Staff Update #13: 4/7/24

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Roger Updates

If you are interested in reading Wendi’s updates as they come out, you can sign up through CaringBridge via THIS LINK. You will need to make an account.

If you would like to make a donation, send a gift card, or sign up to provide a meal, you can do so HERE. Due to their family’s dietary restrictions, a donation or gift card might be best.

Wendi gave me permission to share the CaringBridge link with our staff, but not with families. I am working with Wendi to put together an update to send out to our family community. Please keep this in mind when people in the community ask you for updates about Roger and try to avoid oversharing.

#RogerStrong Banner

Friends of Realms member/parent Stacy Stonesifer ordered a giant vinyl banner and is hoping to have all students sign it and get pictures with them holding it up. Crew Leaders – Please go to this spreadsheet to sign up for a slot for your Crew. More directions on the spreadsheet itself.

Big Ups!

I wouldn’t feel right diving into the many logistics without first sharing some appreciations. Really, everybody deserves Big Ups this week for keeping the ship cruising along smoothly… but I’ll get a bit more specific:

Willing Delegatees: Here are just SOME of the folks that I know have gracefully stepped in to help pick up slack:

  • Ian W, Delaney, Anita, Heidi – The ILT did a great job with Wednesday’s SIW, and will be leading our PD efforts through the remainder of the year.
  • Kat, Caleb – Now officially deputized Student Behavior First Responders. They will be filtering behavior reports and following up with most behavior/conduct issues (more info below)
  • Addy, Olivia, Brandon, Kat, Delaney – Now MTSS leads at the middle and high school.
  • Ian S – High School Yearbook Support (taking Rob’s work to the finish line!)

This is not to mention things like Dances, Fieldwork, Senior Project, Travel Study, Community Meetings, and Graduation that Roger or I would usually have our hands in and are now being carried entirely by you all 💪

I am actually hopeful that many of these efforts will actually run better without admin micromanagement. You each have superpowers, and I hope that this extra space allows them to shine! Please know that I am still here to support you and I ask that you let me know if you notice yourself getting overwhelmed… spring term is hard enough!

ON TO MORE BIG UPS

Mary – What a weird week to start a new gig! Mary has stepped into her new role as ELA teacher with grace, and I am very grateful to have someone with such confidence leading our Lit 4 work and making connections with Seniors… I hear she even reeled Emma in from skipping class!

Sarah – It is unanimous; we all wish that Sarah could stay in her art teaching role through the end of the year!! Sarah has made incredible connections with even our toughest 6th graders and continued to push content forward. Big ups for the passion you have brought to this work, Sarah! You will be missed. (Sarah’s last day is 4/16)

Office Staff: Jennifer, Lisa, Jill, Sommer – Not only have you each picked up additional logistics and tasks this week, you have also done so while fielding a steady stream of upset families looking to support or just share their feelings about Roger’s news. This is an impossibly heavy lift, and I see you leaning on each other for support. Absolutely inspiring. Thank you, and big ups!

Upcoming Dates

  • Thurs April 11th – Last Day to Administer EL Crew Survey in Crew (HS Survey Link   MS Survey Link)
  • Fri April 12th – RHS Prom (volunteer sign up here)
  • Fri April 12th – NO SCHOOL at RHS/RMS (Teacher PD)
  • Fri April 26th & Sat April 27th – Banff Film Festival
  • Fri May 3rd – Better World Day (9th & 10th)
  • Fri May 3rd – RMS Dance (Springa-Flinga) 6pm-8pm (volunteer sign up here)
  • Mon May 6th – Teacher Appreciation Week!
  • Sat May 11th – Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show
  • Tues May 15th – Fri May 19th – RHS Intensives, Round 2
  • Mon May 20th – Harju Baby Due Date
  • Mon May 20th – Thurs May 22nd: 8th Gr Travel Study
  • Tues May 28th – Wed May 29th: 10th Gr Newport Overnight Fieldwork
  • Thurs May 30th – Senior Expo Night 6pm-8pm
  • Tues June 4th – Thurs June 6th – Tentative 8th Gr Passages
  • Wed June 6th – Last Day of Classes for RHS Seniors
  • Tues June 11th – RHS Class of 2024 Graduation, 7PM
  • Thurs June 13th – RMS 8th Gr Promotion, 6PM
  • Tues June 18th – Last Day of School, 2:30 Release

3rd trimester fieldwork overview calendar!

Staffing Updates for This Year

Alexis Alipuria will be taking over for Sarah as Bethany’s long-term sub starting 4/17 through the remainder of the year. Alexis is the mom of an awesome Realms High student (Kali), and comes with a huge list of qualifications including a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. She’ll be around some time this week to begin the handoff process with Sarah.

Todd Brown will be joining as middle school SSC/student support. Todd recently retired from a long career that included SPED case management, the Tamarak program, and teaching on a Reservation in Arizona. He has an extensive background in Collaborative Problem Solving. Needless to say, Todd is STEADY and will not be shaken by any student conduct, and I think he will bring a fresh perspective on the MTSS-related middle school systems.

