Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Communications

Career Expo 2021 Virtual Event

 The 2021 Public Service Career Expo, scheduled for November 3-4, 2021, is going VIRTUAL this year! Cities and counties across the Kansas City region are once again joining forces to co-sponsor this high-impact event giving students the opportunity to interact with local public sector employees in 10 different public sector career areas. 

We are as excited as ever to carry out the event’s purpose, which is “to raise awareness of the variety of exciting and meaningful career opportunities available locally within the public sector and to generate increased interest among students to consider pursuing a future career in public service.” 

During this two-day event, schools throughout the region can explore careers in law enforcement, corrections, fire/EMS, public works, parks & recreation, information technology, public administration, human services, courts, legal, and community development. This new virtual format will enable students to attend the variety of live, interactive sessions through our online platform. Schools are welcome to attend as many as they choose over the course of the event. 

Registration is now open for all schools (public, private, charter, and homeschool) who would like to reserve a spot. One “registration” is needed for each classroom that will participate. (i.e., if a school plans to “show” the event in three different classroom locations, then three teacher registrations will be needed to enable us to provide three separate logins). Click here to register for this free event. 

Visit our event website at www.careerexpokc.org or contact me at avaughn@marc.org for more information. We welcome you to share this flyer with all teachers, school counselors, or administrators who may be interested. 

Incident Reports and Supervisors Accident Reports

 To make the reporting of workman’s compensation accidents less time consuming, the Supervisors Accident Report is now an electronic form.

Regardless of severity, immediate supervisors & directors are required to report all work-related injuries within 48 hours to Risk Management.

To do so, please use the following link: https://form.jotform.com/212304621025035

The Incident Report helps document any incident involving non employees.

This includes our students, visitors, parents and guardians.

The incident form is to be filled out for a number of situations including: a child is missing, if a student is injured in a way that could require medical attention in the future, police have to be called during an incident,  there is a fight,  or even to report property damage. An example of a fight that needs to be recorded- a fight that breaks out that others are around and it may have been recorded. A fight that someone may not realize they are injured immediately but could later on in the day. Fights that do NOT need to be recorded: two kids on the playground hit each other in the arm over a ball. 

There may be other incidents that could also require use of this form.

 If you have questions about whether an incident falls into this category, please reach out to your IIO. 

Here is a link to the Incident Report form:  https://kckps.org/incident-report/

Students of the Month

We know the school year is just getting underway but this is a great time to start identifying people in your class/school that are going above and beyond. Do you have a student that helped others on their first day? Excelling inside and outside the classroom? This is your chance to nominate them for Student of the Month. To do so, please follow this link.

For Central Office (and Non-School Buildings)

Please view your department’s pages on the website (which you should be able to find here), and let Mike Keener know if there’s anything that needs to be updated  for the beginning of the school year.

Enough is Enough Sign-Up

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

Question: When to reach out to the media? 
Answer: Never

KCKPS has a Communications Department to handle this for you. If you know of a newsworthy story and want to see it covered by local media please send an email to Sharita.hutton@kckps.org or Edwin.birch@kckps.org. We will work closely with you and your school to figure out the best way to tell the story and which media outlet is the best for the story.

If media reaches out to you, please get the reporter’s name, number, and media outlet they are with. Include information on the story they are asking to talk to you about and get a hold of Sharita or Edwin immediately with the information. We will work with you to figure out the best way to tell the story. No interviews are to be done without prior approval.

If you have questions, let us know and you can always use our cell phones to reach out to us.

Curriculum & Instruction

ACTION ITEMS

Attn: EC-5 Administrators

Re: Built for These Times: Making the Shift to the Science of Reading

DETAILS FOR THIS EVENT HAVE CHANGED

The Curriculum & Instruction Department is excited to welcome Susan Lambert, host of Science of Reading: The Podcast, and Natalie Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap, to KCKPS on Friday, September 10th from 1:00-4:00pm via ZOOM. 

To learn more about these incredible presenters and RSVP for the event, please view the UPDATED event flyer here. You will enter your email address to receive the Zoom link. 

Please contact allison.rice@kckps.org with any questions. 

