Action Items
All Administrators
digiCoach Access
from Leadership and Learning
If there are administrators in your building or department that need access to digiCoach who do not currently have access, please add their information to the Google Doc. Please complete by March 11, 2022.
Mileage Reimbursement Rate Remains at $0.56 per Mile
from Purchasing
The mileage reimbursement rate for privately owned vehicles is determined by the Kansas Department of Administration, and is currently $0.56 per mile. Please confirm the current rate with your staff, and ask those who submit mileage reimbursement requests not to self calculate at the recently changed federal rate. Mileage reimbursement forms received in Accounts Payable will be processed for payment at the rate of $0.56 per mile.
The Kansas Department of Administration, through the Kansas Department of Education, will notify the District if/when the mileage reimbursement rate changes, and all administrators will be notified of any such change by the Purchasing Department.
All Principals
School Website Content Needs
From Communications
Principals,
Please share this with your school’s website editors and only them. PLEASE NOTE: the graphics here are confidential until we get closer to the live launch of the site, and are presented here solely for website editing context; only share these graphics with personnel directly working on your school sites.
To clarify the school websites’ status:
When the district’s new website launches in the summer, new websites for each school will also launch at the same time, meaning that the current school sites as you have come to know them will cease to exist by the middle of July.
We are currently working with FinalSite on the final layout of the school sites, but the end result will be very similar to the new layout for the main district site (with appropriate mascots and colors for each school, of course!), which you can see below:
In terms of updating the current school sites: many requests that have come in re: website updates are in regards to the physical design of the websites themselves. At the moment, the need for up-to-date content on the school sites is paramount and takes precedence over any cosmetic change requests to the sites (which, again, will no longer exist in approximately four months).
The information that is on the sites will need to be ported over to the new sites by the Communications Department no later than the last week of March, so we need to make sure all of the information that is on the school sites are as up-to-date as possible. This means faculty & staff information (even if it changes over for the next school year), any permanent information on activities and/or clubs, any social media accounts that need to be linked that are not currently listed, as well as any important messaging that you would want us to load for parents, students, or the community for when these sites go live in July. Additionally, the site information should be up-to-date now for the use of your parents and students in real time.
Time is short, so it is imperative that either website editors update any out-of-date pages or, if need be, the district website editor can take and update this information if there are technical issues keeping anyone from posting. Also, contact Mike Keener if there are any pages that need to be removed for your school’s new site.
Anything that needs to be updated in between the launch of the sites and the onboarding of website editors at the beginning of the school year will be handled directly by Communications.
When the next school year starts, website editors will need training on the new system, which is available in the form of user-friendly video training (which is available 24/7 from FinalSite as needed). The new system is much easier to use than the current one, and will only require your district email address and password to access.
Reminder: The Kansas City Metro Area Staffing Survey Invites Your Feedback
from Communications
Dear KCKPS Staff,
You were recently invited to participate in a survey examining factors affecting retention of staff and educators in Kansas City Metro Area schools this year. Your feedback is critical to accurately assess the perspectives of those working in Kansas City schools.
You may access the:
- Faculty and Staff: https://bit.ly/kcstaffsurvey
- Leaders: https://bit.ly/kcleadersurvey
In acknowledgement of your time, at the end of the survey you will be directed to a separate link to enter a raffle for a $50 gift card from Amazon.com.
Completing this survey is voluntary. Responses to this survey will be confidential and will be analyzed in aggregate at the district or school level. No potentially personally identifiable information or individual survey responses will be shared with district administration.
PLEASE NOTE: The survey will close on Tuesday, March 15, 2022 before midnight Central time.
Thank you very much for your assistance. If you have any questions about the survey, you can contact Bonnie O’Keefe at bonnie.okeefe@bellwethereducation.org.
Informational Items
All Administrators
Instructional Technology Support
from Curriculum & Instruction
In an effort to be available to support staff on the use of the Canvas and other instructional technologies, Wendy Elkins is hosting open, drop-in office hours (via zoom) in March. These times occur on most Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can find the exact times and the zoom links on the mobile minutes. If you or your staff needs more personal assistance, they can schedule a time with Wendy Elkins using this Calendly Link. Please share this information with your staff.
