Category: Other Administrators

The Utah Legislative Session wrapped up a week ago. The Utah State Board of Education adopted an amended rule yesterday with changes related to appropriate expenditures for the School LAND Trust Program. This link will take you to a more detailed description. You can also see the document below.

https://site.utah.gov/slt/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2020/03/Attachment-to-End-of-Session-Email.pdf

Legislative and Board Rule Changes for School Community Councils – March 20, 2020

Earlier today, the USBE voted to suspend all state testing for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. This action would take place even if in-person school sessions were to resume. This suspension would include the following state assessments:

• • Summative RISE
  • Summative Utah Aspire Plus
  • EOY Acadience Reading
  • KEEP Exit
  • PEEP Exit

Please refer to the attached letter from Ben Jameson

State Assessments Suspended Letter

We have activated several Google Suite options, including Jamboard, for teachers and students to assist in virtual learning.

Stacee Worthen, secondary guidance specialist, has created a list of tips, ideas, and best practices for counselors during the school dismissal. The attached memo will be sent to all school counselors.

COVID Counseling Center Recommendations

JSD Deficiency Letter

Associate Academic Vice-President John Rosenberg has sent this email out to all Teacher Education programs at BYU and asked them to forward the letter to every current student teacher. This does not apply to intern teachers.

Dear UCOTE members and EPP program coordinators,

As you are aware, information on COVID-19 continues to be generated and actions taken to control the spread of the coronavirus. As we have considered the most recent information about how the public school districts and state universities are handling the situation, we have decided that our student teachers may return home immediately, consistent with the instructions we have given all BYU students. However, since the semester is not over and the students are still enrolled as student teachers, they are asked to remain actively engaged with their host schools in delivering instruction remotely under the direction of their mentor teachers. Major program coordinators and university supervisors should reach out to individual students to address their questions and to discuss the remaining requirements for bringing the student teaching experience to a successful conclusion.

Thank you for your patience at this difficult time.

Jordan District Appeal Hearings are postponed until students return back to school.

Home & Hospital

• H&H teachers should not be going out to homes or libraries working with students.
• Schools that are providing the H&H teachers for their students may want to consider directing their students to do the online work from their assigned classroom teachers.
• At this time, if any parent is requesting H&H services for their student, please direct them to the online instruction that is being provided by their current classroom teachers.  After students return back to the school, those students will be placed on Home & Hospital if it is still needed.

SafeUT is still available as a resource for students, parents and schools during this stressful time. There are master's level clinicians available to chat or call 24/7/365 and will continue to be available throughout the outbreak.

With schools closed they will be following the summer protocol until further notice.

DATE:  
March 12, 2020

TO:  
All Principals
2020 Graduating Interns

FROM: 
June LeMaster, Ph.D., Administrator, Human Resources
Brad Sorensen, Administrator of Schools
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Schools

SUBJECT: 
Intern Graduations 2020

It is a long-standing practice in Jordan School District to allow full time, in state partnership university teacher interns to take one (1) day leave to attend either their own university commencement or convocation, without penalty.  This year, this practice is expanded to allow all full time university interns including teacher interns, school psychologist and counselor interns, etc., the same privilege.  Interns attending both in state and out of state university commencement ceremonies are allowed one (1) day; therefore, some interns may need to choose between commencement and convocation.

If a substitute is needed for coverage, the intern is responsible for requesting a substitute through Absence Management (formerly AESOP).  The absence reason entered should be “other” and in the blue “notes to administrator box”, the intern should add the following information “District excused 0050 - personal graduation”.  For additional assistance, please contact Juli Martin at 801-567-8219.

See dates for the in state 2020 University Commencement and Convocation Ceremonies on the attached memo.

Intern Graduations 2020

DATE:  
March 12, 2020

TO: 
All Principals and Directors

FROM:     
June LeMaster, Ph.D., Administrator, Human Resources
Brad Sorensen, Administrator of Schools
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Schools

SUBJECT:   
Employee Attendance at Relative's Graduation Exercises

This year, all high school graduation exercises are on Thursday, June 4, 2020, with the exception of Valley High School graduation on Wednesday, June 3, 2020.

