South Jordan Chamber of Commerce Awards

Yesterday, the South Jordan Chamber of Commerce presented their Teacher Appreciation "Apple Awards" to 13 teachers including the following JEA Members:

• Wendi Bailey, Sixth grade teacher at Elk Meadows
• Elisaeth Bolduc, Art teacher at Elk Ridge
• Terry Miyasaki, Second grade teacher at Jordan Ridge
• Lynne Peterson, Fourth grade teacher at South Jordan Elementary
• Cindy Gumeson, Math teacher at South Jordan Middle
• Terry Jensen, English teacher at Valley
• Susan Enrico, Sixth grade teacher at Welby

Congratulations to these JEA members who are outstanding teachers!

Jordan Credit Union Project 100 Award

The following JEA members won $100 from Jordan Credit Union in their Project 100 Employee Award:

• Kimese Vanderlinden, Joel P. Jensen
• Leslie Rollins, Bluffdale
• Chuck Stoddard, Silver Crest

PTA Awards

Last night at the School Board Meeting, JEA member Bonnie Lougey, kindergarten teacher at West Jordan Elementary was honored.  In addition, she is a state winner and will be recognized on KUED on June 1.

Bonnie (right) with principal Karen Eagan



Dr. Patrice Johnson is New Superintendent

Congratulations to Dr. Johnson as the new superintendent for Jordan School District!  See Salt Lake Tribune article for more details.  There is also a press release on the Clark County School District website stating "Jordan School District’s gain is our loss.”

Superintendent Announcement

The Open House to meet the superintendent finalists was well attended. Thanks to all who took the time out to go meet the finalists and provide feedback to the committee. The announcement will be Tuesday, April 19 at 6:30 in the ASB Auditorium. I hope many of you will be able to attend.

Meetings

Yesterday afternoon was the Negotiated Joint Committee and DAC.  Both meetings went well.  In the Joint Committee, the high school parent teacher conference survey results were discussed along with the Grievance Policy and the District Vehicle Guideline.  DAC reviewed other committee reports for the year. 

Legislative Council (AR) Meeting

We had a great meeting last night!  Your building AR should be going through a PowerPoint on Who Decides?  This talks about the many decisions made by people other than you, often with less knowledge than you, which impact you and what you do in your classroom.  This lesson goes along with the information in the TEF video produced by UEA.

I would also like to encourage you to vote in the UEA Election.  The ARs voted to support Robin Frodge for the NEA State Director position.

An issue came up about supplies from the District and the 12% surcharge.  I spoke to Richard Field, Central Warehouse Manager.  He said the 12% is not a delivery charge; it is a charge to pay for the running of the warehouse.  Also, what I understood and stated was incorrect.  The prices listed DO NOT include the 12% charge.  Secretaries may charge your grade level or department account the 12% at the time of the order or at the end of the month when the school is charged by the warehouse. 

I also asked Mr. Field about substitutions.  He said that there shouldn't be substitutions, that items are usually backordered.  He also said that you are allowed to return unused items within a month of the order.

If you know a JEA member who is retiring, we will be honoring them in May.  Please contact me with their name and school.

Third Grade DIBELS

Three weeks ago, the District was notified by the State Board of Education that the Legislature had found an old law requiring a reading test be given to third graders at the end of the year.  Originally, the IOWA Test of Basic Skills was used.  When the funding ran out, the testing stopped.  Now the legislators want the testing done during the CRT window without providing any money, another unfunded mandate. The Legislature directed the State Board of Education to decide which test would be used.  Due to the lack of time and money, the State Board decided on DIBELS. 

Third grade teachers should have been told they do not have to administer the SRI. Also, teachers administer and report words per minute and errors.  Literacy coaches will be entering the data.

April Pay Day

I know many of you have heard about and are not happy about the change in the April pay day.  I spoke with Judy Burton, Director of Payroll, today.  Someone else in the Payroll Department set up the dates at the beginning of the year.  They were published on the Payroll section of the District website under Information.  If you notice, the revised date at the bottom is April 5, 2011.  The correct date has been on the online monthly calendar all year.

