Meeting Change to Note: On Feb 28, from 3:00-4:00, Skip and Tammy have been called to attend a meeting of the joint BEA/OSEA/BLS task force to address the current concerns across our classrooms, schools, and district. That is the day and time we have our next Horizontal Meeting. Because we have things we have been holding to share with you, we still need to meet. So, we will be having a WebEx meeting that day from 2:00-2:45 in Skip’s WebEx room. He will send the link to you closer to that time. We realize this is not the best time of the day, and understand if Assistants may need to duck out to attend to dismissal. We also appreciate your flexibility and support.
Missing your token for the educator survey? Bree Bender from ODE has advised us to have principals contact their helpdesk at [email protected] if you are missing the email that contains your token. They will be able to assist. If you have any problems after reaching out to them, please let me know and I will help troubleshoot. Thank you Scott Maben for helping us with this issue.
Assessment info – here is a link to the opt-out forms that you should be sending to families in an upcoming newsletter (if you already haven’t). As you collect the opt-out forms at your school please hold them for 3 years. At the end of the school year Stephanie will be sending you a link that you can scan the forms to. Also, please notify Stephanie Bent who you your assessment coordinator for the year will be so she is emailing the correct person with information as it comes available. Here is information your testing coordinator should read and become familiar with.
From Ryan – Please save the date for the Central Oregon Educator Job Fair. It will be held on Thursday, March 23rd at Eagle Crest. As like past years, all administrators will be expected to attend to meet with potential candidates. More details to come from Ryan Kelling.
From Scott McDonald –
Since February 1st, 1,230 staff members have now completed their KnowB4 cyber-security training. That is nearly a participation record for Bend La Pine Schools! Reminder messages will be sent to any staff member who has yet to complete the training until the first week of March. Thank You for your commitment to internet security!
Phishing Report Tool-
IT wants to remind all staff that there is a very effective “phishing Reporting Tool” built into our email system. If you suspect an email message addressed to you is a scam or in anyway “phishy”, it is 100% okay to report the message using this tool. Use it as much as you want! Getting to the phishing tool can look a little different depending on the email client that you use. Just know that you can always find it in the “meatball” menu (…) that is clearly visible near the top of your email tool bar.
Finally, please try to resist the temptation of sending potentially fraudulent emails to our technology staff. Forwarding these messages can have a multiplier effect on the reach of the scam.
From Dave VanLoo re: NNAT / Naglieri TAG Screening – NNAT3 is available for TAG screening. This year’s plan is to test all 2nd graders, any 3rd-5th grade students new to the district, and other students as needed. Below is a link to several PDFs including verbal test directions and help for using the website. Students access NNAT3 through Clever and take it on their iPads. We recommend finishing all testing by the end of April. This is particularly important for 3rd-5th grade students who may have interest in the programs at Juniper and Cascade. Contact Dave or Stephanie with any questions. Thanks.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBy6RnI2rYM0PPhbqsFFYO1kqLbL5zuX?usp=share_link
From Paul Dean –
UKG Go Live Updates For Admin
- Please check and approve/reject UKG My Mailbox requests at least once a day
- Use help desk tickets to track errors
UKG Go Live Updates For Staff
Please check our UKG Implementation and Training website within the staff portal regularly for important information. We will update it frequently (hourly if needed) during the first few days of the launch. The site includes:
- Daily bullet points regarding digital tasks
- Known Issues Log
- Open and Closed fixes
- UKG Support Plan
- Instructions on what to do if you are encountering problems
- Updated how-to training videos and documents
- The newest one is “How current employees apply for another BLS job“
COVID Sick Days
Bend – La Pine Schools (BLS) and our Associations have agreed to a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) regarding the impacts of COVID-19 on the workplace. There is a provision for five (5) paid COVID-19 hardship days and employees have the ability to request retroactive credit for absences that was applied against their sick leave. This provision extends to Confidential/BLAST employees as well.
To determine if you are eligible for the retroactive credit, we’ve created a form for you to review and submit if one or more of the categories apply to 2022/23 leave taken prior to Monday, February 13, 2023.
The form is NOT to be used for COVID-19 related leave beginning on February 13 as staff will be able to designate “COVID” when they submit Frontline Absence Management/Aesop substitute requests or within UKG for non-Frontline/Aesop users.
Calendar
- Feb 17 Ponderosa Principal Interview Day
- Feb 20 Presidents’ Day No School
- Feb 21 Pine Ridge Principal Interview Day
- Feb 22 – New Admin Learning Lab
- Feb 22-24 Tammy out at NABE Conference
- Feb 28 – Elementary Horizontal (WebEx at 2:00 in Skip’s room)
And Finally…
Accurate representation of our emotional journey on any given day…