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Just a reminder that our annual Utah Skyward User Conference is scheduled for next Wednesday, November 16th. The conference will be held in person this year at Alpine School District.

This conference is an opportunity to learn about Skyward directly from the source as most sessions are being presented by Skyward staff. There are some fantastic sessions being offered this year, including Admin Bootcamp, Communication Tools, Discipline, Data Mining for Beginners, Data Mining for Advanced Users, and Skyward Tips & Tricks.

Please see the attached agenda for additional details. We hope to see you there!

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This is a mandatory 2-day in-person training for all school administrators (principals and assistant principals). More details will be shared at a later date. Please go to this LINK and sign up for the 2-day training that will be best for your schedule.

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  • Kindergarten Night Out will be held on November 9th at 4:15 in the ASB auditorium. Kindergarten teachers, coaches and administrators are invited to attend.
  • First-Grade Night Out will be held on November 16th at 4:15 in the media center of South Jordan Middle School. First-grade teachers, coaches and administrators are invited to attend. 
  • The last sessions for LETRS training for Unit 4 through USBE for teachers who started LETRS training last year will be held on November 4th, 9th, and 30th. The Midas course number is 60079. Please remind teachers to sign up for a training if they have not done so already. The book work and online work should be completed prior to attending the full-day training. 
  • The training date for LETRS training for new elementary administrators has been changed to November 18th. Administrators involved will receive an email from Sara Henderson. The Overview section of the book work and online work should be completed prior to attending the full-day training. 
  • The IT department will be changing the usernames and passwords for Lexia on November 7th. If there are any questions about this process, please contact Michelle Lovell. 
  • USBE is asking for some feedback from coaches. They are asking all coaches to fill out a brief survey. Please share this link  with your building coaches.    SURVEY LINK    
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For many years, Apple TVs have been an essential part of the instructional environment in Jordan School District, permitting teachers and students to display their digital screens through the classroom projector. One significant limitation of these devices has been their compatibility solely with the Apple platform, leaving Windows and Chrome platforms without options. A new device has recently entered the marketplace that solves this dilemma.

The Vivi company produces devices that permit all three major computer platforms to project through a single device (see attached for more specifics, reference the company website at http://vivi.io/product/, or view informational videos at the Vivi channel in YouTube, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjHO-hO1X3U and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTEj0EKy9GI). This is a tremendous advance in classroom technology, particularly for Jordan District, where the majority of student devices are Chrome-based.

Because of the potential value that Vivi units advertised, Information Systems purchased and tested a number of them at multiple locations throughout the district. The results of these tests indicated that the Vivi units live up to performance levels as promoted. For references, reach out to Curtis Jenson (principal) or Matt Gates (tech), at South Jordan Middle, to discuss their school’s experience with Vivi.

Information Systems wants to ensure that all schools are not only aware of this new technology, but also have an opportunity to try it out so that it can be considered when planning future technology purchases. For schools that have interest, Information Systems will provide one Vivi unit for testing among the school’s instructional staff. If there is sufficient interest, the school can retain the single Vivi unit, and then pursue the purchase of additional units on their own.

The cost for a Vivi Pro unit is $499.00. These units are great not only for classroom purposes, but also for digital signage and other advanced features. Vivi also offers a “Lite” version, which could be considered where additional features are not necessary. The cost for these units is $399.00 each. This pricing is valid through October of 2023. While the pricing for these units is clearly higher than Apple TVs, Information Systems believes that the advantage of projecting screens from computers of any platform makes these devices worth serious consideration.

To arrange for delivery of a Vivi unit to you school, please contact Mark Sowa at 801-567-8392 or mark.sowa@jordandistrict.org. We would like to have these units assigned and distributed by the end of November. If we have not heard from you by that point, it will be assumed that you are not interested in Vivi, and the unit previously reserved for your school will be redistributed to a different location. We look forward to your response.

