Friday, April 9, 2021

Communications

Principals and Teachers

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 he visited elementary schools  and students shared their thoughts on some of the issues they experienced in their city. Litter and trash was one of the things they mentioned frequently during his conversation with various classrooms.

So, I am reaching out to our schools to see if this is something a school or group of students would be interested in supporting to help raise awareness about the issues of littering and doing our part to help keep our city, county and neighborhoods litter free.

If so, the Mayor’s Office is open to suggestions and grade the level of students that we could get to volunteers for an upcoming Spring Cleanup.

Please let me now if your school or students are interested.

Thanks,

Edwin Birch
Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools
Executive Director of Marketing Communications
Office: 913-279-2242
Cell: 913-304-2981
Edwin.Birch@kckps.org

Lump Sum Info

Principals and Certified Administrators – Please share this information with your certified staff:

Complete the Online Lump Sum Request/Rescind form by April 30, 2021. Under KSA 74-4940(b) to receive your summer pay in the form of a “lump sum”.

Changes made to your W4/K4 should take place starting May 31 thru June 4, 2021 on Employee Online.

THE W4 FORM HAS BEEN RECREATED – PLEASE FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF AND GO BY THE INSTRUCTIONS ATTACHED TO THE W-4 FORM. CONTACT YOUR TAX ADVISOR FOR HELP WITH QUESTIONS. THE STATE FORM HAS NOT CHANGED, SO YOU MAY CHOOSE TO USE EXEMPTIONS THERE.

If you DO NOT wish to receive a Lump Sum salary payment this year, but received it last school year, you MUST request that the Lump Sum be RESCINDED, by indicating your choice when prompted.  If you DO NOT wish to receive a lump sum salary payment this year, and did not receive one last year, you do not need to do anything.

Lump Sum Change Form
2021 W-4 Instructions
K-4 Form

Enough is Enough Sign-Up

Principals,  please share this with your staff – and ask them to share it with students and parents.

Curriculum & Instruction

DERA

As a reminder, all test security and ethics training must be completed before testing begins.  Please use the slides and resources sent by Samantha on Monday as you train.  Please also ensure all have signed the Abide By agreements before testing begins (in the back of the Examiner’s Manual).  These forms need to be kept on file for the entire calendar year, until April 2022.

The opt-out form is to be used for remote learners only, and is intended to be used as a last resort.  Please use this form only when absolutely necessary.  Just as for KELPA, families can either fill it out, or you can fill it out on their behalf after having had contact with them.   As a reminder, please make every reasonable effort to bring in your remote learners, and obtain testing scores from them.  The opt-out form link is here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSec91gMDhjCsljHXOCb0jmrQST_UknsnBcEu29QP0-BXAOq8Q/viewform

Diploma+

KCK is taking part in an exciting national event called Remake Learning Days. From May 1-10 fantastic opportunities all over the KC region will be happening to celebrate learning inside and outside of the classroom. The contribution KCK is leading is a FREE Math game week. More information will be coming so stay on the look out😊

Math Flyer PDF

Hats off to John Fiske Elementary. With the leadership of Dr. Joe Graham John Fiske has reached 100% of their teachers hosting live sessions on the Connector – way before the deadline!! Way to go Dr. Graham!!

Federal Programs

AUDIENCE:  K-8 Title I Principals

Subject: Check Staff & Parent Representatives Calendar Responses for Spring District Title I Advisory Meeting

As calendar invitations have been forwarded to your 1 certified staff and 1 parent representative for the District Title I Advisory Meetings, many have been declined.  Please follow-up with your campus participants to ensure you will have the required representatives at our District Title I Advisory Meeting scheduled for:

• 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)

For questions, email or call Lisa Walker.

AUDIENCE: Elementary Principals

3-5th Grades Annual Student Survey

KCKPS will conduct our annual 3rd-5th grade student survey between 5/3/21 and 5/14/21 to gather data on culture, climate, equity & inclusion, and instructional programs.  Surveys are for ALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.  DATA will be used for KESA, District Strategic Plan, and in your School Improvement Plans. It’s important for all elementary schools to have strong participation rates in order for the responses to be a valid data source.

