Happy Summer

Happy Summer!!

Please enjoy your time off (except for those of us lucky enough to work 12-months). Regardless of your schedule, please find time to read, relax, rejuvenate and recreate.  Spend some time reflecting on the positive difference you made for colleagues, students and parents this year.  We are often unaware of the positive and encouraging impact we make in the lives of others.  You've been doing so much for others, take time to do something for yourself.

Retirements

Sherri Moncrief, Jan Kennedy, Carol Delville, Debbie Perry, Debbie
Pidgeon, Kris Hopp, Cathy Gordon, Kathy Schlief, Eric Andrew

One of the favored events each year is celebrating and honoring our retirees at the Ainsley House.  Last Tuesday night. we celebrated this year's retirees.  These folks who have given so much to others chronicled 394.5 years of service in Campbell and 513.5 years of service in education!!  The honorees in attendance were Carol Delville and Jan Kennedy (RHMS),  Cathy Gordon, Kris Hopp and Debbie Pigeon (Lynhaven), Sherri Moncrief (Marshall Lane), Debbie Perry (MMS), Kathy Schlief (Forest Hill) and Eric Andrew (Superintendent).  Those unable to attend were Sue Dietrich (Castlemont), Janice Lyon and Denise Navarra (Capri), and Greg Gundy (RHMS) and Debbie Baccino (Special Education).  Additionally a few other retirees elected not to have their names published.  We are so grateful for the service and difference each of these folks have made in Campbell, they will be missed.

CUSD Obtains Discount for Employees Attending National University

If you are considering taking additional coursework at National University, as an employee of CUSD, you can get a 15% discount from the tuition cost.  Please contact Patricia Del Rio at pdelrio@nu.edu or (408)236-1124 and let her know you are an employee of Campbell Union School District in Santa Clara County.

Additional HR Reminders

Over the Summer break, please remember to update Human Resources with:

·         * Address, personal email and/or phone number changes

·         *  Name changes (requires an updated Social Security card)

·         *  Life events (marriage, divorce, new baby/adoption, etc.) 

         that may affect your last warrant designation or benefits.

·         *  Banking information associated with your Direct Deposit

Your June check will be available for pick up on June 30^th between 1:00 – 2:00 in the Board room. Checks (or stubs) not picked up will be mailed the same day by 3:00.  If you would like your check held, please contact our Payroll department before the 30^th.

If you do not anticipate returning to CUSD in the Fall, classified staff should contact HR immediately as benefits will end on the last day of the month worked and you may have other options available to you. For certificated staff, your benefits will end August 31st.

Job Postings

All job postings will be sent out to all employees via email.  Also, please let your motivated, talented and innovative friends and family members know of our CUSD job openings as well.  All openings and applications can be seen on our CUSD website link, campbellusd.org, under the district tab, then job openings and also on Edjoin.org

Spring Edition

Staff Wellness Update

Thank you to the 206 of you who completed the wellness survey.  We gained valuable information from the survey which will inform our continued commitment to support our Most Valuable Resource, you.   Our planning committee is comprised of David Penstone (CSEA president), Catherine Hodge (CETA president), me and CalPERS and Kaiser employee benefit services representatives.  While they work with Kaiser, our focus and supports will be from a variety of our health partners, such as El Camino Hospital.  We reviewed your input from the survey and will be working to provide supports and activities in the areas you requested.  We will be providing the survey results at the March 16th Board Meeting.  We will be expanding our committee with some of you who expressed an interest in being part of the committee.  We are seeking a brand for our Wellness program.  We are thinking of something around “BE WELL.” We want to be sure that our staff have ways to consistently fill their reservoirs because they are constantly giving of themselves to others.  We are asking for logos and graphics from you for this brand.  Please submit your graphics and ideas to the Human Resources Department by Monday, April 10.  The selected winner will receive a gift from our community partners.  The winner of the survey completion participant drawing was Richard Timpson, teacher at Campbell Middle School.

Wellness Supports

Remember, as an employee, you have access to confidential supports and services through our Concern Employee Assistance Program.  You can access this information through https://www.concern-eap.com/  When prompted for the Employer Code, simply type in Campbell Union School District.  You will then be able to access many helpful services and resources, such as counseling, dealing with unexpected life circumstances, personal resilience tools and organizational support.

