Communications
Enough is Enough -April Community Forum
Principals, please encourage parents to participate. Here is the registration link.
Anti-Litter Campaign
The Mayor’s Office is wanting to launch an Anti-Litter Campaign in Wyandotte County and he wants to include students from KCKPS as part of the initiative.
The Mayor is calling it the “Spring Clean UP-Flash Trash Mob”. The idea came about when students shared their thoughts on some of the issues they experienced in their city when he visited elementary schools. Litter and trash was one of the things they mentioned frequently during his conversation with various classrooms.
So, I am reaching out to all of you to get your ideas and if this is something you think your school would like to support and help raise awareness about the issues of littering, and doing our part to help keep our city, county, and neighborhoods litter-free.
The Mayor’s Office is open to suggestions and how we can get students involved in an upcoming Spring Cleanup.
Anti Litter School Project
Clean Places Happy Faces
High School Principals
Do any of our high school students need volunteer hours?
Let me know your thoughts and please see the examples of the campaigns that have been started in other school districts and communities:
City of Rockhill
https://www.cityofrockhill.com/departments/public-works/more/public-works/environmental-education-beautification/litter-education
Curriculum & Instruction
Elementary Principals
Re: 4th Quarter Curriculum Resources to Support Remote Instruction/Learning
In an effort to support teachers as they continue to provide high-quality instruction in the remote environment, the C&I department has compiled suggestions and materials needed for 4th quarter instruction. For schools that choose to offer another material pick-up day, the material lists should help streamline the process. The suggestions and materials listed below are resources for students that will assist in continued progress as we continue to inspire excellence.
ELA-
4th grade will need activity books for units 8 & 4 (also 7 if it wasn’t sent in Q3).
Please note: The Unit 4 activity book is called an Inventor’s Notebook because Unit 4 is a Quest. There are also student folders and notepads for the Quest. This unit was moved to the end of the year because of remote learning.
5th grade will need activity books for units 9 & 7 (also 8 if it wasn’t sent with Q3).
Please note: Unit 7 is a play and was also moved to the end of the year because of remote learning.
Math- The Math Materials for 4th Quarter document provides suggestions for materials teachers may choose to send home for math instruction for quarter four. These supplies are based on standards for the 4th quarter within the GVC and the Learn Anywhere Plans within Eureka Math in Sync. Eureka Math in Sync is an available resource for remote learning that mirrors the primary resources while providing adaptations for remote learning.
Science- The Science Materials for 4th Quarter document provides suggestions for materials teachers may choose to send home for Mystery Science units for the fourth quarter. These supplies are based on suggestions for adjusting for remote instruction in the Distance Learning Guides from Mystery Science. Mystery Science is available this school year as a supplemental resource for remote learning, however, materials for the units have not been purchased. Teachers may use/modify supplies based on what is available in the schools’ science supply closets.
If you have additional questions please do not hesitate to contact the C & I team (allison.rice@kckps.org– ELA, marica.rhone@kckps.org– Math, and cheryl.beyer@kckps.org– Science/Social Studies) for additional support.
ESOL
KELPA:
KELPA Testing Window closes March 31st at 5:00 pm. Scoring window closes April 20th at 5:00pm which includes uploading of all Kindergarten and First grade writing responses. Update from KSDE: **The writing scoring rubrics for K & 1 (same rubrics) are discrepant between materials shared with the field. To summarize, the Applying Mechanics description for Score Point 1 include two different descriptions (2-bullet version vs. 1-bullet version). This discrepancy was also present during the 2019- 2020 administration in the Rater Training materials and Educator Portal. Educator Portal was updated in Fall 2020 to replace the 1- bullet version with the 2-bullet version. The Test Administration and Scoring document has been updated for use during the remainder of the 2020-2021 administration. Request educators to reprint updated materials to complete scoring for the year. ** If your building has already uploaded you do not need to rescore.
Student Monitoring:
Students who scored proficient on the 2020 KELPA will need
transitional paperwork filled out, signed, and submitted to Dasiel Suarez by
April 15 end of day. Paperwork for current 6th and 9th graders will be completed at their current building not at the 2020 school of attendance.