Originally, the April pay day was April 20; however, because all high school, middle school, and year round secretaries and custodians, traditional elementary custodians, District Office, and ASB employees do not have Monday, April 25 off, pay day is supposed to be April 25.  This goes back to when paper checks had to be handed to each employee.  Because teachers would not have been working on April 25, April 20 would have been the pay day prior to EFT.  When Judy heard about the error, the District put in Current the clarification posted April 7.  Judy admitted the mistake was in her department, but she said there would be no change in the April 25 pay date.

"Wear Red for Ed"ucation at Elk Meadows

Are the JEA members at your school supporting NEA's "Wear Red for Ed"ucation on Tuesdays?  Send me your pictures to be posted.  I teach on Tuesdays, so the only school I can catch is my school, but I would love to post pictures from other schools.

 Jill Muhlestein

 Jennifer Boehme

 Cathy Douglass, on her birthday

 Liz Taylor, claims the red stripe in this shirt is the only red she has

Rachel VanOrden, sorry you're blurry

Golden Apple Award

Bonnie Lougy, JEA member and kindergarten teacher at West Jordan Elementary, was selected as the State PTA Golden Apple Outstanding Educator, which recognizes a professional educator currently working with students in grades preschool to twelfth grade.  Six winners throughout the state were selected based on their relationship with students, parents, PTA and the community.

Literacy Coaches Clarification

I only found out last Tuesday about the Literacy Coaches. I asked Interim Superintendent Dave Stoddard about this on Wednesday. He said they are placing all the Coaches back in the classroom, because they don't know if the funding will be there, because some of that money was earmarked by the Legislature for technology. If it turns out there is money to pay for Coaches, they will offer those positions again. The District wanted to be sure the Coaches had jobs for next year.

Work Days in the Office

Yesterday and today I was in the office.  I worked on an item for House of Delegates after attending the Sick Bank Committee meeting.  I prepared the agenda for the Joint Negotiated Committee that will meet next week.  I finalized my preparations for the monthly Legislative Council meeting as well.  I also looked at the Negotiations Survey and the HS PTC Survey to see what the common themes were.  Tony Romanello, Canyons Education Association President, and I met with both UniServ Directors, Laura and Cindy, to review their evaluations with them.  They both serve all of us well.

Executive Board Meeting

The JEA Executive Board met last night.  We discussed upcoming events including UEA House of Delegates, UEA Leadership Academy, and NEA Representative Assembly.  We also addressed membership and budget items.  I appreciate the work and cooperation of the members of the Executive Board.

Meetings and Information

The Senate 10 republican delegates elected Aaron Osmond to fill the remainder of Senator Chris Buttars term.  Read this Utah Policy article for more information on Mr. Osmond.

Monday evening, the Negotiations Team met and reviewed the results of the negotiations survey.  We appreciate all of you who took the time to share what you see as priorities.  We are still waiting to hear when our first meeting with the District Team will be held.

Tuesday evening was a School Board Study Session where Mr. Jolley presented the budget  worksheet.  This is information provided for Board Members to study and decide which programs to fund and which money to use.  Budget discussions will be ongoing for the next several weeks.

I met with Interim Superintendent Dave Stoddard today in our monthly meeting.  We discussed several items, some of which he will be finding more information for JEA.  He said that there will be an open house for employees to meet the superintendent candidates from 3:30 to 5:00 on Thursday, April 14, prior to the public open house, which is scheduled from 6:00 to 8:00.  The open house will be held in the ASB Auditorium.  After the open house, there will be comment cards available to complete and turn in for the Superintendent Search Committee to review.  I would encourage you all to attend so you can have the opportunity to provide your input.  The announcement will be made Tuesday, April 19.

We Are One Rally

Several JEA Members attended the We Are One Rally at the Utah Capitol this morning. Cindy Carroll, Melissa Brown, Robin Frodge, Michelle Jorgensen, Debbie Brown, Adam Sagers, Lanny Sorensen, Laura Black, Kara Goodwin, and Jennifer Boehme were all in attendance.


Here are some pictures from today.

 Debbie Brown, Bingham

 Jennifer Boehme, JEA President

 Melissa Brown, Riverton High

 Michelle Jorgensen, Mountain Shadows

 Robin Frodge, West Jordan High

 Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh, UEA President

Adam Sagers (standing), Westland