Guest Teacher and Support Staff Absence Coverage Challenges

I know it is frustrating when plans for collaboration or planning day do not occur because the absence is not filled.  We are continually seeking to hire more guest teachers (GT) and we currently have about 125 GT as well as many guest support staff.  We have increased the pay rate and that has helped, but we still do not have adequate coverage.  In addition to the collaboration, planning days and illness, we also currently have 36 staff out on medical or maternity leave.  This is much higher than usual.  We have also identified a few factors that support guest staff coverage. Submit your absence as soon as you receive the Action Required email notifying you to do so with the absence reason notated.  If you have not made prior arrangements to have your release covered, you have the option to manage your own preferred guest teachers. The system will attempt to contact the guest teachers from your preferred list first before opening up the absence to the general list. Please see instructions attached. GT's have also shared their appreciation for being welcomed in the morning, finding organized and clear lesson plans and having other staff check in on them and offer assistance.  These extra gestures make a lasting impression.  We also have a vacancy announcement on our website and on Edjoin.org for guest teacher and support staff coverage, please let competent, conscientious and available friends and family know of this opportunity.  If you have additional suggestions for improvement, please let us know.

Staffing for 2017-18 School Year

I wanted to share our process for determining staffing needs for next school year.  We are currently determining enrollment projections, which tell us how many staff we need for each site and grade level.  We have been in a slight decrease for enrollment and we anticipate that continuing for the next few years.  In our planning, we also include the retirement and resignation notices we have received to determine additional staffing needs.  We have begun having interviews for internal staff wishing to transfer to known openings and we will continue to post openings internally and externally as they become known. 

Additionally, we anticipate there may be some staffing changes as we transition Campbell Middle School to the TK - 8th grade school.  However, at this time, the only decision that has been made is that there will not be any 5th grade students enrolled at CMS.  The two teachers there will be offered

opportunities at the other schools as we anticipate an increase in 5th grade classrooms at some of our other sites.  The union leaders and I will be meeting with certificated and classified staff at CMS in the next few weeks to discuss the process.  We will also be discussing this during our negotiations process.  Information specific to the transformation process is available on the district website and is regularly being disseminated in the newsletters. 

We have begun interviewing student teachers who had their placement in the district and we will be attending university and regional job fairs in the next few months.  We are seeking to establish a pool of strong candidates to fill any vacancies that become available.  It continues to be our goal to provide our students with talented, student centered, forward thinking and engaging teachers and support staff.  If you are aware of folks fitting this description, please refer them to our website or Edjoin for postings.

Recruitment Efforts

This month, CUSD joins school districts across the state at recruitment fairs to attract the best

teachers to our district. Since video is now a key communication tool, we’re using it to help us recruit the best teachers to join our outstanding team of teachers, administrators and support staff. 

Special thanks to all of you who took part in the interviews and allowed us to capture your classrooms on camera!  You can see our recruitment video on youtube: https://youtu.be/xNUsXoz7iRk

Education Opportunities

In collaboration with several other districts and the County Office of Education, we applied for a grant to provide $4,000 annually to classified staff seeking a credential.  While there were over 300 interested applicants within the group, the California Department of Education only awarded 50 slots for the grant.  A rigorous application process was held to determine potential applicants and eight of CUSD's sixteen interested participants were selected.  Additionally, the district will be establishing similar funding from our Education Effectiveness Funds to support our classified staff wishing to complete a credential.  More information will be sent out next month.

Our newest cohort of teachers working to earn an M.A. in Education Leadership from Santa Clara University is in full swing.  Classes are held at the PLC on Mondays and Wednesdays.  If you were unable or not yet ready for this program, there are informational meetings for a similar cohort with San Jose State University at Moreland USD.  The informational meetings will be held on March 23 April 12 at 4:00 p.m. at the Moreland School District Office.  Here is the link for the M.A. informational meetings:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfMkA7BB7fow93zi4CSAHy9CC2XPIdYU1JRDkkJy9yjiJo7ww/viewform 

There will also be information for the doctoral program at the above mentioned meetings, use the same link to rsvp for informational meetings at a variety of locations.

CUSD Logo Wear

Please find the attached link to order CUSD logo wear for   Women's Cardigan / Women's V-neck / Men's V-neck (black w/color logo)  CUSD Logo-wear ORDER FORM

Reminder:  Daylight Savings Time

This Sunday, March 12 is daylight savings time!!  Please plan accordingly