The Bear Necessities
3/28/19
April 2nd, Election Day Info
Next Tuesday, April 2, 2019 will be an election day. I wanted to provide some guidelines for appropriate leave usage for employees who wish to vote.
Board Policy GDBDA:
Leave to Vote - Employees who do not have three successive hours free from work while the polls are open will be granted a leave period of up to three hours to permit the employees three successive hours while the polls are open for the purpose of voting. Requests for such leave must be made prior to election day, and the employee's supervisors will designate when during the workday the leave should be taken. Any employee who properly requests leave to vote and uses the leave for that purpose will not be subject to discipline, termination or loss of wages or salary.
The polls are open from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm. If staff have at least three consecutive hours away from work (either from 6:00 am to 9:00 am or from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm) where work schedules do not overlap, they would not need to use any time. Supervisors should be notified by staff prior to election day so that they may designate when the leave should be taken.
Once supervisors have granted the leave, employees may submit a modification request through the payroll dashboard at payroll.lsr7.org indicating 'leave to vote' with the times they are away and the payroll team will make the adjustment to the timesheets.
For example:
- If an employee is regularly scheduled to work 7:00 am to 3:30 pm, they would have from 3:30 pm to 7:00 pm (3.50 hours to vote in afternoon). Therefore they would not need to request vote time.
- If an employee is regularly scheduled to work 2:30 pm to 11:00 pm, they would have from 6:00 am - 2:30 pm (8.50 hours to vote all day). Therefore they would not need to request vote time.
- If an employee is regularly scheduled to work 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, they would have from 6:00 am - 9:00 am (3.00 hours to vote in the morning). Therefore they would not need to request vote time.
Spring Screenings
If the family has a Parent Educator, that educator may very well screen that child in the home during the year.
Sleep....do you need to take a look at your habits?
Did you know, sleep is important for various aspects of brain function. This includes cognition, concentration, productivity and performance (7). All of these are negatively affected by sleep deprivation.
A study on medical interns provides a good example. Interns on a traditional schedule with extended work hours of more than 24 hours made 36% more serious medical errors than interns on a schedule that allowed more sleep (8).
Another study found that short sleep can negatively impact some aspects of brain function to a similar degree as alcohol intoxication (9). On the other hand, good sleep has been shown to improve problem-solving skills and enhance memory performance of both children and adults (10, 11, 12).
Finally, studies are now showing a developing link between sleep deprivation and dementia. While dementia is known as a disease that effects the elderly, doctors are now seeing it in patients as early as 50 years of age. Researchers also go on to say, the lack of good quality sleep increases the risk of developing dementia by 50-60%.
From Jennifer Flax
Week of the Young Child Board of Education Presentation
Please let me know if you are willing and able!! I need to send name(s) to Linda Ismert soon!!
Bus Evacuation Information
TRE April 17th
GBEEC April 30th
Information from Transportation:
Please spread the word to your staff:
What it will look like for them:
- Buses will unload as usual 1 or 2 at a time
- Backpacks can be removed before the buses unload as usual
- Wheelchairs will unload as if it were a regular day. Then Trans staff can perform their evacuation.
- Students that utilize the strollers will be carried off the bus (supervised) and assisted if necessary by Trans supervisor. Please have your staff get the strollers ready for your building.
- Walking ropes will be utilized to walk the students into the building
The goal of the practice evacuation is to help our staff understand what it would feel like if they had to unbuckle a bus load of students without help.
Students will NOT be rushed down the steps.
If any of your staff has a concern about a specific student, please contact me and we will create a plan for that student for that day.
Our Week:
This week:
Thursday - here...both of us...yeah
Friday - Kerry in Jeff City with DESE/ECSE, Jeanie AM PDO, PM here
Next Week:
Monday - Jeanie here, Kerry PDOTuesday - Kerry and Jeanie to SLC at 2:30
Wednesday - AM Jeanie and Kerry to SLC for mtg., Jeanie PM PDO, Kerry PM here
Thursday - AM Mtg Jeanie at SLC, Kerry at ECSE in Independence, PM here
Friday - Jeanie here, Kerry in Springfield to present