Principals and Directors are encouraged to direct parents or grandparents who may wish to attend these graduations, but who are scheduled to work in their own locations to District Policy DP335 NEG and DP335B NEG. This policy specifically states: "Personal leave shall not be taken during the first five days and last five days that students are in school except...to attend to personal or business matters which require the employee's attendance and scheduling is beyond the employee's control."

Since graduation scheduling is beyond the employees’ control, it is desirable that immediate supervisors will cooperate and provide employees who may fall into this category, an opportunity to attend graduation ceremonies of family members.

Licensed employees are responsible for requesting a substitute through the Absence Management system (formerly AESOP), if applicable.  In the blue “Notes to Administrator” box, the employee should add “graduation” along with his/her relationship to the graduate.

For additional assistance, please contact Juli Martin in the sub office at 801-567-8219.

Cc:
Administrators of Schools

JL/am

Employee Attendance at Relative’s Graduation Exercises

The following are new administrative assignments:

TEACHING AND LEARNING

• Assignments Effective As Soon As Possible
  • Ross Menlove, .5 FTE assistant principal at Ridge View Elementary and .5 FTE administrator on special assignment in Teaching & Learning appointed 1.0 FTE administrator on special assignment in Teaching & Learning.

• • Elizabeth Pollock, 1.0 FTE teacher specialist in Teaching & Learning appointed .5 FTE assistant principal at Ridge View Elementary and .5 FTE teacher specialist in Teaching & Learning.

Many of you have probably heard how we should take precautionary measures with the ongoing outbreak of the Coronavirus. Not only should we be washing our hands frequently, but there are a number of other additional measures we should consider as well.

The virus has had an immediate impact on the global supply chain for a number of goods and services you purchase for yourself and that we purchase as a District. You may have already noticed empty shelves at your favorite store for some of these items such as toilet paper, cleaning products, bottled water, food items or hand sanitizer. Don't worry, the warehouse will have plenty of those types of items for your schools and departments. Although not as currently noticeable, your electronic and technology items will also be suffering sooner rather than later. Let's get ahead of it now!

Many of the technology items we use every day such as Chromebooks, iPads, iMacs, laptops or LED projectors are either assembled in China other Southeast Asia countries, or have components manufactured in these countries. We are seeing a number of factories shut down in these countries because of the widespread Coronavirus outbreak. This has lead to a ripple effect in the electronics global supply chain, causing stock depletion with our distributors. Experts have no idea when production of these electronic components or devices will resume.

It is time to plan ahead for your technology needs for the 2020-21 school year now if you do not want to experience long lead times next year. It is highly recommended that you order your needed technology for next year now while there is still plenty of stock in our distributor warehouses and while prices are still low. We anticipate seeing less supply and higher prices by the time school starts in the Fall (or sooner), and depending on the length of the outbreak, it may take until late 2021 for supplies to recover.

Current pricing for many technology items is available on the Purchasing Department webpage under Vendors > Technology Pricing. Please feel free to reach out to Tonya Hodges if you have any questions or need assistance with quotes. She can be reached at tonya.hodges@jordandistrict.org or at 801-567-8706.

The last two custodial workshops for this school year will be on March 18th and May 20th in the ASB presentation room from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM. These workshops serve to train all the Head Custodians, and to update any new information pertinent to their positions. In an effort to insure that these workshops are productive trainings, the Custodial/Energy Services Department would like to address any ongoing, widespread problems or concerns that you might have. Additionally we are also looking for positive examples of individuals that are doing things right.

• If you are aware of any issues or concerns that you feel need to be addressed in this workshop, please let me know about them, so that they can be addressed.
• As a department, we are very interested in recognizing any custodial staff members that are doing an exceptional job. If you have someone on your custodial staff that deserves some public recognition for the exceptional job they are doing, please let us know. We are hoping that by having very specific examples, we can use these examples as best practices in our custodial workshop training to improve the service provided by all Custodian in the District.
• As always, I am also very interested in individual concerns or problems so that our office can help those individuals with their training needs in a more private setting.

Thanks!

Steve Peart
Director of Custodial/Energy Services
801-567-8770
steve.peart@jordandistrict.org