Month: November 2023

From Tammy and Lisa:

• This is Tammy! I just want to let you all know (if you don’t already) that I am on the district bargaining team for the BEA collective bargaining agreement. At this point, we have bargained 8 hours/day every Monday for the last 3 weeks, but after the Thanksgiving break, we will be moving into the season of bargaining two full days a week. Not to worry, as I will make sure I get to all my schools to check-in before the winter break. Please keep texting me if you need anything, but know that Lisa is ready to step in and help if I am unable to get to you in a timely manner. Thanks for your support and understanding.
• SIF (School Improvement Fund) Budgets! We need to approve the SIF budgets (tab on your staffing plan). Please jump into your plan and update your SIF budgets for us. Remember that you need to budget down to $0. Thank you for taking care of that–your available funds depend on it. If you have questions about how to best spend your money, reach out to us, as we would be happy to help you think through your professional learning and building needs.
• If you haven’t already, please add us to your staff newsletters. We love to see what you are doing and to celebrate your successes and growing edges along with you.
• Tomorrow we will be sending out invites to our individual schools, for our next site visits before winter break. Back by popular demand is an agenda ahead of time for the visit.

Medical Moment:

Please share in your next family newsletter:

Health Emergency Ready Oregon (HERO) Kids Registry is a new resource to help families prepare for medical emergencies. Below is a brief overview and attached are FAQs. We encourage you to visit our website www.herokidsregistry.org to learn more, or reach out to the HERO Kids team at [email protected] to schedule a short informational presentation. We can also provide materials for, and/or attend, community outreach events! HERO Kids has also recently released three new education videos. Each video has a different focus and are only 1 minute long. Videos are available in both English and Spanish.

Overview:

HERO Kids Registry is a voluntary, no-cost system that lets any Oregon family record critical health information about their child before an emergency. Registry information can be accessed quickly by EMS and hospital emergency departments at the moment they need it.

Registering with HERO Kids is especially useful for young people who are medically fragile, or for those who have complex conditions, developmental disabilities, or mental health conditions. Young people in a crisis can’t always communicate their needs. Family members may not be present, or they may too distressed to help. Language barriers can impede communication. HERO Kids Registry can help offset some of these challenges.

Parents and legal guardians can register their child or young adult with HERO Kids online, and there is a paper registration option for people who prefer it. Young adults aged 15-26 can register themselves. HERO Kids Registry is secure and HIPAA-compliant.

Please share this information with your families in your next family newsletter. It is specifically for Families of Students with Complicated or Chronic
Health Conditions, Developmental Disabilities or Mental Health Conditions.

HR Moment:

Performance Module 

Goals For Certified Staff:

• All certified staff are required to submit goals through UKG 
  • Classroom teachers are required to submit SLGG goals and their UKG form is organized as such
  • Everyone else is prompted to submit goals but are not asked to submit SLGGs
    • Jennifer Hauth has emailed a goal template for Student Success staff for them to copy, complete and upload to their UKG goal form. See details here
    • Josh Marks has provided a goal template for Speech staff to do the same
    • If a staff member has not been provided with a template from someone who oversees their program, then they are to follow the instructions within UKG to provide their own personal goals for the year

Rollout Update:

• By November 18 – All building administrators (principals, assistant principals, deans) will be able to access and complete their goal setting forms which will then flow to their direct supervisor for approval and finalization.
• By December 2, all remain BLAST members will be able to access and complete their goal setting forms which will then flow to their direct supervisor for approval and finalization.
• In April, all BLAST members will be assigned the self-evaluation form to complete.
• In May, BLAST members responsible for evaluating other BLAST members will be assigned the summative evaluation form for each of those individuals.

IMPORTANT: Evaluation and Non-Renewal Reminder

If you have a Probationary 3 or Temporary 3 staff member of concern, this is another reminder that you should have already entered into the Focused Performance Review process with that person AND emailed [email protected].  Here is another method of viewing the P3/T3 staff that you are responsible for.

