August 2010/11 ES Meeting Compilation

(A compilation of questions and answers from the all ES meeting this month)

ES Specific Info:

Do ESs tally Professional Growth hours themselves?

No. Your PG is sent for entry by your Advisor. It is viewable to you in ES Webfiles.

If you’re a new ES with SSCS, you don’t go to your regular AF for March meeting, but to Tracy’s New ES meeting instead? Are OGCS new ESs invited?

Correct. You attend only 1 March meeting. OG ESs are invited if they wish to drive to Sacramento, but it is not required.

Educational Info (POs, Curriculum, Vendors, LRs, etc )

Do “face to face meetings” require both students and parents to be in attendance when it is not an AESS situation?

Contact your advisor for help if you are having trouble meeting with your parent and student and seeing the body of work completed. There are legal variations we may be able to negotiate in special circumstances.

Do we need to complete the HH if a newly enrolled family has divorced, even though they only signed up in June?

Yes, that is a change and a new HH form is needed.

Should we give families a heads up that the budget may need to be reduced?

No. We have no idea what will happen with our school budgets until a state budget is passed. Therefore, we have no plans to make any reduction at this point.

What is the official enrollment date for a student---date signed the charter or 1^st attendance date?

The Student Agreement is a legal contract between the family and the school that spells out a fixed term of school days, within which the student is "enrolled". The Student Agreement will ALWAYS be executed on or before the first day of this fixed term, and attendance (or lack of attendance) will ALWAYS fall within this term of dates only.

If you have a family of 4 and a family of 3 can you meet with them both on the same day to do a rollsheet?

Contact your advisor. If they live close and this is a good choice, yes, it may be approvable.

Do parents still sign for returning items?

Parents should sign for receiving items. IF they wish to sign that items were returned, that is fine.

Is e-Tech usable for middle school students?

No. 9^th to 12^th graders only.

I ordered items through Barnes & Noble in May, but haven’t received them---what should I do?

Submit a PO Inquiry ASAP.

I have old previously used curriculum that is pretty much junk, what do I do with it?

Hold it until we complete our policy on obsolete materials. Items purchased with state dollars may not just be thrown away.

Single use software, where does it go?

For SSCS: Send to Nancy Mack in Placerville. For OGCS: Take to the BC Resource Center.

What does recycled mean on the new materials list?

Nothing at this time. We are developing a recycling process for old electronics items. Wait until given instruction to use it.

Do we use a tracking sheet for old items and a sheet for new items until all are in the new system?

Yes.

When do we push Full value for an item on the Materials List?

When those items have not yet been paid for. For example, a family orders materials, then drops and there was no attendance accrued to pay for those materials. Then you need to “sell” them for full value to someone else who wants them and has IF to cover the cost.

When ordering an item consisting of a student workbook (consumable), and teacher book (non-consumable)---how do we mark it in?

Mark it non-consumable and enter a note in the notes field that the workbook has been consumed.

Can you transfer items with money within your own families?

You will need advisor approval to do any transfers with money; therefore contact your advisor before attempting this. It may not be necessary.

Can we give curriculum not being used to Brenda?

No. Brenda is in a tiny office and our agreement with our sponsoring SSCS district is that we will not use their facility as a resource center.

Do we need to mark urgent for PO’s?

That designation is only used for Spring orders. We will let you know when to begin using that process.

On delayed PO items that haven’t been received, how do we check on these?

If they are not listed in ES Webfiles, they may not have been ordered. I would suggest reordering at this point.

How do we find SS vendors that refresh computers?

Do a search in ES Webfiles/Search Vendors. If there is not one there, find someone in your local area willing to be a school vendor and do a vendor request.

Do you need to refresh a computer every time a computer is transferred?

Yes.

Any way to get more lines on a PO?

No, sorry!

Do we give warranty information along with transfers of computers?

Yes, the warranty belongs with that one computer and goes with it when transferred.

I couldn’t find the “Watch List” under PO information---where is it found?

It is posted under Purchase Orders in the ES Resources section of the school website.

Can we copy the “watch list” for parents?

NO! This document is a help to you as you do your job. This is not a list of items that a parent may not use, it is a list of what you may not order with school funding, or vendors you need to review items from carefully as they may contact items we cannot purchase. AGAIN, this is a tool for you to do your job, and is not for your parent’s usage.

Can we email Nancy Mack with a question about an item regarding sectarian content?

No. You need to do your job with this as best you can, then email your advisor for additional help after you have exhausted all of your options.

Do we have labels for things we’ve had a long time?

Not at this time. We have made a request for this to be printable if you request it.

Are resource labels required now?

Yes, we would like you to begin using the numbered labels for all school owned items for ease of tracking the materials in the future.

Are we still using Google docs?

You may continue to use Google docs until items are listed in FRED. Be sure to update FRED with any transfers of materials when/if they do show up on your list.

Does the school allow IF funding to be used for paying the ROP membership?

No. Most ROPs do not charge HS students for this. But they can, and if they do, we cannot pay that fee for them.

Also what about instructional materials for the ROP course, can the school pay for this?

If you can order the materials through one of our approved vendor, and it is an allowable purchase, you may purchase those items.

Assessment & Guidance Info (Scantron, Writing assignment, state assessments, etc.):

Does doing APEX online curriculum meet a-g requirements without the SME course?

APEX is a complete online curriculum (which therefore meets the HQT requirement), but it is not complete for a-g, because there are a few additional a-g hardcopy assignments needed that are not a part of the course. Some but not all of the APEX courses have additional hardcopy assignments such as term papers or book reports above and beyond the online course.  We have set up an Optional Teacher Support Services CP course for most of the “principal approved” APEX CTV a-g courses. These CP Teacher Support classes are optional and not everyone will sign up for them--they are not required.  “Regular” students taking APEX math courses, may also want to sign up for the Math Optional Teacher Support Services as it provides them with online math help for whatever course they are taking.

Is Powerspeak considered A-G?

No.

Will the new A-G requirements be retroactive?  E.g. if a 9^th grader took regular classes last year because they couldn’t afford/didn’t want to use the required books (Glencoe), BUT used another CA standards-based textbook (say, Holt), can we switch the 9^th grade course name to a-g?

They would have needed to do a face-to-face ES administered 1^st semester final and a face-to-face ES administered second semester or course final.  Without those, it cannot be retroactive. If this was done, or you feel you have a special case, do contact the guidance department.

If a student takes an a-g course in the first semester and decides not to take the course in the 2^nd semester but the following year does that count (before they had to take the full course within that school year)?  Also is there a minimum requirement for the grade to be given for a-g?

A student must receive at least a C in A-G to get credit for that course. The course needs to be completed in one school year, except for special circumstances approved by the Guidance Department.

If a student is using a Physical Science textbook, do I just change the course to Earth Science and use the same book?

Yes.

Scantron testing vendors---do we have any?

No, sorry! We have not been able to work with out with any testing services in our local communities.

Parent Specific Info:

(None this month)