Licensed Employees

• Mission and Vision
• Cultural Compass
• Strategic Plan

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Our Mission and Vision

At District 49 we have a mission to learn, work, and lead. Our vision is to be the best choice in public education. We envision a future where every time a student, parent, or educator chooses a school district, we are the best choice they can make. Our commitment is to be the best place to learn, work, and lead. Every day, we create environments so that everyone associated with the district is always learning, working, and leading us to be the best!

Our Cultural Compass

A compass is used as a navigational aid. For District 49, it helps to find our heading; it guides us in the right direction. Our specific compass provided the intended bearing to students, parents, and staff. We use the compass to orient ourselves as an organization and as individuals in our execution of the 'Six Big Rocks' of our strategic plan:

The inner ring includes:

• Respect
• Trust
• Care
• Responsibility

The outer ring includes:

• Learning
• Purpose
• Innovation
• Teamwork

The inner ring defines how we treat each other.

The outer ring defines how we approach our work.
 

Our Strategic Plan

We use these rocks as the foundation for building an excellent future with our staff, students, and the greater community. Please watch the Big Rocks Video by Superintendent Peter Hilts,  for a more in-depth explanation.

1. Launch Successful Students 
2. Build Firm Foundations 
3. Offer Exceptional Choices 
4. Engage Our Community 
5. Sustain Enduring Trust 
6. Value All People

• Payroll Forms
• First Day: Frequently Asked Questions
• Badge Access
• Pay Overview
• Salary Advancement
• License Requirement

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Payroll Forms

Within a day or two after onboarding, you will receive your second set of forms which will include important documents such as W4 and direct deposit. Please complete the forms as soon as you receive them - this is what Payroll needs to be able to pay you! If you have checked your inbox, trash, and spam folder and have not received them, please email the HR official who contacted you about your offer.

First Day: Frequently Asked Questions

You may ask yourself some of the following:

• Where do I report?
• What is my schedule?
• What is the dress code?
• Where do I need to park?

Please contact the location you are going to work for. HR will not have this information.

Badge Access

During onboarding, you will be issued an ID/access badge. Your badge will have your employee ID and allow access to your work location. If you resign, please return your badge to HR at Central Office. If you lose your badge, contact HR to retrieve a new one. Do not let others borrow your badge - you are held accountable for all activity on your badge! 

Pay Overview

All D49 employees are paid once a month on the 15th.  If the 15th falls on a weekend or a holiday, you are paid the Friday before.  Your paycheck reflects the prior month’s work. All licensed employees are annualized.

Annualization is calculated by multiplying your daily rate by the number of days you work in the school year (typically 182). This gives HR your yearly salary. HR divides the yearly salary by the number of pays left in the school year, this varies based on when you’re hired. This gives us your monthly rate or base pay. You will receive a consistent paycheck every month regardless of the number of days you work in a month. Teachers and SSPs get paid through the summer, with August 15th being the final paycheck for your employment contract.  The district offers beginning-year Teachers and SSPs two pay cycle options (12 or 13 months).

• 12 month pay cycle September 15 - August 15
• 13 month pay cycle August 15 - August 15

NOTE:  Administrators get paid August through July.

Example: Joe was hired as a first-year teacher, placed at a BA/1 his total salary for 182 days is $48,000. Joe will receive 12 paychecks, from Sept. 15 through Aug. 15. His annualized pay is $48,000/12months = $4,000.00 Basepay.

If you have any questions on annualization, please contact HR for further clarification.

For licensed staff, you will be issued your contract at time of hire. If your contract is renewed for the following year, a new one will be issued typically in the last week of school. If you are non-renewed for the following school year, you should receive a notification by Spring Break.

Salary Advancement 

• This is how licensed staff apply for a raise
  • INR and temporary contracts are ineligible for salary advancements 
• You can increase your education step on the salary schedule
  • Example: Moving from BA to MA
• There are two opportunities for salary advancement a year - Beginning and midyear 
  • Beginning Year deadline is last working day in August
  • Mid-year Deadline is last working day in February
• The application, instructions, a how-to-guide, rules and regulations of the salary advancement process can be found on the Licensed Staff Information Group on Schoology
   

License Requirement

ALL teachers, special service providers, and administrators are required to keep a valid CDE license on file. YOU are in charge of sending a copy to HR and your principal/supervisor for your personnel file.

CDE does not share your license credentials with HR directly; it is your responsibility to send HR any updates or changes to your license so we can keep your records valid. 

