Contents
New Items
Consultant Contracts – for All Administrators
Previous Items
Instructions on “Vision-Mission-Goal” Cascade Keynote – for All Administrators
Assistance with September 20th ESL Count – for All Administrators
HR Notice: 2018 Kansas Horizon Award Nominees Due – for Instructional Administrators
Talent Ed Perform and iObservation – for All Administrators
HR Update: Teacher Planning Time Changes for 2017-18 – for All Administrators
Parents Right to Know Letter – for All Principals
Extra Spanish Code of Conduct and/or Spanish Parent Handbooks – for All Principals and Principals’ Secretaries
New Items
Consultant Contracts
From Bridgette DeSmet
A completed and approved District contract is required of all consultants before services may begin.
There are 2 different contracts:
1) Services that are less than $20,000 – requires Dr. Mather’s approval
2) Services that are $20,000 or more – requires Board approval
Both consultant contracts are attached.
The District should have only 1 (one) contract per service provider. The services for each school and/or department need to be combined into 1 (one) contract to be certain we are meeting Board policies regarding approval.
For example, we are currently requesting any school or department that plans to contract with Cornerstones of Care for BIST services for 2017/2018 share the details with Business Services so 1 (one) combined contract can be completed for approval.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Previous Items
Instructions on “Vision-Mission-Goal” Cascade Keynote
From Mike Keener
The Keynote presentation is bundled as a zipped file, and it can be downloaded here.
The presentation is an Apple Keynote file, and unfortunately cannot be opened in PowerPoint without distorting the presentation.
If you have a Mac:
You simply open up the file Keynote, click on the first slide, and hit the Play button (and arrow forward to advance through the presentation). If you don’t have Apple’s Keynote presentation software already installed on your Mac, you can download it for free in the App Store.
If you have a Windows PC:
The easiest solution: find a colleague with a Mac, download the keynote presentation onto it, and run the presentation on it.
There is a possibility of running the Keynote presentation in an internet browser, but that requires logging into an Apple ID account on a Mac user’s system, and I do not recommend that, for security concerns.
Assistance with September 20th ESL Count
From Kristen Scott
We will be providing a new staff orientation for any new ESL teacher and aide regarding our process for September 20th. These orientations will be on August 21st and 22nd. Elementary staff can come anytime between 9:00 and 2:00 on those dates; and Secondary can come anytime between 3:00 and 5:00.
We are also opening the lab up to schools who need assistance in completing their ESL September 20th info as well. August 28th, 29th, and September 5th are reserved for schools in the Washington and Wyandotte clusters; August 31st, September 1st, 7th and 8th are reserved for schools in the Harmon and Schlagle clusters.
If you have any questions about the September 20th process as it relates to ESL please reach out to me.
HR Notice: 2018 Kansas Horizon Award Nominees Due
From Amy Jo Troyer
Please see information below regarding the Kansas Horizon Award program which honors teachers entering their second year of service. Please submit the name of your nominee to Amy Jo Troyer no later than September 1st and HR will coordinate with the nominee to complete the application packet due to the state. (Each building or instructional site can nominate one teacher)
From KSDE:
The Kansas Horizon Award program offers Kansas school districts an excellent opportunity to honor exemplary first-year teachers.
The program, sponsored by the Kansas State Department of Education, recognizes and rewards teachers who have served as outstanding representatives of excellent teaching in the elementary and secondary classrooms of the state during their first year of teaching.
Horizon Award winners receive special recognition during the KEEN State Education Conference, which takes place each February in Topeka.
Nominated teachers must have completed their first-year of teaching and be starting their second year.
Talent Ed Perform and iObservation
From Shelly Beech
Your Talent Ed Staff lists are available in Talent Ed Perform for you to review. Please review all three tabs in the system (ALL STAFF, NOT EVALUATED, and EVALUATED). Attached you will find a form you will need to complete if you have any changes that need to be made in Talent Ed. Please complete the form and email it back to Andrea Ramirez at andrea.ramirez@kckps.org.
