Year Round PTC and Caucus Meeting Conflict

I know that C and D Track Parent Teacher Conferences conflict with the Republican Caucus meetings this week.  We have never had this problem before, so I looked into why the problem happened this year. 

In 2010 and prior caucus years, which is every even year, both the Democrats and Republicans held their caucus meetings on the same night, Tuesday.  Due to changes in the Utah Republican Party timelines, the Republican Party chose to move their caucus meeting to Thursday, so they meet after the candidate filing deadline, which is Thursday at 5:00. 

2012 was the first time the two parties met on different nights.  That year, C and D Parent Teacher Conferences were held March 7-9, so there was no conflict.  This is the first year the conflict has occurred. Now the Year Round Committee can be aware of this conflict and plan Parent Teacher Conference dates for weeks other than the third week of March when the caucus meetings are scheduled.

Negotiated Joint Committee

The Negotiated Joint Committee met last Thursday afternoon. We made plans for Interest Based Bargaining training for February.

We discussed the new high school parent teacher conference format to be in place for 2012-2013. Based on surveys of high school teachers and parents of high schoolers, and after extensive discussion through DAC and Negotiations, high school parent teacher conferenes will be from noon to 8:00 p.m. on the Wednesday of secondary conference week. There will be no compensation day. This will make coaches more available, since they can hold practices in the morning, teachers will not have to work two 12- hour days and then an 8-hour day before the compenation day, and there will be more flexibility for schools to decide on open or scheduled conferences, and allowing parents who work at night to attend during the day. The data on attendance and effectiveness will determine if this format will be used the next year. Middle school conferences would be held on Wednesday and Thursday of the same week.

High school collaboration was also addressed. High school principals would like to see something similar to the middle schools with common time so those who are the only teacher of a subject in a school could work with those in other schools who teach the same subject.

Nepotism is being addressed. Plesae see this blog post for more information.

School Board Meeting

Last night's school board meeting was very full.  In the study session, a new idea for high school Parent Teacher Conferences was presented.  This is the result of two years of work by DAC, the Negotiations Team, and the Joint Committee.  There was parent and teacher input via surveys in Spring of 2011.  What has come out of this is a recommendation for changing HS PTC for the 2012-2013 school year.  The goal is to increase attendance by parents, particularly of struggling students.

The recommendation is to have the Wednesday of PTC week be a day with no students.  Teachers would hold conferences from noon to 8:00 p.m. with a dinner break.  Each building would decide on a portion of time for scheduled conferences and a portion of time for drop in.  Each building can also decide if teachers would like to conference in their classrooms or in a common area. Because the conferences would be scheduled during the day without students, there would be no compensation day.  Full school days would be held every other day that week.

Some hoped for benefits include:

• Athletic practices scheduled in the morning so coaches will be in attendance at conferences
• Meet the needs of more parents, particularly those who work in the evenings
• Target students who need to have their parents come in
• Allow time for parents to drop in who prefer that format
• No 12 hour days for teachers
• Greater attendance by parents

After implementing this for the 2012-13 year, the data will be reviewed to see if the change is effective in increasing parent attendance, the main goal.

Principals will be learning more about this.  We will be looking for teacher feedback after these conferences as well to see if you found this format more beneficial than sitting in the gym for four hours.  Should you have questions, please let me know.

In the study session, the Board decided to approve two sabbatical leaves (you go to school, the District pays 1/2 salary, and you receive the EXACT position you left), two educational leaves (you go to school with no pay and you will have a job for next year which you are qualified), and leaves of absence (you take a year off with no pay and you will have a job the next year for which you are qualified).


The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report was accepted.  The auditors praised the District for being well-managed.  If you'd like details, go to Jordan District website, and you can read the full report.

JEA member Wendy Hanson of Copper Hills was appointed to be a District Math Consultant.

JEA member Debbie Brown of Bingham was recognized for winning the UEA Excellence in Teaching Award.  She is seen here with a quilt of the Periodic Table made by her students.  You can read about her at myUEA.org.

Negotiated Joint Committee

This committee has been looking at options for high school parent teacher conferences for almost a year.  Next month, we hope to decide on a model to pilot next year. 

We also discussed interest-based bargaining and Senator Osmond's proposals.

DAC - September 2011

The District Advisory Committee met last evening.  We discussed the results of the high school parent teacher conference survey from last spring.  DAC will be looking at options for restructuring HS PTC.

I am going to be on a committee to evaluate the transfer, placement, and hiring process.

The year round to traditional pay issues was discussed again.  Kyle Hansen, HR Director of Licensed Recruitment, is going to find out how many elementary teachers leave prior to the end of November in order to determine the cost of allowing teachers who move from a YR to a traditional schedule to stay on their 12-month YR pay schedule.

The law surrounding Legislative Supply Money states that "a teacher on salary schedule steps one through three teaching in grade . . .", which poses a problem since we have not had steps two of the last three years.  John Larsen in Accounting said the state distributes the money based on CACTUS, which shows years of service, not step placement, so the District will distribute the money based on years also.

If an issue is not being resolved by your SAC, and it is an issue being faced by most schools throughout the District, let me know so I can bring that issue to DAC.

Joint Negotiated Committee

One of the issues brought to the Joint Negotiated Committee was the lack of attendance at High School  Parent Teacher Conferences.  Working together, JEA and JSD Administration designed surveys for educators and parents about ideas for changing the format of High School Parent Teacher Conferences.  If you teach in or have your own children attending a Jordan District High School, please go to the Jordan District website to take the survey.

Council of Local Presidents

I attended the Council of Local Presidents meeting this morning.  We discussed what has been happening at the legislature.  Yesterday at Educator Day on the Hill, Speaker of the House Becky Lockhart came and told the teachers that the 11% cut proposed by the Joint Public Education Appropriations Committee is unnecessary.  That is good news to hear.

We need to help parents understand how what is happening at the legislature will impact their children.  As you have Parent Teacher Conferences and parents ask questions, encourage them to contact their legislators and ask them to support the governor's budget, which funds 85% of new student growth as well as some other programs.

Teachers are seen as the best source of information on education issues.  You can also refer parents to the UEA Under the Dome site for more information on specific bills.

November DAC

The District Advisory Committee met yesterday afternoon.  We discussed principals who are not following the newly negotiated item about Grade Transmittal Days being optional, and that teachers will complete their grades on time, either prior to or on that day.

High school Parent Teacher Conferences were discussed.  This item will go to the new committee that will begin meeting in January to look at possibly restructuring to make better use of time.

AP funding was addressed.  Funding is based on the number of students who passed the tests the previous year.  However, the amount of funding changes from year to year.  This is very difficult to predict.

Suspensions in 9th-12th grade show on the transcript, which is a permanent document.  Once information is on a transcript, it cannot be changed.

The time to administer the PLAN test in middle and high schools was a problem.  They would like a late start, but the logistics of transportation make this difficult.  Questions need to be directed to Clyde Mason.

A question about our calendared holiday breaks not matching surrounding districts was brought up.  We have year round schools, and try to match our traditional and year round holiday breaks as closely as possible.  This makes adding days to Thanksgiving, Winter, or Spring breaks nearly impossible.  Anyone who has served on the Calendar Committee recognizes this.

Finally, we reviewed some recently revised policies.