Please find below the link to the 3rd – 5th grade student survey. Please work with your teachers to make sure ALL 3rd – 5th grade students have an opportunity to participate in the survey.  The first page of the survey includes drop down menus where students will select a language in which to complete the survey and also their school.  Like the Family Perception Survey, the platform required a DIFFERENT LINK for the Karen translation and students will need to type in their school name on the Karen survey, rather than choose their school from a drop down menu.

English, Spanish, Hakka Chin, Hmong, Kiswahili, Nepali, Somali, Arabic, Burmese Survey Link:

https://kckps.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8k5GFCCmgoooCYC

Karen: https://kckps.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9HO1yaWRHEEnQ4S

Thanks for your help in collecting this important data! For questions, email or call Lisa Walker.

Human Resources

iObservation

All Administrators, Directors, Principals, and People Managers – If you are in need of some iObservation training we will be hosting a 3 hour  training session  on Thursday, April 29, 2021 (time to be determined).

This training is for new users or anyone wanting a refresher.  This training will provide a system overview, instruction on how to conduct an observation, provide some practice time, and tips and tricks on how to effectively use the system.  Training will be virtual and space is limited.  If you are interested please email Tanya Selectman at tanya.selectman@kckps.org  to sign up.  The deadline to sign up is end of business today Friday, April 9, 2021.

Elementary School Sponsor Supplemental Submissions – Due April 21, 2021

Below you will find the link to submit the names of all Sponsors for the May 31, 2021 Supplemental pay date. Your final, complete responses are due by April 21, 2021 at 4pm. Please note that if your response is not received prior to the due date your Sponsors will not be paid on May 31, 2021. Depending upon when a late response is received, the earliest that your Sponsors would be paid is June 15, 2021. Payment can be delayed further depending upon your submission dates. All Sponsor inquiries with regards to late payment will be redirected to the responsible Administrator. There are directions below for how to complete the survey.

The provided link below will take you to a Google form to complete. The survey is preprogrammed with the appropriate number of allocated Coaches/Sponsors per activity. If you feel that your building requires additional allocations or has received them in the past, you must email me to discuss any needed additions. All requests will be evaluated, and you will be notified of the decision made. To begin your submission, you will have to select your building. From there the survey will take you through each activity that is slated to be paid on May 31 and allow you to enter the name(s) and I.D. number(s) of all active Sponsors. If any Sponsors are returning for another season, re-type their names on the provided line.  If you did not fill every Sponsor position and/or your building didn’t participate in that activity this season type N/A in all fields where it may apply. Once all fields are complete, click the done button to submit your survey. If you do not click done your responses will not be recorded. If any changes need to be made to previously submitted information return to the site using the provided link below (preferably using the same computer) and resubmit a new survey. You will also need to notify me by email of any resubmissions so that we can update any modified information.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSetuK0T51x9llPHVar-EW1m6toFfZ_2_vECfIKnil7BPZEz7A/viewform?usp=sf_link

It is important to note that if you have any Sponsors that are sponsoring their activity for the first time, they must be cleared by HR PRIOR to beginning the activity. This is true for current Certified and Classified employees as well as new employees.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Professional Development

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:

1. 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

McKinney-Vento: New Transportation

A2A

We are very excited to start school visits this week to provide additional support. During our  visits, a member of the A2A team will check in with Attendance Clerk (and/or anyone else that supports attendance) to go over procedures, answer questions and provide support. Our goal is to visit as many schools as we can this month. However, if you want us to prioritize your school, please email Ms Tolentino (naomi.tolentino@kckps.org).

Also, we want to remind you all of this month Attendance Clerk Bi-Weekly Meetings (All are welcome!):

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

KU Strategy Event Series: Understanding Educational Neuroscience Research with Michael Orosco– please share this opportunity with your staff

The KU Strategies Event Series serves as a continuation of the summer conference hosted each year. We invite all PK-12 educators, as well as others who are interested, to join us for a free professional development event series. Participants in this session will be able to apply information about how learning and teaching affects their students’ brains and their capacity to grow.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/strategies-event-series-session-3-tickets-137043134705