Going paperless with pay stubs

West Des Moines Schools has now transitioned to paperless pay stubs for certfied staff.  Printed pay stubs are no longer available for certified staff – however, we now have access to an online component of our financial software known as Employee Online, which provides access to…

1) District-wide Employee Directory (including viewing your current information that is on file with the district)

2) View Direct Deposit information that is on file with the district

3) View current deferred compensation information that is on file.

4) Access current and any previous pay stubs

5) Access current tax information, including number of tax exemptions

6) What if calculator:  This on-line calculator allows you to play the what if game…  what if I changed by number of exemtptions? Type in the change, and it will show you what your new pay stub will look like.

7) W2 forms will be available online

8 ) Access to all current tuition reimbursements, professional development courses that have been completed, and training/certifications that are on file with the district.

9) Listing of current insurance and benefits assign to your employment.

MediaCom TV going digital: How does this affect our schools?

MediaCom has announced that local TV service in Des Moines will be making another step towards going fully digital in Feb 2012.

How does this affect our schools?  Will we lose TV services? What is our plan?

Q1.  Exactly what is happening?
A1. In Feb 2012, MediaCom will convert current channels from 23 to 78 to digital only.

Q2. Most of our TV sets in the schools are analog –  will we lose these stations? do we need to buy new HD TVs?
A2.  No, we do not need to buy HD TVs at this time.  MediaCom has contacted each of our schools and has collected information on how many analog TVs exist.  MediaCom will be sending an appropriate number of small converter boxes for each school.  The convertor box will enable your existing classroom TV to continue to receive channels 23 thru 78.

Q3. Will MediaCom bring the converters to the school – and will they be installing them on the TVs?
A3. Yes, they will ship them to each school – however, they will not be installing the devices on each TV, that will need to be handled at each school.

Q4. Is there more information available from MediaCom?
A4. Yes, the following are details provided by MediaCom.

Q5.  What is the long term solution for this?  Will we eventually have to replace all the TVs?
A5. At this time, we are not looking to replace the TVs. Instead, we are investigating options such as Safari Montage which will distribute TV stations across the computer network, which will make television available through all computers – and therefore available through your classroom projector.  Using a solution such as Safari Montage will certainly make it easier to display TV on your classroom projector – however, it will have a limited amount of channels, as it would be too costly to redistribute all channels.  However, the plan would be distribute the most common news and educational stations – and to receive other stations, the digital converter boxes would still be available.

Q6. Exactly how many of these convertor boxes will be sent to each school?
A6. Here’s the exact numbers that were sent to MediaCom. If you feel this number is not enough for your school, please contact Brian Abeling, who will contact MediaCom to make an adjustment.

Clive Elementary, 35

Crestview, 34

Crossroads Park, 42

Fairmeadows, 30

Hillside, 32

Jordan Creek, 45

Phenix, 19

Western Hills, 32

Westridge, 41

Indian Hills, 52

Stilwell, 46

Valley Southwoods, 63

Valley High School, 140

Walnut Creek Campus, 17