Federal Programs
AUDIENCE: K-8 Title I Principals
Subject: MARK YOUR CALENDARS – Spring District Title I Advisory Meeting
The District Title I Advisory Meetings were postponed in the fall due to students and staff not returning to school. These annual required meetings will be held via Zoom and have been rescheduled for the following dates/times:
- Monday, April 26th – 4:30 – 5:30pm: All Middle Schools
- Wednesday, April 28th – 4:30 – 5:30pm: Elementary Schools (Alpha order: Banneker- Lowell Brune)
- Thursday, April 29th, 4:30 – 5:30pm: Elementary Schools (Alpha order: Mark Twain-Whittier)
We look forward to seeing each of you, along with your 1 certified staff and 1 parent representative. If you are using Title I funds for class size reduction teachers or supplemental content staff positions, please make an effort to bring one of those individuals (preferred, not required) as your 1 certified staff.
Title I funds can be used for extra duty pay for certified staff attending the meeting. Extra duty must be pre-approved by BOE. BOE meetings are 4/7/21 (middle school deadline) and 4/27/21 (elementary school deadline).
More info will follow about the structure of the meetings. Calendar invitations with Zoom links will be sent to principals to forward on to certified staff and parent representatives.
Please let me know if there are questions,
Lisa
Finance
Budget update for Department Leaders
The district will be utilizing the Allovue system for budgeting this year. We will be conducting training for Department Leaders on March 30th at 10:00. The training will be recorded for anyone who cannot attend. You are welcome to include your assistants if they help in the budgeting process and/or will assist in entering the budget into Allovue. Budget meetings with Brad, Tracy, and Dennis will begin the following week. The Zoom link for the training is:
https://allovue.zoom.us/j/92777842890Budget update for Principals/Treasurers
The district will be utilizing the Allovue system for budgeting this year. We will be conducting training for Principals and Treasurers on April 8 at 9:00. The training will be recorded for anyone who cannot attend. We strongly encourage you to bring your Treasurer or have your Treasurer watch the training recording to assist in entering the budget into Allovue. Budget meetings with Brad, Tracy, and Dennis will begin the following week. The Zoom link for the training is:
https://allovue.zoom.us/j/98576891291Human Resources
Professional Workforce Development Links
Here are the links for the district professional development on Friday, April 2nd from 8:00 am to 11:00 am. This can also be found on the District Website under Staff Links at the bottom of the page.
Employee ID Badge
Employee ID badges can be issued to staff at the Maintenance Shop Office by appointment only or by mail.
To schedule an appointment call Kim Thrasher at 913.627.3850. Appointments are available on Monday – Friday from 8:00 am – 3:00 pm.
Staff must bring a photo ID to the appointment.
Staff will be turned away if they do not have an appointment.
To request an ID badge to be sent to you by interoffice mail send the following information to PictureBadgeID@kckps.org.
ID cards will be hand delivered to you via the interoffice mail.
ID badges will not be mailed out to home addresses.
Attachment: Map to the Maintenance Shop
Submitted by: Ana Perez-Sievert
Staff Evaluations
This is a reminder that the following evaluations will be due April 10, 2021. Also as a reminder Classified Staff Evaluations will be due on May 1, 2021
- Teacher – Year 1, Semester 2
- Teacher – Year 2, Semester 2
- Administrator – Year 1, Semester 2
- Administrator – Year 2, Semester 2
Submitted by: DeAndre Tuggle
March Board Policy Review (IDP Rep Activity Access)
IDP Reps may view the roster for the three march board policy review activities on Frontline Professional Growth under the Enrollment Tools tab.
You may reach out to Ana Perez-Sievert if you have any questions.
Instructional Technology
KCKPS Mobile Minute – IDP Points for Canvas learning, Hybrid/Concurrent Teaching Ideas, Assistments and much more!
Police Department
SAFEDEFEND™
Members of the SAFEDEFEND™ team will be in USD 500 buildings over the next two to four weeks (March 29th – April 23rd) to assist enrolling district personnel into the system. This is a routine process to assist building administrators and their teams in attempt to get our employees enrolled into the system. Police staff will be accompanying the SAFEDEFEND™ team as needed to assist and familiarize all or our teams roles. We would like to express our appreciation to all those leaders and their staff who during COVID protocols have been proactive in their efforts to assist with enrollment.
The following are some of the issues we will be collectively work on:
- Enrolling employees specific to the building (staff names/fingerprints)
- Assuring and determining system wellness
- Assisting with educational or training materials
- System testing without students or minimal impact on instructional time (During PD or PLC)
- Sequence of acclimatization to building personnel; lead team, faculty & staff, students, and visitors)
Helpful Tips Moving Forward: How schools can do safety drills while not colliding with COVID-19 safeguards.
