Eye on Legislation

Jean Hill, UPPAC attorney, writes in her monthly newsletter that the following legislation will be introduced:

• Sen. Howard Stephenson- Wants more computer -adaptive testing
• Rep. Rhonda Menlove- Wants provisional teachers to have five years before they get career status rather than three years.
• Rep. Curtis Oda- Wants a resolution asking public schools to provide age-appropriate information about family and dating violence to students.
• Rep. Wayne Harper- Legislation titled "Educator Training Amendments"???
• Rep. John Dougall- Legislation titled "Local control of Public School schedules"???
• Sen. Pat Jones- Legislation titled "Vending machines in elementary schools"???

Yes, it will be another interesting year. First day of the session, January 25th.

Rick

Ogden Board Policy Changes

Ogden school board is in the process of changing personnel policies regarding "background checks" and "reporting arrests and convictions". The changes come from the state rules that have been added. The state is requiring background checks/fingerprinting every five years and employees will have to report convictions or arrests within 48 hours. We have copies of the policies and when the board passes them they will be on the District website. Let me know if you have specific questions.

Congrats to Allison Pfister (Lakeview), Shari Combe (Roy Jr.) and Karen Roylance (T.H. Bell) for winning a $25 gift card for Applebees. Thanks for reading. Rick

Ogden and Weber School Board Policy Changes

Because of changes in state office of education rules, both Ogden and Weber boards are in the process of changing rules on background checks and reporting of arrests or convictions. In Weber's AR meeting last night we gave the new policies in Weber which include the requirement for all employees to report to the Human Resource office any arrest or conviction within 48 hours. I will continue to update you on changes to both district's policies.

Rick

Our sympathies go out to an OEA member passing...

We are sad to announce the passing of Todd Suzuki, counselor at Washington High, last week. You can send your sympathies to Shannon Keeney at 216 E. 1325 N., Layton, UT 84041. Shannon is a counselor at Odyssey Elementary. You can go to the Standard-Examiner today for the obituary.

Rick

Worst is Over for Utah, U.S. Economy

In today's SL Tribune http://www.sltrib.com/ ,in the MONEY secton C, the headline reads:" Worst Is Over for Utah, U.S". Economists and business leaders used different words, but offered the same message: We have seen the worst and are recoverying slowly. Our public education system is funded with Tax dollars. If Income Tax, Sales Tax, and Property Tax revenues are down, our funding is hurt. Plus, we have 11,000 to 12,000 new students ready to enter our schools in the 2010-2011 year. The legislative session is only 17 days away and the legislators will have to make tough decisions that will be passed on to our districts.

Rick

Weber School Board Meeting

The Weber School Board honored Geoff Anderson, Fremont High music teacher, with the "I Love Teaching" award at their monthly board meeting last evening. Judy Krebs, Beth Paur, and Ami Loder, Third grade team from H. Guy Child, also were awarded the "E+ Team" award for their fine collaboration and teaming.

Project Lead the Way students and instructor demonstrated a Christmas tree carrier that their class had designed to help deliver "Festival of Trees" to the community
Rick

Federal "Race to the Top" Proposals

The state of Utah, along with the other states, is applying for Federal Education Stimulus Money called "Race to the Top". Several Billion dollars is available to states that formulate a plan of reforms which could include differentiated pay (Performance Pay) and changes in the evaluation laws. Many of these reforms have been started by the Utah Legislature and we will surely see more. The possibility of millions of dollars, especially in these tough budget times, is enticing to the districts. It will be important the we monitor these reforms and be a part of the process.

Rick