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DATE:  
November 1, 2022

TO:  
District Administrators

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

SUBJECT:  
Fall Enrollment as of October 1, 2022 - REVISED

Attached to this memo is District enrollment as of October 1, 2022.

These totals are revised and approved by the State Board of Education.

 

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Ideally most emergencies and disruptions to a school day can be addressed during the normal hours of operation and on school premises.

Other incidents may require releasing students to authorized parents/guardians either earlier or later than the normal end of school time, or from a secondary evacuation location. The Jordan School District Incident Command Reunification Action Plan is utilized when a school is required to conduct this type of controlled release of students. Life safety and accountability are the two main priorities. Maintaining current Student Skyward records is a key part of this.

Elementary and middle schools may have to reunify an entire student body. High schools may only have to reunify preschool children, students in special education, students with special circumstances, that have been traumatized, or need assistance getting home.

The Reunification Action Plan is available in the Incident Command Manual on Google Drive, link: JSD INCIDENT COMMAND MANUAL
You can find Student Reunification Checkout Cards in English and Spanish on the Drive as well. The plan includes the proper reunification protocol, identifies roles and responsibilities, and use of effective communication to safely account for and release students to authorized parents/guardians.

There is a Reunification Video for parents/guardians on the Auxiliary Services Incident Command Webpage, link: Auxiliary Services Incident Command Webpage
Schools are encouraged to share this educational video with parents/guardians in advance of a potential emergency.

Please contact Emergency Operations Manager Lance Everill with questions, concerns, or ideas: 801-567-8623, lance.everill@jordandistrict.org

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If you are a contracted employee and need to take Annual/Personal Leave 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 Window
Winter Recess                      (180, 184, 187, 206, 207,  Contracts) Dec. 22, 2022-Jan. 2, 2023 Nov. 7 – Nov. 17, 2022
Winter Recess                      (242, 245 Contracts) Dec. 26, 2022-Jan. 2, 2023

(245 works Dec 27-29)

 Nov. 11 – Nov. 21, 2022

Annual/Personal Leave Taken Before or After a Holiday 2022-23

 

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The Utah State Board of Education has announced the 2022-23 Teacher Salary Supplement Program (TSSP) qualifications and application deadlines. The application deadlines are printed below. Information regarding the TSSP program and qualifications is found at the following Utah State Board of Education (USBE) link:

Educator Incentive Programs (TSSP)

Application Term Dates

An application term indicates a preference of when and how often the educator would like to receive any bonus. Applicants may select one of the following terms before the respective deadline:

Term # of Payments Application Available & Accepted Application Deadline
Annual 1 Saturday, October 1, 2022 6:00 AM Sunday, April 30, 2023 11:59 PM
Semester 2 Saturday, October 1, 2022 6:00 AM Tuesday, January 31, 2023 11:59 AM
Trimester 3 Saturday, October 1, 2022 6:00 AM Tuesday, November 15, 2022 11:59 PM
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The Gifted and Talented Department will host two options for PD for teachers on the afternoon of November 4th. The secondary session will focus on differentiation. The elementary session will focus on ByrdseedTV. Please see flier for details.

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Distracted driving is any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increases the risk of crashing. While all distractions can endanger drivers’ safety, texting is the most alarming because it involves all three types of distraction.

See the flyer below for more information.

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Department Administrators:

The FTE Audit process is critical in ensuring employees are paid accurately and out of the appropriate budgets. Like last year, the FTE Audit will be electronic. Below is the process we will follow for the audits:

Electronic FTE Audit Process:

  • October 24, 2022 – HR will share with directors and administrative assistants the FTE Audit Report via Google Sheets. Please review the report with your administrative assistant. The report will include verification of faculty/staff, FTE, title and budget code(s). Please refer to the “Instructions” sheet in the document for assistance in completing the audit.
  • November 4, 2022 – DUE DATE for the FTE Audit Report to be completed for HR to process. Check the “yellow” box on the front page to indicate audit completion.
  • THE BEST NEWS OF ALL – All corrections made on the FTE Audit Report will be made by HR upon return. Change forms will not be required; however, new hires not listed on the report will require the submission of a hire sheet to HR in Frontline.
  • If you are interested in meeting with HR to review/assist with your audit, please contact Brent Burge (88224) to schedule an appointment. We ask that you review the audit and come prepared to the meeting with needed changes to your audit.