For All Principals
Extended Summer Learning Signups
from IC Support/Student Services
Please check out our local IC support website page for Summer Learning Sign Up supports. Each file will help you with managing student sign up forms. New this week are directions for running an Ad Hoc report that shows Accept or Decline responses.
KAP Summative Building Checklist
from DERA
The following KAP Summative Checklist was shared with your building’s KAP Coordinator on 3/2/22 1:58PM.
Sack Lunch Requests
For Elementary Principals
Connector Reminders
Connector is a great way to host a Career Fair during the pandemic. Due to the demand for speakers, there are deadlines to ensure we have all of the speakers requested. The last day to commit to a career fair with Dr. Freers is March 10. The last day to submit your requested speakers for your Career Fair with the Connector is March 25.
With this beautiful weather, we are reminded that spring is right around the corner. The goal is for all classroom teachers and all counselors to host a Live Connector session before the end of school. The last day to request a live session is April 29th. It will be here before we know it.
March 7 is another Diploma+ Career FA day. Teachers may choose a career video from the Connector website or select one from the play list they received.
Reminders
C & I Materials (workbooks) Ordering Information for 2022-23
from Curriculum & Instruction
Consumable Workbooks (CKLA & Eureka Math) and Science Materials
Please see this document (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fH822opC1UJf-mqo-9Tca3l05K83hFRPA5MZipmoNHc/edit?usp=sharing) for instructions to order workbooks for the 2022-23 school year. Information regarding budget lines for science kit refills is also included.
Adding/Closing Classrooms
If you are planning to add or close any classrooms for the 2022-23 school year, please let Suzie Legg, Curriculum Coordinator of Academics, know via email as soon as possible so we can determine the next steps that make sense for your site. For reference, this document indicates the number of classrooms the C & I Department shows that you have materials for at your site.
Thank you for attending to this task as soon as possible. Please have this information completed by the end of the day Wednesday, March 9, 2022.
Please contact Suzie Legg with any questions.
Digi Coach Refresher Training
from Professional Workforce Development
Principals,
Brandon Mawhorter, Director of Innovation for Digi Coach, will be providing some refresher training options for administrators in March. Please use the link below to access the signup form. You will receive a calendar invite for one of the 30-minute sessions.
Refresher Training Options (30-Minute Duration):
Thursday, March 3 at 4:00 PM CST
Tuesday, March 8 at 10:00 AM CST
Friday, March 11 at 2:00 PM CST
New & Beginning Teacher Mandatory Dyslexia Training – Round 2
from Curriculum & Instruction
Each year, beginning 2021-2022, all of the following new and beginning KCKPS teachers* must complete the KSDE mandatory dyslexia training (3 modules):
All teachers endorsed English Language Arts
All teachers endorsed special education, teaching grades EC – 12.
All teachers endorsed as reading specialists.
All teachers endorsed ESOL, teaching grades EC- 12
*New or Beginning teachers who completed training in another Kansas school district should email Tracy Cooper to verify completion.
This Google link provides a step-by-step checklist with all of the links needed for completing this asynchronous mandatory training. It is mandatory, but each new and beginning KCKPS teacher who completes all of the training and required exit slips will be compensated with a 5-hour stipend at $20.72/hour for their time.
All timesheets must be submitted between March 28 and April 1, 2022.
FINAL NOTE: The names of new and beginning teachers who have not completed this training were provided by building instructional coaches at a recent IC professional learning event. These names have been submitted to the Board of Education for approval in anticipation of each teacher completing the process and submitting a timesheet by April 1. This information and link need to be forwarded to those teachers as soon as possible. The links for the guide and an information video will also be forwarded to instructional coaches by March 1, 2022.
New & Beginning Teacher Mandatory Dyslexia Training – Round 2
from Curriculum & Instruction
Each year, beginning 2021-2022, all of the following new and beginning KCKPS teachers* must complete the KSDE mandatory dyslexia training (4 modules):
All teachers endorsed elementary education.
All teachers endorsed early childhood unified.
