DJUSD Staff Insights

The First Interim Report will be presented to the Board of Education on December 19. It covers the District’s financial activity from July 1 - October 31 and includes an updated budget projection for the 2024-25 school year.

As part of this report, the Board must certify that the District can meet its financial obligations for the current year and the next two years. This certification is based on the District’s expected cash flow and available unrestricted funds. This important process helps ensure the District remains financially stable

DJUSD's enrollment period begins December 9, 2024, for plan year January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. Have you reviewed your insurance benefits lately? The right benefits can help you be financially stable. Reviewing them regularly ensures you have coverage to help protect your wallet and your way of life. An American Fidelity account manager can help you pick the best options that meet your needs. Schedule time to review your benefits today!

We want to take this opportunity to introduce a great addition to the DJUSD custodial night crew, Muhameed (Mo) Malik, who was promoted from the day lead custodian at Korematsu to our new Custodial Team Leader IV. With Mo’s addition to the night crew, the District will have an extra layer of support for when there are emergencies (broken windows, graffiti, vandalism), alarms, weather-related issues and more.

Due to a ground squirrel population at Harper Junior High, we had an electricity outage in the G-Wing. Our team, electrician Todd Elfin and ground crew members Xavier Collazo, Angel Bocanegra and Matias Turner, worked hard over the break to repair and restore electricity to the G-Wing resulting in no disruptions to students' learning time.

We are excited to share that, for the first time, our District will be moving to a full day kindergarten program at all elementary sites beginning in the 2025-26 school year. Kindergarten representatives from every elementary school will be convening three times over the course of the next two months to plan for this transition. This important development will allow DJUSD to better meet the needs of our kinder students and families. Transitional Kindergarten (TK) will be available to all four year olds, but will remain a half-day program. S.P.A.R.K. will be offered to our TK students opposite their TK day. After-school S.P.A.R.K. will continue to serve students in all elementary grades, TK-6. With these exciting developments, you will also see the concurrent opening of newly constructed early childhood education classrooms at many of our elementary campuses so we can meet the needs of these expanding programs for our youngest learners.

The Multilingual Department, in collaboration with the Climate Coordinator and the Language Justice and Family Partnership team, developed, piloted and distributed a comprehensive Needs and Assets Assessment to newly enrolled families, who speak languages other than English. This assessment aims to gather insights into family needs and strengths, linking them to appropriate services and resources. The Needs and Assets Assessment was translated and distributed to 250 families in multiple languages, with reminders sent to non-responders. Initial responses highlighted trends, including interest in after-school programs, electives, and information on high school graduation and college readiness. Analysis of responses has provided valuable insights into family strengths and areas of interest, enabling targeted follow-up. Results were shared with school site leadership who conducted personalized outreach to families with immediate needs. Elementary families had the highest response rates, while Spanish-speaking families were underrepresented, suggesting a need for more accessible engagement strategies. Opportunities for improvement include addressing the barriers that may deter responses or reduce response rates and exploring partnerships with school sites to expand outreach capacity. Despite the challenges, this effort demonstrates DJUSD’s commitment to fostering family partnerships, leveraging data for targeted support, and advancing equity in multilingual education.

With the moving up of the due date for course request sheets/program planning documents to February 21, 2025 Secondary Course catalogs will be finalized and sent to publication prior to Winter Break (December 20, 2024). Counselors are working to make revisions updates and the Board of Education approved some new courses and course revisions at the November 21, 2024 meeting. Below is a list of new and revised courses that will be updated and added to High School course catalogs:

New Courses

• African American Art Histories (DSHS)

• Walking for Fitness (DSHS)

• Peer Tutor-Bilingual (DSHS)

• Law II (DVCA)

• Career Development (DSHS & DVCA)

• Advanced Digital Sound Design (DVCA)

Revised Courses

• Computer Science Discoveries (DVCA)

• Law I (DVCA)

• Athletics (DSHS)

Believe it or not, this is the time of year when we begin looking toward our staffing projections for the next school year. If you are thinking about retirement at the end of the 2024-2025 school year, please be aware that we currently have a $1000 payment incentive in place in MOU agreement with CSEA and DTA for employees that provide early notification of retirement from the District, with an effective date between June 14-30, 2025. Employees must submit the retirement notification no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, January 17, 2025. You can find the retirement form links on the District website via Informed K12.

The Special Education Department is pleased to share upcoming events and a variety of resources in our December Newsletter. In this month's edition, you'll find information on SACSE meetings, upcoming events around the District and helpful tips in the "Self Care Corner."

Wastewater testing by Healthy Central Valley Together reveals current pathogen trends in our community. Find the link, along with other helpful resources, on our Health Services / Illness webpage. Protect yourself and others, schedule your annual Flu and COVID vaccines at MyTurn.ca.gov today!

For many children and teens, the use of screens mimics patterns of drug addiction, making it difficult for them to be without their devices close at hand. When parents attempt to limit screen use, they may encounter addictive behavior that includes lying, stealing, pleading, threatening and erupting in anger. This PEP Talk will discuss the growing prevalence of screen addictions and strategies parents can use to address these issues and live more harmoniously. Join us virtually on Wednesday, December 11 at 6:00 p.m.

The 2024 California School Dashboard has been released to the public. You can click here for an overview of what data is being used to compile this year’s dashboard, and here to view our DJUSD District Performance Overview. Staff will be reviewing site-level dashboard data with their site principals in the coming weeks.

During the month of December, Technology staff will be coming around to sites to turn on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all staff. This level of security will protect confidential information and will limit the effect that “phishing” emails have on users. Staff will have a choice to use their mobile phone or a physical USB “Key” to authenticate when signing into DJUSD Google or Microsoft Applications.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be in-person on Thursday, December 19, 2024. This regular meetings can be viewed on DJUSD Education Channel 17 and by livestream, or you can watch archived recordings at djusd.tv.