity!

The class will meet on Thursdays from 4:00-5:30 over Zoom:

January 11, 18, 25
February 1, 8, 15, 20
March 7, 14, 21

Participants can earn continuing education, lane-change, and re-licensure hours from SUU (up to 3 college credits).

Sign up using the attached flier and share this information with professionals in your schools who may be interested in this opportunity.

 

Update to policy DP380 Maternity/Parent Leave

Last night, after careful consideration, the Board has reduced the length of the contract requirement following the use of maternity/paternity days.

Retroactive applied to 07/01/2023, an employee using maternity/paternity leave days shall agree in writing to repay compensation at his/her daily rate of pay for maternity/parent leave used or granted if he/she terminates employment with the District for other than medical reasons before completion of the current contract year. All other provisions listed in the Maternity/Parent Leave Policy still apply.

If you have further questions, please see the updated policy DP380-Maternity/Parent Leave or contact the HR Generalist at rebecca.eastman@jordandistrict.org.

If you are a contracted employee and need to take Annual/Personal Leave on a Critical Day before or after the MLK 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
Martin Luther King Jr.

ESP

January 15, 2024 Jan. 12 and 17, 2024 Dec. 1 – Dec. 11, 2023
Martin Luther King Jr.

Licensed

January 15, 2024 Jan. 12, 2024 Only* Dec. 1 – Dec. 11, 2023

*Licensed Only - January 17, 2024 will not be considered a Critical Day for the 2023-2024 school year.

Licensed Annual/Personal Leave Taken on a Critical Day 2023-2024

ESP Annual/Personal Leave Taken on a Critical Day 2023-2024

On behalf of Jordan School District (JSD), the HR Department will apply for a small surplus of USBE funds in Educator Licensing to support Utah educators seeking their professional educator license. In anticipation that JSD will receive some grant funding, HR will be contacting associate level educators who are in the process of obtaining their professional educator license and asking them to submit expenses they incurred from 7/1/2023 through 6/30/2024 while pursuing their professional license. APPEL educator PPAT expenses are currently reimbursed by school fund; therefore, do not qualify. All additional expenses may be eligible for reimbursement, if the employee submits their proof of enrollment in classes taken toward their professional educator license. This information from the employee must be received by December 8, 2023 and prior to the submission of this grant by the HR Department.

If you have questions regarding this grant or for a list of qualifying educators at your school/department location, please contact Brittany Bauer (secondary) at brittany.bauer@jordandistrict.org or Jane Olsen (elementary) at jane.olsen@jordandistrict.org.

Holiday decorations add a joyous and festive mood to the holiday season, but when holiday decorations are not used properly they can turn from festive to fiery in a split second.

Jordan School District would like everyone to follow a few safety tips when decorating to avoid a tragic holiday and keep everyone safe.

See the flyer below for more information.

DATE:  
November 27, 2023

TO: 
Principals
Assistant Principals
Other Administrators

FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Matt Alvernaz, School Safety Coordinator

SUBJECT:  
Standard Response Protocol (SRP) Training - REQUIRED


All schools are required to implement the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) tools in conjunction with the Incident Command System (ICS). To facilitate implementation and ensure that all administrators are trained in SRP four (4) trainings sessions have been scheduled. This is an opportunity to get in-person knowledge and clarity on SRP and how it may improve safety for students, staff, and patrons.

Administrators are required to attend one (1) of the training sessions listed below. If you attended one of the SRP training sessions held on Nov. 15th or 17th your attendance is NOT required.

Please sign up for one (1) of the following SRP training sessions by clicking on the link associated with the session. Each session will contain the same information.

  • Wednesday, December 6th, 2023
    8:00 AM to 9:00 AM at the ASB Presentation Room
    Sign up here
  • Wednesday, December 6th, 2023
    3:00 PM to 4:00 PM at JATC South
    Sign up here
  • Wednesday, December 13th, 2023
    3:00 PM to 4:00 PM at JATC South
    Sign up here
  • Thursday, December 14th, 2023
    8:00 AM to 9:00 AM at JATC South
    Sign up here

School Safety Specialists that were unable to attend one of the sessions in November may sign up for one these sessions. Schools are responsible to cover the cost of a substitute if one is needed.