Todd joining the Hub team will free up Kat to do much more Tier 2 and Tier 3 work.

Coming in May: Robi Cole will be the substitute administrator when Baby Harju arrives. She has been in a lot of different roles around the district and beyond… I will get a list for you soon… but know that she is awesome and committed to being here consistently.

Behavior First Responders: Kat & Caleb

If you need support with a student, please follow the protocol outlined in our Behavior Management guide and call someone in the office who will radio for support. You can also send a text – make sure you send it to both Kat and Caleb. (High School Staff – Caleb will be your go-to in most cases)

Kat, Caleb, and I met with a couple district coaches on Friday to get them oriented to a few more district supports and policies related to behavior and investigation. I will still handle all Major events, but Kat and Caleb will be filtering all reports. You will start to see them responding to your Behavior Reports.

24-25 Staffing Information

As you have probably heard, every school in the district is going to be experiencing a reduction in FTE (“full-time equivalent”… how many staff members we get) next year. This is due to several factors:

  • Reduced student population across the district
  • Sunsetting of some temporary state funding
  • Increased salaries post-bargaining

I have a couple of meetings next week to discuss our RMS/RHS staffing plans with district leadership in more detail. Still, I know that some staff had to receive some hard news this week at other schools, so I wanted to share what I know with you all ASAP.

The ok-ish news is that both Realms Middle & High Schools are coming out of this relatively unscathed. In total, across both schools, we are only seeing a reduction of 0.627 FTE (a full-time teacher is 1.0). Most schools are seeing multiple positions (and in some cases, entire programs) being cut, so while this is not GOOD news it is not as bad as we had expected.

The better news is that this staffing plan is assuming the BLS Levy doesn’t pass. I have signed up to have a representative from the superintendent’s office come speak to our staff about the levy in place of our Staff Logistics Meeting on 4/19 before school, so I won’t go into too many details about the levy itself here. Just know that, if it passes, the levy funding will definitely make up for any FTE losses that we are set to experience.

I am hopeful that we will not need to tighten our belts. However, we do need to plan as if the levy will not pass. For us, where this reduction would most likely come from is “Natural Attrition without Replacement”… so if you have any updates to your plan for next school year, or if you had been talking with Roger about possible adjustments to your assignment, it is important that you let me know ASAP!

Later this month I will be reaching out for department feedback on the master schedule, and begin building draft schedules for next year.

Student Laptops

If a student does not have their charged iPad and needs to borrow a laptop, they will now need to go to the front office, not the Learning Lab. Here is the fully updated system:

IF A STUDENT DOES NOT HAVE THEIR IPAD: 

  • The teacher will send them to the front office with a hall pass.
  • The front office team will work with the student to determine where the student’s iPad is…
    • Is it at home? We will ask them to call home or contact a parent to see if they can deliver it to school.
    • Is it missing and you can’t find it? Lisa will ping it right away.
    • Is it missing and you haven’t had it for a week now? The office will email the student’s teachers & call home.
  • THEN, if needed, we will check out a laptop for the student who will return the laptop at the end of the period or the end of the day. 
  • If the student’s iPad is low on battery, they won’t ask for a laptop, but instead charge it on a classroom charging station. Please let Jennifer know if you need an iPad charging station for your classroom. 

IF A STUDENT REQUIRES A LAPTOP DUE TO THEIR IEP/504 ACCOMMODATIONS, THE CASE MANAGER NEEDS TO LET THE FRONT OFFICE KNOW.

PINGED IPADS IN THE MS:

  • If an iPad pings in the middle school, please send the student to Sommer’s office.  She will call Lisa to take it out of lost mode. The student should come to the front office if Sommer is unavailable.  

End-of-year Evening Events Info for Certified Staff

According to the new bargaining agreement, all certified staff are required to attend at least 1 evening event this spring. This does not include volunteer events like chaperoning dances.

High School Staff: The two events to consider here are Graduation (6/11) and Senior Expo (5/30).

  • If you cannot attend Graduation, please plan on attending Senior Expo night.
  • If you are a lead/required staff for Senior Expo, then you are not required to attend Graduation (you are of course welcome to attend but we will not be timesheeting attendance)

Middle School Staff: Kid Fair was the required evening event. Of course, I am hopeful that many/most of you will plan on attending 8th Grade Promotion on 6/13, but you are not required to do so.

Bend Bulletin Article 😖

There was an article published in the Bulletin on Thursday about a woodshop incident at Realms High last year. The parents of Adam Stubblefield are suing two tool companies and Bend-La Pine Schools. I’m not linking it here – I don’t want to give it more clicks.

The article is very frustrating for several reasons. For one, we know that Rob did everything right in teaching tool safety, but this side is not represented because the article includes no district statement. Second, the picture that they decided to use is one of the inside of an unfinished classroom from before the high school was opened.

This is not an official statement – I’m leaving that to our district directors of communication – but if this article comes up between you and your friends, feel free to share that we have full faith in Rob’s teaching, we are protected by the district legal team, and we are confident that this will not result in any harm coming to our school so long as rumors don’t spread.

Reminders from last blog post