Thank you for your time and assistance.

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GRAMA HandoutAnyone with a GRAMA request must submit the request by visiting the State of Utah Open Records Portal for Jordan School District or by visiting openrecords.utah.gov and selecting the K-12 link.

For anyone who needs help navigating openrecords.utah.gov and filling out the GRAMA request form, we are providing an information card. Principals and staff can print the card and share it with those making a GRAMA request.

Here is the information card to print and cut in half.

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TRAINING FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS: If you haven’t already had a training for your council members, our (State LAND Trust office) annual live online council member training will be held on the following dates. Email invites will be sent out to all council members on October 21st (following the Oct. 20th deadlines).

    1. Nov. 9 (12-1 pm)
    2. Nov. 9 (7-8 pm)
    3. Nov. 14th (12-1 pm)
    4. Nov. 14th (7-8 pm)
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Join Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox and Mark Huntsman, Chair of the Utah State Board of Education, for a live discussion about education in our state.

Wednesday, November 2
6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

See the flyer below for all the details!

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DATE:    
Thursday, October 20, 2022

TO: 
All School Administrators

FROM:  
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
2022 RISE and Utah Aspire Plus Tableau Dashboards Updated with Student Growth Data

The RISE and Utah Aspire Plus dashboards in Tableau have been updated with 2022 student growth data. School administrators will be able to see the median growth percentile (MGP) for the district, schools, grade levels and individual teachers. In addition, school administrators will be able to see individual student growth percentiles (SGP) for each student for whom growth could be calculated.

The updated dashboards may be found at the links below:

Here are a few reminders about growth calculations:

  • SGPs are calculated on a scale of 1-99
  • SGPs are a comparison of a student’s progress in a content area (ELA, math or science) relative to the progress of other like-scoring peers across the state
    • The comparison data used to calculate SGPs come from the student’s scale scores for a specific content area on the 2021 and 2022 RISE and/or Utah Aspire Plus assessments
    • For example, if a student earned an SGP of 43, that means that this student scored better than 43% of his like-scoring peers between the 2021 and 2022 assessments
  • The state considers an SGP of 40 to be typical growth
  • Students with low proficiency will need higher growth scores to close achievement gaps
  • An MGP is the median, or middle, score of a group of SGPs (class, grade level, school, or district)
    • MGPs answer this question: How fast is my group of students growing in their learning compared to other groups of students in my grade level, school, district or the state?
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DATE:
October 13, 2022

TO:
School Principals
Directors

FROM:  
John Larsen, Business Administrator
June LeMaster, Administrator, Human Resources
Brent Burge, HR Administrator

SUBJECT:  
Shift Differential – Education Support Professional (ESP)

As part of JESPA negotiations for the 2018-19 contract year, the shift differential was increased effective July 1, 2018 as follows:

Swing Shift – The employee’s shift must begin between 12:00 p.m. (noon) and 10:00 p.m. The employee must work a full eight hours. The additional rate of pay is $0.50 per hour.

Graveyard Shift – The employee’s shift must begin between 10:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. The employee must work a full eight hours. The additional rate of pay is $1.00 per hour.

If an employee normally assigned and normally working the swing or graveyard shift is asked to temporarily work earlier in the day in order to help cover for another employee who is absent, the swing or graveyard employee will receive the shift differential for that day.

Only ESP, benefit-eligible employees are eligible for shift differential. Please follow the current process to submit for shift differential pay.

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