August 28th-September 1st Blog

WELCOME TO THE FIRST MONTH OF SCHOOL WHERE YOU’RE SOMEHOW ALREADY 3 MONTHS BEHIND IN PAPERWORK.

WEEKLY BLOGS

If you haven’t reviewed the Nursing Blog from 8/21, please take a look. There is important information included in that blog.

YOUTH SUICIDE INCREASE

From Deschutes County

Call to Action from Deschutes County: Oregon Health Authority recently notified us that the state is seeing an uptick in younger youth suicides (ages 14 and younger). While the number of overall youth suicide deaths has not changed from the year prior, this change in our younger population is concerning.

We are sharing this information with you to place emphasis for those serving students, grades 4 to 9, to be vigilant in watching for warning signs and to follow your school’s protocols/Adi’s Act when they see signs for suicide risk. We want to encourage our school districts to continue to support school staff and ensure they are receiving suicide prevention/intervention trainings as we move into this coming school year.

We have the benefit of knowing how diligent you all have been when it comes to this state-level call to action and we encourage each district to carry on with your district’s policies and protocols when it comes to suicide prevention. 

Below are some key reminders to help support each of your districts and schools in order to help keep a vigilant eye, steps to take, and the resources available. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. 

Warning Signs

• Verbally (directly/indirectly) stating they do not want to be here, are burdensome, etc.
• Indirect verbal example for younger ages: “I want to go to sleep and never wake up.”
• Direct verbal example for younger ages: “I want to die.”
• Giving away prized possessions.
• Examples for younger ages: giving away Pokemon cards they historically have cherished or a stuffed animal.
• Shifts in mood, affect, academics, socialization.
• More warning signs, including risk factors, can be found here. EACH SIGN SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY

Resources Available

• First Step App
• YouthLine: 877-968-8491 or text “teen2teen” to 83983
• 988: available via call or text for both English and Spanish, 24/7
• Deschutes County Crisis Line: 541-322-7500 ext. 9
• Deschutes County Mental Health Resource Page

TRANSPORTATION ACCIDENTS

Health Related Emergency Response Guide for School Related Transportation Accidents. – per BLS nurse request

*Approved by BLS legal *

INCIDENT REPORTS

NEW SYSTEM for Incident Reports  

• Incident reports are going digital this year. Once the school year starts, we will not be accepting any incident reports via paper copy.   
• All incident reports must be completed using the Student Incident Report Form 
• The form can be found on the Safety Portal, in the Safety Drive, and in the Self-service UKG Portal (UKG widget coming soon.)
• Please spread this information to your teachers, EAs, and anyone else who commonly fills out an incident report. 
• If nurses need to assess a student for a head injury, they can document their assessment in Synergy under the Health Log tab. There is no longer a “Nurse Head Injury Report Form”.

RELEASE OF INFORMATION FORMS

Please remember to send completed Releases of Information to the records clerks to upload into Synergy. Please email forms to:

[email protected] via BLSend. A good idea is to cc yourself in that email, so you have record of when it was sent. Records clerks will upload the ROIs in Synergy (under the documents tab as well as in the SE student SpEd Docs tab).

HUMAN RESOURCES

Safe Schools Trainings

Accessing Safe Schools Trainings

Paul Dean has created a help document and help video for employees to access the Safe School’s Trainings in UKG.  Here is a link to the help video and this is a document that staff can use to guide them through the process. 

The basic system is to login from their district UKG screen and go to the learning module. Because of the varied nature of the trainings, employees need to go select the training that they need- it isn’t auto-populated. If staff need access to other trainings than this, please email [email protected] for assistance.

UKG

Information on how to submit a time-leave request from a prior period time sheet can be found here.

FAN / LIAISON / SLP / PT / OT

FAN

Important Information from Central Oregon FAN

Being that we have several new team-members, we wanted to refresh everyone on the role and function of FAN advocates. Here is a one-page summary about these amazing supports for our families.

FAN Advocate Assignments

DEI

Who is your school’s Latino Family Liaison?

Family Liaison team hiring has been ongoing since last spring–getting closer!  Liaisons’ school assignments should be ready as soon as hiring is complete, by end of next week at the latest.  Thank you for your patience—I know you need this information yesterday.

In the meantime, please use Linguist Link to request interpreters for back-to-school events like Open House.  You can also request an interpreter to come to your office for a couple hours to make phone calls, etc.  (Make sure you submit translation requests ASAP for all welcome-back newsletters and invitations to your events.)

If you need more immediate support, there are various tools available for language access.  If you need a Family Liaison for a specific family support situation beyond interpretation, please contact the Welcome Center (x6820 or [email protected]).  If you have other questions, reach out to Kinsey. 

SLP, PT, OT

Are you wondering who your SLP, PT, OT is at your school? Take a look at the Who is Where Quick Guide. 

Who is Where Quick Guide

Menstrual Dignity Act

When your staff teaches behavior expectations in different areas of the building this fall, be sure to explicitly teach the purpose and expectations for use of the menstrual products and dispensers in the bathrooms.  Basic talking points and additional resources here.  Also be sure that school tours include mentioning where and how all students can access gender-neutral bathrooms and expectations for behavior in those spaces. 

Classroom Practices

Share with teachers: Our district equity coaches can help teams walk through Menstrual Dignity Act, Bias Incident Lesson (more on this soon), or other sensitive topics.  Reach out to the team!  Additional tips and strategies available on the LEAD website.

NURSE MEETINGS

Trainings/Professional Development

• Sexual Abuse training offered by PACE: Child sexual abuse is a pervasive societal problem that requires ongoing conversations. Learn about child abuse statistics, the grooming process and how to identify a predator in educational settings. Head into the new school year with a baseline understanding of how to prevent sexual abuse and bring your questions! There is a current training planned for Aug. 31 at 12:00 pm. If you are interested, you can sign up HERE. McKenzie Nix is a great resource and she can come to talk to staff or do trainings during the year. Email [email protected]. 
• QPR Training – Mandatory (if you haven’t taken the class within the last year)
  • Wednesday, October 25, 2023
  • 230-4pm
  • Location: TBD
• Mandatory nurse staff /meetings trainings on the following non-school days:
  • Friday, February 2, 2024 
  • Thursday, April 11, 2024
  • Friday, April 12, 2024. 
• Acuity Tool Update
  • Updated Acuity Tool presentation during OSNA (virtual) Fall Conference on November 3, 2023.
  • Informational session dates TBD.

DAY OFF REQUESTS

• Day off requests – Get your requests in ASAP for any time you wish to take off. (This includes school conference days.)
  • Classified Staff – Per HR, no more than 5 unpaid days can be used for personal time (vacation, recreation, etc.) during the school year.
  • Certified Staff – Per HR, there is no option for unpaid days for personal use. Certified Staff can only use personal leave. 
  • Please remember when requesting an extended period of time off for personal time (greater than 5 days), your team is affected by needing to support your assignment.  
• Dates not available to request time off*Please do not request time off during these times. 
  • There will be mandatory nurse staff /meetings trainings on the following non-school days:
    • Friday, February 2, 2024 
    • Thursday, April 11, 2024
    • Friday, April 12, 2024. 

BLS NURSE CHECK-IN SURVEY

Having a stressful week? Need some extra support? Suggestions for nurse meeting ideas. Please complete the BLS Nurse Check-In Survey

ALL ABOUT YOU

Please complete the About YOU form.