Examples: Moving from Initial to Professional licensures, adding endorsements, receiving the READ  designation, and license renewals.

• Email
• Skyward Employee Access
• Absence Management
• Sentinel and SchoolDude
• Aha! Network Academy
• Commonly Used Portals

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Email & Computer Distribution - Licensed Staff Only

You will receive your computer from Sentinel and an IT representative will assist you with initial login 

• Beginning year hires: Laptop distribution will be organized through HR onboarding. These are usually completed in group sessions throughout the summer. 
• Mid-year hires: A Sentinel representative will either schedule a time to meet with you individually for laptop distribution or be present at your onboarding meeting. We will provide them with your personal phone number.

If you have any issues logging into the D49 network or email, please submit a Sentinel IT Ticket.

Skyward Employee Access

Skyward is the payroll system where you can access your paystubs, W-2, contract, and view your employee profile. During onboarding HR will assist you with initial login into Skyward. (Click: Sign In With Google Authentication.)

Absence Management

If your role does not require a substitute (principal, counselor), you will enter your time off requests in Skyward.

If your role requires a substitute in your absence, you will enter all time off requests in Frontline/Absence Management.

How do you know if your position requires a substitute? You will receive an email from Substitute Specialist Kaitlynne McNutt to create a Frontline Absence Management account.

You can report an absence two ways:

• Internet Option Through Frontline Absence Management 
• Phone option 800-942-3767

Sentinel and Maintenance Requests 

Sentinel is used for IT requests - be sure to write down your confirmation number in case you need to follow up on your ticket. You can also put in a request by phone at 844-297-4815 or 719-495-1137.

Contact your supervisor or building administration to submit a Maintenance Request for work orders related to facilities maintenance, such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical, custodial, alarm systems or grounds work.  

aha! Network

The aha! Network helps track your professional development, external credit requests, in-district trainings, your salary advancement credit bank, and contact hours. If you need assistance creating your account, please email Professional Learning Specialist Annette Romero at annette.romero@d49.org.

aha! Network - Licensed Staff Only

• Submit External Credit Requests
• Track professional development hours
• View salary advancement credits

Please use this portal to assist you with salary advancement applications and license renewals 

Commonly Used Portals

All commonly used portals can be found on the Team website and include some of the following:

• PowerSchool
• UKG Time Clock
• Skyward
• Frontline
• Schoology
  • For licensed staff, you will need to add yourself to the Licensed Staff Information group in Schoology use verification code V4HJG-2V98W

• Opportunities
• PERA
• Leaves
• Snow days/delays
• Health Benefits

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Opportunities

Full and part-time employees have the opportunity to open an account with Air Academy Credit Union. 

Employees can start financially investing at any time as well. Please contact your financial advisor or choose from any of the provided options below:

> AIG Valic > American Fidelity > Equitable > Metropolitan Life > PERA 401K or 457

PERA

District 49 retirement program which is required for ALL district employees. We do not pay into Social Security. For PERA, there are two contributions made:

• 11% from the employee every pay period
• 21.4% from District 49

Leaves

Licensed Staff Leaves:

INR Contracts - Balance is prorated based on start date.

	At Hire	At Start of Year 5	At Start of Year 10	At Start of Year 15
Sick	10	9	8	7
Personal	2	4	6	8
Total Sick & Personal	12	13	14	15

NOTE:

• Personal Leave can ONLY be taken in half or full-day increments, 

• Sick Leave can be taken in .25 increments

Administrative Staff Leaves:

• School Year (200 or less days): 10 Sick, 2 personal days
• Extended School year (201-220 days): 11 Sick, 2 personal days
• Full-year (260+ days): 12 sick, 2 personal days, 20 vacation days

Placement

Employees hired on with less then 120 contracted days will remain on the same salary placement the following year. Your placement can be found at the bottom of your contract. 

Snow days/delays

Full time and part time employees are paid for snow days and two-hour delays

Snow days - Do not report to work unless you are considered an essential employee (for example, Grounds/Maintenance). Please ask your supervisor if you fall under this category.

Two hour delays - Report two hours after scheduled start time (ex. normal start time is 7:30, go in at 9:30) unless your start time is later in the morning (mid-morning/afternoon shift worker). 

How do you know when D49 has a snow day or delay?

• Email and text from D49 Communications 
• The District website and TV news stations

Health Benefits

Please check our district website for an explanation of the benefit options available.

Benefits are effective the first day of the month after the first annualized paycheck. 

How do I sign up for benefits?

