Special Education Collaborative Committee
The District Special Education Department is looking for SPED educators and providers to serve on the central collaborative committee. This group will meet regularly to discuss staffing, professional development, best practices in instruction and other topics as necessary. The group will meet virtually and will include a variety of stakeholders including senior level special education, learning specialists, mental health professionals, motor services, speech language pathologists, center-based educators, nurses, early childhood special educators, and others as necessary. This year the committee must study caseload and workload issues to develop caseload recommendations and bring potential solutions to the bargaining table no later than February 1, 2025.
The current committee schedule is:
- 9/24/24 @ 4:00
- 10/22/24 @ 4:00
- 11/19/24 @ 4:00
- 1/21/24 @ 4:00
Interested in serving on the committee? Fill out the form below! (note you will need to be logged into your Jeffco account)
Apply for CommitteePS – As you may know, SPED educators and providers now automatically receive pay for 3 additional days to honor all the additional hours you put in above the 40 hour workweek. You will no longer need to request this pay. Information will be coming soon about when you will receive this pay.
Beginning of the year checklist!
Have you signed your contract yet? As a reminder, sign into ESS and sign your contract. If you have seen errors with your hire date, they should have been corrected, but if the error has persisted put in a Help Ticket. Salary information is not on your contract. If you are looking for information about your salary in ESS, you can use this video to help you find it in ESS.
Stipends
This year all educators will receive a one-time, 2% stipend payment as a part of our salary settlement from negotiations. The 2% stipend will be paid in two installments on your paychecks in October and April.
If you qualify for other additional stipends per Article 17 of the contract, such as Title I, SPED, Dual Language, etc. those stipends will be split into two payments and be distributed on your November and May paychecks.
Hot Temperatures
Regulating temperatures in our schools and classrooms is always a challenge, but can seem more so at the beginning of the year when systems have been shut off all summer. Students’ learning conditions are also our working conditions, and it’s important we advocate for comfortable spaces for our students. Here’s some helpful information and steps to take if your classroom is too hot or cold:
- NEW Contract Language: 8-1-1 of your JCEA contract states that educators will be assigned to well-ventilated, heated, and properly lit classrooms while at work. While it does not explicitly say “cooled” our intent was to ensure educators and your students do not work in rooms with unsafe temperatures.
- All HVAC systems are connected to the Quail Building in an automated system that allows the district to check temperatures at schools, offices, and in individual classrooms.
- Board policy dictates temperature ranges, chillers are set at 76 degrees and temperatures within buildings, offices, and classrooms may range just above or below 76 degrees.
- The system cannot be set lower than 68 degrees for the winter.
- There have been cuts to Facilities Management (FM) over the years and we are always shorthanded with custodial staff in our district.
If you are having an issue in your building MAKE SURE you speak to your FM and administration and ask specifically that they submit a work order at the district level. If there hasn’t been a response or update on a work order within 5 days, reach out to Jeff Gatlin directly. If you do not receive a response or conditions have not improved, reach out to your JCEA AR to discuss next steps and the potential need to file a grievance.