Superintendents, principals, and other building administrators may wish to explore some practical options for reasonably preparing students and staff for a real emergency, while not putting them at risk by violating COVID-19 best practices. From the perspective of school safety experts, steps for school leaders to consider might include:
- First deal with the social-emotional trauma being experienced by students, teachers, support staff, and administrators related to COVID-19. Many will be bringing in a great deal of anxiety to school on “Day One.” Starting off with school emergency drills as soon as everyone walks in the door might only add to that trauma and strain.
- That said, waiting too long to address the various emergency drills also is not prudent. School leaders should work with counselors, social workers, psychologists, and their faculty and staff to identify the first opportunity to reasonably broach the subject of emergency drills.
- Classroom discussions about why the various drills are important, rather than diving into full drill practices, might be a good starting point.
- Superintendents and principals may want to have teachers and administrators then verbally walk students and staff through what to do in the various real potential emergencies, and subsequently demonstrate appropriate techniques, identify safe space locations, etc. For example, instead of rushing to safer or hard corners in an actual drill, teachers could discuss a lockdown and then show students the area while verbally explaining to them what they would do in a real lockdown situation. In a fire drill, teachers could walk students out of the school as school leaders and fire marshals determine they should do in a real fire evacuation, and show them where to go to and how they would physically distance at their rally point area.
- Debriefings are now more critical than ever. Teachers, support staff, and administrators should have strategic discussions and, debrief anxiety and trauma the adults may be feeling. Debriefings should also be held with students after instructive presentations and, of course, following any actual drills are done in response to an actual incident.
- Remember to document your drills accordingly with District policy.
School safety remains a critical element of school operations that must be a part of educational plans, even during highly unusual times such as COVID-19. Just as in “normal” times, before the school doors open, safety plans must be included with the many other aspects of school opening.
Questions or concerns,
PoliceSupport@KCKPS.org
KCKPS PD Dispatch
913-627-4111 Main Line
Purchasing
THE DEADLINE FOR ENCUMBERING FUNDS FOR FY 2020-21 SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2021 This means all funds to be spent from the current year budgets (including grants, fees, etc.) must be ENCUMBERED in BusinessPLUS and submitted to Workflow on or before 11:59pm on April 10, 2021. Please note the following:
- All requisitions to cover expenses that will occur during the months of April and May must be entered as a “B” type (Blanket) requisition. You are to estimate what will be spent for those months and enter a requisition for each vendor from which you anticipate making a purchase.You must do this not only for supplies, but also for any services, equipment, or furniture purchases. Remember, the goods or services that you purchase must match the purpose of the budget line. You must buy supplies with a supplies object code (56100). You cannot buy equipment (57300) or furniture (57330) with a supply (56100) object code.
2. All funds encumbered under PO’s that are not PAID on or before June 15, 2021 will be disencumbered, and funds will return to the District to use for districtwide projects.
a.“Paid” means that a check has been printed and mailed by Accounts Payable, receiving a PO in BusinessPLUS (POUPRC) DOES NOT pay an invoice. Please review the status of all open POs in your budget regularly to ensure invoices are received so payment can be made no later than the last board meeting in May.
THE LAST DAY TO SUBMIT INVOICES TO AP FOR PAYMENT WILL BE JUNE 15, 2021 (NOON)!
If invoices are not received, it is the responsibility of the school/department to contact the vendor to get the invoice to AP before the June 15 deadline.
b.In past years, several schools/departments waited to order items from POs until close to the PO cancelation date. As a result, items were shipped late, items were backordered, or invoices were not received timely to meet the payment deadline. It is the responsibility of the school/department to ensure items are ordered timely to meet the deadline. Invoices coming after June 15, will need to be paid from the school/department 2021-22 budget.
3. Any expenditures to be made between April 10 and the end of the school year MUST be encumbered before April 1st. This includes travel, transportation, services, mileage, etc.
4. Storeroom and Print Shop orders must be placed by April 10, if you wish to use current year funds.
5.Estimates of salary costs (other than staff regular pay) to be paid between the deadline and the end of the school year MUST be estimated on or before the deadline. While salary costs cannot be encumbered via PO, you MUST email Brad Isnard with details of the name of the person, the date the work will be performed, the estimated cost and the account number the costs are to be charged to. Email must be received in Brad’s office on or before the deadline.
a.Once the work is performed, timesheets must be submitted within one pay period of the work was performed, but no later than on or before June 15, 2021.
b.Please recall that for the timesheets to be paid, the work MUST be submitted to HR for approval through Board. This information will need to be sent to HR on or before the deadline also.
c.Any salary costs not meeting these requirements will be charged to the school/department 2021-22 budget.