You will receive an email (your D49 email)  from Celina Thrutchley with directions on how to access American Fidelity 

Please wait until you receive the email from Celina to login to the American Fidelity website.

How do I log into American Fidelity?

1. To access the online enrollment site, go to American Fidelity Login 
2. At the login screen, you will enter the site using the following information:
   1. Type in your Social Security Number
   2. Your Pin will be your last four of your social and the last two digits of your birth year

For any questions regarding benefits, please contact Stephanie Apodaca - the American Fidelity Representative at 800-365-9247 or 303-790-8886. You can also speak with Shannon Hathaway - D49’s Benefits Manager at 719-495-1158.

• Board Policies    
• Conduct and Responsibilities
• Employee Handbook

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Board Policies

All inclusive list of Board Policies 

“G” Policies govern Personnel matters and regulations accompany many of our policies.

5 Key Policies that will be covered in your welcome packet are the following:

Policy AC: Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity

• District 49 is dedicated to the principles of equal employment opportunity and strives to maintain a work environment free of unlawful discrimination and harassment.
• Harassment and discrimination based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or disability are prohibited by state and federal law.
• All staff share the responsibility to ensure that harassment does not occur. But if it does, please report it. See the Non Discrimination webpage for more information.

Policy GBAA: Sexual Harassment

• Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and/or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
• This applies whether the harassment is between people of the same or different gender.
• Kinds of sexual harassment include Quid Pro Quo (the use of one’s authority or power to coerce another into unwanted sexual relations or to punish another for his/her refusal) and Hostile Work Environment (creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working or educational environment through repetitive verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature).
• What do you do when this happens?
  • First, tell the harasser to stop!
  • Second, document the behavior (who, what, where, when, and how)
  • Third, report it. See the Non Discrimination webpage for more information.
• Report to someone in a position of authority:
  • Your supervisor or any administrator
  • Contact Human Resources directly

Policy GBEA: Staff Ethics and Conflicts of Interest

• Please practice confidentiality when handling sensitive information
• If you ever feel you are in a situation of conflict of interest, please ask for guidance from your supervisor
• Employees shall not accept gifts from students except as such gifts represent tokens. Token gifts from parents or students may be received by staff, but must not be solicited. Token gifts shouldn’t exceed $50

• We need to be careful when hiring friends and family. A friend or family member cannot work in a supervisory role over you and vice versa

Policy GBEB: Staff Conduct and Responsibilities

• Examples of boundary violations include the following:
  • Inappropriate physical contact
  • Showing inappropriate material to a student
  • Seeking personal attention and friendship
  • Banter, allusions, jokes or innuendos of a sexual nature with students
  • Maintaining private contact with students outside of school without including the parent or guardian
  • Giving a student a ride alone in a vehicle in a non-emergency situation
• What can YOU do?
  • Avoid being alone with students
  • Avoid private contact with students
  • Keep your communications with students public
  • Keep the parents or guardians informed at all times
• Social media - what’s the big deal?
  • Social media platforms create the opportunity for private communication
  • Private communication without parental knowledge is prohibited
  • Your actions can create legal risk for the district and yourself

Policy GBEE: Staff use of the Internet and Electronic Communications

• Technology is district property and is intended for business use, not personal
• Do not allow others to use your computer; you will be held responsible for ALL activity
• Protect passwords and account information; do not share with anyone
• There is no expectation of privacy
  • Computer usage can be tracked
  • Email and other electronic communication is public information
  • Personal content can become district content
• Social media use: Your device on your time
  • You have the freedom to participate on social media, but just exercise discretion on how you talk about work and your co-workers

Conduct and Responsibilities

• Respectful workplace
  • Value differences
  • Free of unlawful harassment and discrimination
  • Have healthy Conflict
  • Ask for support when parties can’t resolve conflict on their own
  • Ensures correction when it is warranted
• Respectful Communication
  • Resolve conflicts in person and at the lowest level
  • Focus on the issues, not the person
  • Keep the conversations G-rated
  • Work to establish trust and respect with your supervisors

 

Employee Handbook

For an all-inclusive list of conduct, responsibilities, and key policies, please see the Employee Handbook webpage.

Quiz Time

You have now completed your onboarding welcome packet! Reviewing the information and passing the quiz with a score of 100% is a condition of your employment. To show you understand and acknowledge the virtual onboarding welcome packet, you will need to complete the quiz before attending your onboarding appointment with Human Resources.

License Staff please take the New Hire Quiz

Please see the HR Staff page for contacts, phone numbers, emails and primary functions.