All teachers endorsed special education, teaching grades EC – 12.
All teachers endorsed as reading specialists.
All teachers endorsed ESOL, teaching grades EC- 5
*New and Beginning teachers who completed training in another Kansas school district should contact Tracy Cooper via email to verify completion.
This linked Google Doc provides a step-by-step checklist with all of the links teachers need for completing this asynchronous mandatory training. It is mandatory, but each new and beginning KCKPS teacher who completes all of the training and required exit slips will be compensated with a 5-hour stipend at $20.72/hour for their time.
All timesheets must be submitted between March 28 and April 1, 2022.
NOTE: The names of new and beginning teachers who have not completed this training were provided by building instructional coaches at a recent IC professional learning meeting. These names have been submitted to the Board of Education for approval in anticipation of each teacher completing the process and submitting a timesheet by April 1.
This information and the Google link need to be forwarded to those teachers as soon as possible. Links for the training guide and an informational video will also be forwarded to instructional coaches by March 2, 2022.
Please contact Tracy Cooper with questions.
Monitoring LETRS Asynchronous Learning
from Professional Workforce Development
Please monitor the progress of your staffs’ LETRS Asynchronous Learning. It is very important that all staff do their best to maintain an appropriate pace throughout the LETRS training.
In order to support you, Alli Rice has created this document with screenshots and written explanations of the different functions you can use to monitor your building’s progress. Alternatively, she has created this six minute video for those who find a video explanation more useful. Please log into your district m. account to access both files.
For additional information on the appropriate pace for the LETRS study, please see the LETRS-Estimated-Time-by-Unit document. At this point (3/1/22), all schools should be around Unit 2, Session 3; some slight fluctuations are to be expected as staff are all working at their own pace.
Plan to have conversations with staff who may need to pick up the pace or slow it down. Also, consider offering words of celebration for those who are invested in the learning! Be sure to keep your IDP rep updated when staff complete the asynchronous learning for Units 1 and 2; they must have this information from you in order to document the PD points in Frontline.
Finally, as you are monitoring staff in your LETRS account, if you notice a staff member connected to your building who is no longer part of your team, please email Allison Rice so she can update the district’s LETRS database.
Infinite Campus Data Days Training
from Infinite Campus Support/TIS
Data Days is live, online training available March 1-3 through your Infinite Campus Account. Sessions are also recorded and accessible through the end of the school year. There are multiple trainings about Ad Hoc and Pivot Designer you may find useful. Visit the KCKPS IC Support Website for more info and directions to sign up.
There are additional sessions around Master Scheduling tasks, please contact Karlean Kramer if you are considering one of these before signing up.
Limited English Proficiency Policy Adoption
from ESOL
The KCKPS board has adopted a Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Policy at the February 22, 2022 board meeting. This policy is to support the community and ensure that we are removing language barriers. Within the policy, there are many things that buildings are already doing but as a reminder, you will need to verify that you have:
* Posted language signage provided by Student Services
* Share with building staff procedures of requesting language support such as contacting language.support@kckps.org, Propio and Propio One, internal and external translation services
* Chromebook located in a location easily accessible to staff and families for Propio One usage
Further information and training will be provided within the upcoming weeks. If you have questions contact Jacqueline Rodriguez, Director of ESOL.
Application Process for Certified Staff
from Human Resources
Kansas City Kansas Public Schools certified employees interested in applying for positions within the school district for the 2022-2023 academic year may do so through the following steps for which they meet the current qualifications, endorsements, or license.
- Certified staff may apply for positions for the 2022-2023 school year as they become available through the Talent Ed application system located at kckps.org/careers. All applications will be subject to the qualifications set forth in the job postings and represent no guarantee for interviews or future hires.
- Certified staff can apply for positions until the Kansas state approved resignation date has been completed. June 3, 2022 is the official state approved date for certified staff to submit their resignation to the school district. Liquidated fees under the separation of services section of the current NEA-Kansas City, Kansas agreement, will be in effect at 12:00 a.m. on June 4, 2022.
- If the certified staff has not received an offer for a KCKPS job, then the employee will remain in their current position and location for the 2022-2023 school year.