6.Professional Development subs, please email Melissa Shields the information to encumber funds for subs.
a.The name of the teacher requiring a sub
b.The date the sub is used
c. What budget is to be used
7.Visa Usage
a.VISA purchases in June will come from next years’ funds. Enter a requisition by April 1 for as much as your budget allows for spending on VISA in your supply funds for April-May spend needs. Please code to the appropriate budgets as best you know today.
b.All reconciliations (Envelopes) must be turned in by June 15c.June spending will be coming out of your FY 2021-22 budget
8.Closing Purchase Orders
a.All December issued PO’s will close April 13
b.All January issued PO’s will close May 3
c.All February issued PO’s will close June 2
d.All PO’s issued after March 1 will stay open for invoices paid on the June 22nd Board
9.Planning deliveries
a.All delivery of product must happen in time for you to also have invoices created on the schedule above. Plan accordingly.
b.Staples will create backorders for items not in stock. This could delay the invoicing of your shipment. As you follow your orders, if you find an item is not delivering, contact Staples for an update. If delayed, we suggest you cancel that item/s so the rest of the shipment can bill. You can always place another order after July 1.
c.Staples bills for weekly deliveries over the weekend. To hit our timeline, you should place your last orders with Staples by May 28th (at the latest), to deliver and bill in time.
Student Services
Kidzone is currently open and serving students at four of our sites, and we are preparing for the return of all students’ March 31st, 2021. We are looking at Kidzone enrollment applications to determine the numbers for Kidzone sites and staff. At this point, we have four sites open for AM and PM programming, they are: Emerson, Hazel Grove, West Park and Whittier, servicing all elementary schools and we plan to stay with these four sites until enrollment numbers increase at the other sites, we will then open them accordingly.
Parents will complete the online application under the Kidzone page at kckps.org, which will reserve their child’s spot in Kidzone and they must also complete a paper application at the Kidzone site as well as a transportation form at their home school. Our hours are 7:00 am – 8:30 am for the morning session and 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm for the afternoon. and 1:30 pm – 5:30 pm on Wednesday. We will have scholarships available for those requesting assistance.
Please feel free to call Mechelle Wortham (913)669-0235 if you have any questions.
A2A Updates
Please see important updates below:
- PACT Program Referrals
- Attendance Meetings and ongoing support
-
- We continue to host check-in with Attendance Clerks and anyone who supports attendance (anyone is welcome!). Our next meeting will be Wednesday, April 14th. During this time, we’ll share important updates on attendance, answer questions, as well as provide ongoing support. Meeting information:
Attendance Clerk Meetings
April Dates: 14th and 28th
Secondary: 10:00 am
Elementary : 11:00 am
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/95386364224?pwd=U3dkb2M4TGdESmd3SVJQMWZnNzZLUT09
Meeting ID: 953 8636 4224 / Passcode: Pd7FtA
International SEL Day is TODAY!!! – all schools please share with your staff
How are you recognizing International SEL Day, today Friday, March 26th? Please don’t forget to take photos and capture all the great things happening in your community! If you share on Twitter or Facebook, please consider tagging SEL KCKPS in your post so that we can share it as well! The theme this year is Building Bonds, Reimagining Community.
Strategies that Support Adult SEL – all principals and share with your team that plans staff wellness initiatives
It’s critically important that schools intentionally nurture a work environment in which staff feel supported, empowered, able to collaborate effectively and build relational trust, and also able to develop social and emotional skills. This google doc is full of ideas around a variety of topics including staff meetings, PLCs, and mentoring.
Dear Abby: SEL Kernels – K-6 grade please share with staff
Have you heard of Dear Abby? This is the student edition, intended to support SEL skills through the use of SEL Kernels. Kernels are activities or strategies used by effective prevention programs that have been shown to effect specific behavior changes. Find out more by visiting Greater Good in Education and download the Dear Abby PDF.
Lessons for SEL- please share with MS/HS staff
Looking for the Netflix of SEL? What about a free digital notebook that allows students to take notes & reflect as they watch SEL videos? Look no further than Lessons for SEL a free video library that provides quick, 3 minute or less SEL videos to discuss with your students. They also have a great (for purchase) downloadable 6 minute SEL curriculum with 150 lessons and a staff circle guide! Email Tracie Chauvin if you are interested in seeing those.
Prosocial Teaching Strategies- please share with PrK-12 staff
Prosocial teaching strategies are not limited to particular curricula or programs, or to certain academic subjects.When implemented well, these strategies can aid educators in creating a supportive, caring classroom environment and spur students to behave in kind and helpful ways towards each other. Visit Greater Good in Education to search strategies by grade level.