Also please be reminded that if you have not sent your updated staff list to Taneka Brown for iObservation, you will need to do this so she can complete your staff in the system.
If you have any questions, please contact Andrea Ramirez for Talent Ed questions and Taneka Brown for iObservation questions.
HR Update: Teacher Planning Time Changes for 2017-18
From Amy Jo Troyer
The Teacher’s Negotiated Agreement for 2017-18 has been ratified by NEA-KCK and approved by the Board, making this our binding agreement going forward for the 2017-18 school year. A change that may impact your efforts in the immediate future is the language regarding Planning Time for teachers. Please see the bottom of this notice for the excerpt of official language which should guide the allocation of planning time for your staff. As a summary of the notice below, please note that:
1. Plan time is now noted as structured or unstructured with percentages of time designated as a best practice. Structured time can be driven by the expectations you have for your staff planning needs and could include things such as required PLC planning or required collaborative planning as needed, for example. Unstructured plan time, or what has been commonly referred to as “personal” plan time in the past, is teacher driven.
2. Of the 225 minutes allotted during a normal, 5 day work week, distinctions are made between levels as to how many of those minutes should occur within the student day. They are as follows:
Elementary – 180 of 225 total should occur within the student day
Secondary – All 225 should occur within the student day
**Joint Committees will be formed to study the needs of Early Childhood and Special Education. At this time, every effort should be made to honor the 225 minimum.
Please feel free to reach out to Amy Jo or Carlos with any questions!
*****************************
Excerpt from the 2017-18 Negotiated Agreement:
During a normal five (5) day work week, the Board will schedule for each teacher assigned to regular instructional classroom duties a minimum of 225 minutes of planning time for
preparation and conferences associated with assigned duties which may consist of both
structured and unstructured (teacher driven) plan time with every effort to have a maximum of 50% structured. Teachers not assigned to regular instructional classroom duties will be
provided with planning time proportional to their instructional classroom duties. Such time
shall be exclusive of the duty free lunch period and will ordinarily occur in a minimum of 20
minute increments. Every effort will be made to provide planning time free of interruption
and to provide sufficient plan time for lesson planning, grading, contacting parents and other
activities necessary to support instructional practices, etc. The principal, supervisor, or staff member in charge may assign to a teacher an instructional or supervisory duty during the
scheduled planning time when the administrator or staff member in charge deems it necessary
for the efficient operation of the school.
During the 2017-18 school year for secondary teachers assigned to middle or high
schools, this minimum of 225 minutes of planning time will be scheduled within the
student day.
During the 2017-18 school year for elementary teachers assigned to elementary schools,
at least 180 of this minimum of 225 minutes of planning time will be scheduled within
the student day.
A Joint Committee of NEA-KCK designated representatives and Board representatives will
be formed to study the planning time schedules for early childhood teachers and make
recommendations to the Bargaining Teams on or before November 1,2017.
A Joint Committee of NEA-KCK designated representatives and Board representatives will
be formed to sfudy the planning time schedules for special education teachers and make
recommendations to the Bargaining Teams on or before November l, 20l7.
Parents Right to Know Letter
From Carlos Clay
As a gentle reminder, the District is required to notify parents any time their child has gone four weeks without a highly qualified teacher in the classroom. To assist us with this reporting requirement, please send the attached template letter out to your families anytime a long term substitute has served four or more consecutive weeks in a classroom. Once you send the letter out, please provide Bridgette DeSmet with a signed copy on school letterhead. Please do not hesitate to reach out Carlos Clay in Human Resources with any questions.
Parents’ Right to Know Letter (Word Document)
Extra Spanish Code of Conduct and/or Spanish Parent Handbooks
From Valerie Anzicek
If your building has any leftover Spanish Code of Conduct Books and/or Spanish Parent Handbooks, please return to the Print Shop to the attention of Mike Stone.
This request is being made to fulfill school orders that are needing additional Code of Conduct Books or Parent Handbooks.
As a friendly reminder, the Code of Conduct Books are distributed to every student and the Parent Handbooks are distributed to households.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at valerie.anzicek@kckps.org.
Thank you for your assistance regarding this request.