From Tammy and Lisa: Two pieces of clarification

• SLGGs and School Design: We’ve noticed that several goals coming in are reflecting adult changes rather than actual student growth. As you analyze your goals, consider if they are a goal for students (what you’d see students doing differently) or a way in which you might reach the goals (an adult action that might help you reach your goal). Please reach out if you’d like a thought partner as you create.
• Observations and Goal Setting: There has been some confusion regarding goal setting and minis. You can use your goal-setting meetings with staff as a mini observation if you’d like to. That means that for contract teachers not on-cycle for evaluation, they would have a minimum of two more minis in addition to the goal-setting meeting. If you have other questions, give us a call.

HR Moment:

• Rollout Update: All certified staff have performance profiles and should be viewable by their direct supervisors.  Follow the delegation instructions in this UKG Performance Module Overview Document if you want to share tasks with Assistant Principals and/or Deans.
• Support: The virtual drop-in sessions have been lightly attended so I’ll reduce them to just once a week.  Click here to join the meeting on Tuesday, 11/14 from 10 am to 11 am.

Leadership Team Meeting 11/15: HERE is the agenda for our upcoming meeting. It will be at Perseverance Hall from 3-4:30.

Interventionist PLC Begins: We are looking forward to our Interventionists to work together as a PLC toward the development of our Tier 2 structures. The first is on November 16th. HERE is Lindsley’s e-mail with more information. Thanks for facilitating Lindsley!

Field Trip Ideas: With so many new administrators on the team, it would be good to share our collective genius regarding field trip ideas by grade level. If you have field trips that you have been impressed with, please add to this list (now included in Sharezies). This can help us link activities to content and reduce duplication per grade level when we choose to access our local options.

Wayfinder: Wayfinder’s Waypoint Summative and Formative Assessments were rostered to elementary school students by mistake. The questions are intended for 6^th-12^th and not elementary students. I am working to have these removed for elementary schools and that should happen soon. Waypoints will be available for grades 3-5 for next year and we are looking for schools that would like to pilot the questions and give feedback. Let me know if your school or certain teachers are interested.

Safe Schools Reminder: The safe school compliance videos were due to be completed by 10/31.  Below is a reminder of how staff may access them.  Please be sure to share this requirement with staff hired after September 1.

• Google Doc of Learning Module Tips
• Video Overview of the Learning Module
• Video Overview For Safe Schools Access

Instructional Technology: November 8^th Elementary TLC Update

The update for this week includes:

• Order form for HDWord Plus teacher resource pages for 3^rd-5^th teachers
• Vocabulary Playground update
• Dreambox Growth Report support document
• Movement moments
• and more!

MAC Survey Day is Here: The Fall MAC Survey will be the week of November 6^th and MAC looks different than in previous years. You will have just 6-12 staff at your school sites who are a part of the MAC cost pool. To be able to participate in the MAC Survey, you must be trained annually. I have emailed our untrained cost pool staff directly with MAC training information. In order for this slimmed down, intentional approach to be successful, it is imperative that staff in the cost pool complete their MAC training and participate in the MAC Survey. Automated messaging from Multnomah ESD will go out only to those staff in the cost pool one working day prior to the MAC Survey day and again on the morning of the MAC Survey. Please feel free to reach out to me or the FAN Advocate at your school if you have any questions or if you would like a list of your staff who are in the Fall MAC Survey. As the majority funding source for our FAN program, your support of MAC is greatly appreciated! 

