We will distribute this newsletter on the Wednesday following the monthly Board of Education meeting. This newsletter will have information from District Departments and other helpful tips. If you have suggestions for content in this newsletter, please send them to Collin Brooks at BrooksB@jcschools.org.

September 2023

• National Substitute Appreciation Week - September 4-8
  
• National Grandparent's Day - September 10
• Patriot Day (9/11 Observance) - September 11
• National Hispanic Heritage Month - September 15 - October 15
• National Yoga Month - All Month
• Constitution Day - September 17 (Falls on a Sunday)
• National IT Professional Day - September 19
• First Day of Fall - September 23
• Human Resources Professionals Day - September 26

• Click here to view Printable Calendars 2023-2024 & 2024-2025
  

I hope that all of you are settling into the new year with your students. We have had a great start to the school year in our district and are excited about a new year of learning! We find ourselves fortunate to work in a district and community that supports education at a very high level.

As you have been made aware by your principal, a new state law went into effect on July 1 regarding building access, specifically exterior doors. While safety of students and staff has always been the highest priority in our district, we need to provide extra emphasis this year on ensuring that all exterior doors remain locked and closed at all times (other than during controlled times such as arrivals, dismissals, and class changes). Doors that are left propped open or unlocked will result in substantial fines from state officials who are frequently checking school facilities across the state. For example, the third time an exterior door is found to be unlocked or open and not monitored by a staff member there is a fine of 2% of the annual base funding for that school. For example, $2% of the base would be $335,454 at Science Hill High School and for a school the size of North Side, 2% of the base would be $42,670.

Additionally, all interior doors should remain locked at all times following guidance from your building administration. There should be rare circumstances where magnets may be used but follow your principal’s guidance in these situations.

Attached is the new state law for your review pertaining to this issue.

Thank you again for your attention to this matter and for all you have done to ensure a successful start to our school year.

Sincerely,

Steve Barnett

Johnson City Schools' Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund documents are available for review through this link. At the bottom of the page, there is a link to a Google form where we ask for feedback from all of our stakeholders. Every six months we will use this feedback for our ESSER 3.0 Public Plan-Federal Relief Spending Addendum. Please feel free to review these documents and provide us with feedback.

Johnson City Schools is hiring Educare assistants, custodians, and instructional assistants. Current job postings can be viewed at www.jcschools.org/jobs.

Johnson City Transit is in need of bus drivers. Please visit this page for more information about open Bus Driver positions.

Open enrollment for the Sick Bank each year is for the months of August through October. The sick bank applies to Certified Staff. In the next few weeks, emails from Finance will go out to Certified Staff informing each individual if they are a participant in the Sick Bank. If you are not currently a participant and are interested, you can find the Sick Bank Application at jcschools.org Departments/Finance.

Classified Staff may donate sick leave to other classified staff if an employee is need and all criteria have been met. The Sick Leave Donation form can be found at jcschools.org Departments/Finance.

The current year’s pay information is now loaded in Skyward. Employee’s can view their annual salary/pay information. To view, after logging into the SSO Portal, go to the Skyward Application. Once in Skyward, go to Employee Access on the right of the screen. From there, Click on Employee Information, Personal Information, Personnel, and then Assignments. See the screen shots below (you can click on the images to enlarge them)

You can click on the images to enlarge them. If you are not able to view them, please email BrooksB@jcschools.org and ask for the Skyward Slides from the August Staff Newsletter.

The State of TN review quarterly the Prescription Plan with Caremark quarterly and may make changes to the Preferred Drug List (formulary). Below are changes that took effect July 1, 2023.

The full list of medications on the Preferred Drug List can be found at tn.gov/partnersforhealth website. Please click on this link to view the images.

TLC Staff Services

All of our staff services and training registration information can be found on our Professional Learning Department web page. There you'll find instructions for ordering free die-cuts and classroom resources we will send to your school through our mail courier. Our computer lab is available for use on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school for conducting district-wide trainings. Contact me early to book our training facility for your next training session. TLC also hosts newly hired staff every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. to establish network accounts, view a presentation from JCS Finance Department, and complete all compliance modules in KnowB4.

Submitting New Sessions for Learning Stream

It's that time of year! It's time to submit your upcoming training sessions to the Learning Stream. All training instructors providing PDP approved events should submit upcoming sessions using the 2023-2024 JCS New Training Request Form on our web page. If you are new to the process, please contact me with any questions. We will advertise your district-wide session for you, and we can also tailor your session to specific groups or schools by providing a registration code.

Tracey Coffey, TLC Manager

Contact: (423) 434-5218 or coffeyt@jcschools.org

The glitch has been fixed. I am sorry for the trouble that it caused. Please continue to use Bloomz as your communication tool inside your classroom. Please contact BrooksB@jcschools.org if you have any issues with Bloomz.

If you have any questions or concerns about Bloomz, feel free to reach out to at BrooksB@jcschools.org with any questions.

Bloomz On-Demand Training for Teachers

• Beginning with Bloomz: Teacher Basics

• Beginning with Posts/Announcements/Alerts/Messages

• Beginning with Events, Sign-Ups, and Conferences

Beginning Parents on Bloomz | More Information

We had several students to recognize in August but with our early dismissal we moved those recognitions to September.

Congratulations to our Superintendent, Dr. Steve Barnett, for being named the 2024 First Region Superintendent of the Year.

The next Johnson City Board of Education meeting will be held on Monday, September 7 starting at 6 p.m. inside the Board Room at Central Office (100 E. Maple Street). Board meetings can be viewed on the Johnson City Schools' YouTube channel.

Johnson City Schools has enrolled with STOPit, the leading technology platform for schools that deters and controls harmful or inappropriate conduct. STOPit empowers students with an easy app to safely and anonymously report anything of concern to school officials – from cyberbullying to threats of violence or self-harm. STOPit empowers students to stand up for themselves and others while giving our schools the insight we need to keep students safe. Students can download the App from the Apple Store or Google play store on their mobile device and then search for their Johnson City School. While the reports are anonymous, there will be severe consequences for anyone who is found to have made a false report.

Read more - www.jcschools.org/News/463

Construction on the field turf at Indian Trail started this week. That means it will be a construction zone and no walkers will be allowed. There will be updates through Indian Trail's Facility Update Newsletter that can be viewed here or on their website.

From WJHL

From JC Press

Be on the lookout each Tuesday for our new attendance initiative #AttendanceTuesday - we will have a press release soon. Each school will have school-specific yard signs with a QR Code to direct parents to special messages and possibly even prizes for good attendance. We all know how important showing up is, so please encourage your students to be in class and on time.

Remind them that every absence is a missed opportunity!

Johnson City Schools loves celebrating the accomplishments of our students, staff, and community. If you know of any events, awards, programs, or other compelling stories involving the Johnson City Schools' community, please fill out this form or reach out to Collin Brooks at BrooksB@jcschools.org