Grades 6-8 Second Step Usage
from Student Services
Middle School and Sumner Principals, on the March 9th DCIP Day there is time built into the schedule to review grades 6-8 Second Step usage reports for your building, celebrating success, and brainstorming how to support those FA teachers that may be struggling to use this MTSS Tier 1 resource for teaching social emotional skills to set our students up for success.
Linked here is a folder that has each of your respective reports. On the reports, you will see some color coding. The color coding is based off the FA Pacing Calendar.
Shout out to Gloria Willis for having the most FA teachers in the green!
Green= has completed 8+ lessons and is a champion for SEL in your building.Yellow= has completed 4-7 lessons and is on track for SEL success.Red = has completed less than 4 lessons and needs support.
Middle School Second Step Usage Reports by Building
SEL Day 2022
from Student Services
SEL Day 2022 is coming up! On Friday, March 11th 2022 KCKPS will be celebrating SEL Day. To sign your building up visit the SEL Day website. Need ideas for how to celebrate SEL Day 2022? Here is a great google doc with ideas or you can email Tracie Chauvin to brainstorm! Email Tracie with any SEL Day plans that your school has as well to be highlighted and recognized.
Cell Phone Upgrade Information
from TIS
T-Mobile will be in the East Wing Conservatory of Central Office on Wednesday, March 9th from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm to upgrade district issued cell phones. This will be the last day they will be here for upgrades. To make the upgrade process smooth please follow the directions on the two attached documents provided by T-Mobile. Thank you.
Deployment Preparation (Word Document)
NonRenewals Timeline
from Human Resources
Please review the Certified Contract NonRenewals Timeline for the 2021-2022 school year. The timeline will also be posted on the Administrators Guide. Feel free to reach out to Ana Perez-Matthews if you have any questions.
State Wide Tornado Drill Exercise 10AM Tuesday March 8th.
from KCKPS PD
Severe Weather Preparedness Week is March 7 to 11. The State wide tornado drill will be held at 10 AM on Tuesday March 8. There will not be a backup date or time. This year’s KS SWPW packet can be found here as educational material.
This year’s drill will differ from years past in one critical way. The NWS will NOT be sending out a live tornado warning over NOAA Weather Radio and EAS, rather we will send out a routine weekly test on NOAA Weather Radio containing tornado drill information. This was done because sending out the live warning has been extraordinarily problematic and confusing to the general public for years, and resulted in testing EAS in a manner inconsistent with its design. Wyandotte County will be sounding the normal tornado sirens throughout the County.
We are requesting that all schools and district buildings conduct a tornado drill at 10 AM on March 8, and we encourage you to participate by sounding your sirens or utilizing test verbiage in any other emergency communications protocols you utilize. The NWS will also be sending out graphics for the drill on Facebook and Twitter at 10 AM to encourage the general public to practice sheltering.
New Staff Intranet Launching Soon/Review of District Forms and Departmental Pages
from Communications
Due to new and ongoing issues with the old intranet system, we are launching a temporary (but more user-friendly and accessible) staff intranet for everyone’s use. The new, temporary intranet will also have a section titled “Administrators’ Corner,” with links to this newsletter’s homepage, admin-only form links, and more.
Before we launch this temporary intranet, however, we need a lot of old data updated or even removed. To start, there is a page that housed a number of all-purpose forms and manuals; if your department handles any of these forms (or used to), please visit this link and send any changes needed to forms or links directly to Mike Keener as soon as you can, as it will help speed along the live launch of this new intranet page. Additionally, let him know about any other content on either the live site (or old intranet) that needs to be edited for inclusion on the new site.
New District Letterhead
from Communications
Please use this letterhead template for district communications.
Spending Cutoff – April 1st
from Purchasing
Click here to view information via PDF about the April 1 spending cutoff.
Electronic Reporting Forms for Injuries and Incidents
From Communications & Marketing
Just a quick reminder that many of the forms you need when it comes to incidents are now electronic.
Student injury forms have now been included to the list.
To find the reporting form for students go to this link: https://form.jotform.com/212366215525047
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/