Wayfinder and Counseling Update

School Counseling Blog:

In it you will find:

• Use of Time is coming up. Please read instructions to be best prepared.
• Student Conference (Student Contact Data input):  We will be sharing initial data to administrators very soon, please make sure you are inputting your data so you can track student contacts and programming/interventions!
• Thank you!
• Upcoming PLCs

Wayfinder: Wayfinder’s Waypoint Summative and Formative Assessments were rostered to elementary school students by mistake. The questions are intended for 6^th-12^th and not elementary students. I am working to have these removed for elementary schools and that should happen soon. Waypoints will be available for grades 3-5 for next year and we are looking for schools that would like to pilot the questions and give feedback. Let me know if your school or certain teachers are interested.

HR Moment: Performance Matters:

Upcoming optional virtual drop in sessions:

• Friday, 11/3,  from 1:15 pm – 2:15 pm (Click here to join the meeting)
• Monday, 11/6,  from 1:15 pm – 2:15 pm (Click here to join the meeting)
• Thursday, 11/9, from 10 am – 11 am (Click here to join the meeting)
• Each session will have the same agenda:
  • We’ll begin with a rollout update
  • Reteach how to Initiate goal setting
  • Q&A afterwards

Rollout Update For Friday 11/3:

As of mid-day on Monday, November 6, you will be able to initiate the goal setting process for all of your contract and prob/temp classroom teachers, specialists and elective teachers.  These staff members will have received both an email and a notification within UKG with the following message:

We are kicking off the 2023/24 performance evaluation process!  

The district and BEA leadership have an agreement to adjust the number of mini-observations this year for all certified contract status staff (regardless of your on/off year summative evaluation status this year).  The agreement includes one goal setting meeting (mini #1) and two additional mini-observations (#2 and #3) and a reduction in the domains/standards to be evaluated at year’s end.  [The agreement does not apply to probationary/temporary staff or those who are involved in focused goals, support strategies or plans of assistance].

The 2023/24 performance evaluation process includes the following tasks:

• You will be sent a To-Do notification through UKG to identify your personal goals and two student learning growth goals (SLGGs) for the year.  Due date for goal submission is December 1.
• Administrators/supervisors will meet with you to review the goals that you submitted through UKG (this will count as mini-observation #1)
• For contract status staff, administrators/supervisors will conduct two additional mini-observations (#2 & #3) during the school year. These two mini-observations will be tracked through UKG with the administrator/supervisor entering an Observation form which will then flow to you for digital confirmation
• In early April, you will be sent a To-Do notification to complete a self-reflection through UKG.  Due date for the self-reflection is May 1.
• Probation and temporary staff will follow the same process as in past years:
  • submission of goals and a goal setting meeting (mini observation #1)
    • 2 formal observations
    • 3 additional mini-observations (#2 – #4)
    • a self-reflection
    • a summative evaluation

For Contract Certified Staff who DID NOT receive a summative evaluation last year, your administrator/supervisor will complete a summative evaluation in May/June which will be sent via UKG to each person to review, comment and sign.

You will soon receive both an email and a notification in UKG with instructions on how to submit your 2023/24 goals. Here is a sneak peak video overview of the goal setting submission process.

Certified Staff on Alternate Rubrics: By Monday, 11/13, all certified staff on alternate rubrics will be viewable and ready to initiate. BLS and BEA are still in conversations regarding a possible reduction in their domains/standards for 2023/24.

Administrative Evaluations; In early December, we will begin rolling out the UKG evaluation process for building and district administrators

Technology BYTES:

When to use the Webhelpdesk  support ticket system.

There are several ways to communicate with your Bend-La Pine Schools IT support staff.  The most effective of which is the webhelpdesk ticket.   If you have a quick question, call the help desk (1200) or shoot an email to your client service representative.  But if you have an expectation, or a request that will require action, you should ONLY use the web help desk ticket system.  Why?

• a web help desk ticket will direct your request to one of 30 IT staff that is best suited to answer your question.

• It is the only communication method that will alert IT support if it remains unanswered. (1 day happy and green 3 days yellow and SCARY RED at day 5!)

• It tracks common issues that could be addressed to benefit all BLS users.

Your IT team looks forward to serving you during the 23-24 school year!