INFORMATION ONLY

Attn: K-5 Administrators (please share with teachers)

Re: Eureka Math Affirm Student Errors

We are aware that some students are receiving error messages when trying to access assessments via Affirm.  Great Minds is aware of these errors, but has not found a universal solution yet.  We apologize for the frustration that these errors continue to cause.  We will provide an update as soon as there is a permanent solution from Great Minds.  

Attn: K-5 Administrators

Re: Access to Amplify Science and CKLA for non-classroom teachers

Access to Amplify Science and CKLA is available through Clever for classroom teachers only. For administrators, coaches, special education teachers, ESOL teachers, and any other support teachers  there is a district log-in for access to all grade levels.  

K-8 Science & CKLA

Go to my.amplify.com select “Log in with Amplify”

• Username: kckps-sci-ckla@tryamplify.net 
• Password: AmplifyNumber1

Diploma+

Human Resources

Admin Desk

We have had some instances where Administrators are not able to get into the Admin Guide. The admin guide should be a first point of Reference for Human Resource related questions. The Admin Guide can be found under “Staff Links” from the kckps.org Home Page. Click here to fill out the form for access.

Evaluation Information 

HR is currently working with PowerSchool/TalentEd Support to get our evaluation information automated for the future.  In the meantime, we are asking that if principals are missing staff or need staff added/removed from their list in TalentEd Perform to email those requests to deandre.tuggle@kckps.org In the email please provide the employees first and last name, employee ID#, and if they need to be added/removed.  If you have any issues with your staffs list in iObservation please email tanya.selectman@kckps.org  We will provide additional updates in the coming weeks.

Horizon Award Submissions

It is time to start submitting your nomination for Horizon Awards. Please see this document for more information. The deadline for submissions is September 24th. Please send completed submissions to Jared.Alexander@kckps.org.

Classroom Coverage

I hope you are well. We wanted to make sure you were aware of some questions that have been coming into the HR office. We have had some questions about compensation for classified staff covering for a teacher’s absence. Although you might be aware of the protocol, below is some follow-up.

• We are not utilizing classified staff to cover for a certified opening(s).

• If a classified individual is the “classroom monitor” because another teacher is zooming from the other room (due to distancing/capacity), then they can be utilized as the “aide” and not the instructor.

• The classified employee should be reassigned for the day to this new role and not expected to perform their normal duties. This would allow them to keep their daily rate without the expectation of additional pay for two roles.

• If we have multiple sections of one class (i.e. 4th grade), then those other teachers who are 4th grade teachers should split the classroom and will be compensated appropriately.

• 65% or more of the classroom, teacher receives full hourly rate (per negotiated agreement)

• Less than 65% of the classroom, teacher receives half the hourly rate (per negotiated agreement)

We are working hard to make sure that all positions are covered to the best of our ability, but as you know we are short in total. We are hoping we can maneuver and help with the absences and vacancies.

TalentEd Perform

Human Resources has updated TalentEd Perform for the 21-22 evaluation for certified staff. Due to a technological glitch, we had to manually change each person in the system. To the best of our abilities, we have aligned the right employees to the correct schools. We understand that there might be some mistakes. We ask that you send an email to Ronald.Knight-Beck@kckps.org and DeAndre.Tuggle@kckps.org stating the following:

1. Who needs to be added to your list that is missing.

2. Who needs to be removed from your list that is still remaining.

   1. Let us know if they resigned or transferred within the district.

   2. If you know the school building of transfer, please let us know.

If you have someone on your list that you are not evaluating this year, rather one of your colleagues within your building or district, please reassign the evaluator inside of TalentEd. Under My Staff>>>Staff>>>Evaluation. Find the person who you would like to Assign and click “view” on their account. Once in “view” click the “assign” button. Search for the person they need to be assigned to. Additionally, if you need to shift a bunch of people. You may select the checkboxes next to their names, scroll down to the bottom and select “assign evaluator” from the drop down.

NEA-KCK

NEA-KCK Membership

We are not just a union, but we are also the professional organization for workers in the education field.  The Association works to provide the support that the members deserve. A few of the benefits of being a member of the union is that you are never on your own, you are able to amplify your voice both locally and nationally.  As a professional organization, a few of the benefits are using your NEA members’ benefits for everyday discounts, free professional development opportunities, discounts on travel/vacations, your home, car, insurance programs, and personal finance, including help with student loans.  See your building rep for more details or reach out to Dom DeRosa dom.derosa@knea.org.

New members can join here.

Special Education