Updates on moving to district-based registration for new families

What’s the progress on moving to district-based registration for new families? Here’s a recap of what’s been done and what we are working on…

What’s been done….

1)       Awhile back, we sent out a survey asking for feedback related to the move towards a district-based registration process.  This was sent to administrators, secretaries, nurses, ESL, and counselors.

2)      The general results of the survey are….

1. Schools want more black and white and less grey.  The process needs to be clear and well laid out.
2. The “or” was the biggest problem… allowing families to register at the school “or” the district caused problems and confusion.

3)      A few weeks ago at several admin meetings, we discussed the overall results listed above.  The district then made a proposal to move towards requiring all families to work through the district registrar, with the understanding that we need a clear process that outlines exactly what is required for enrollment.

4)      We’ve created a draft of the 10 items that we believe should be required before a student enrolls in the district.  It includes…

a) New family registration form, including home language information

b) Address verification

c) Proof of age

d) Health forms and immunizations

e) Dental screening for students entering 9th grade

f) If entering K: blood lead test, dental screening, vision screening, physical form

g) Records from previous school: transcripts/grades, attendance, behavior, IEP or 504

h) Do not release form

i) Transportation form

j) Book fees or free/reduced lunch application

5)      Our current status is that we are taking any and all families that come to or call the district registrar.

What we are working on….

6)      Our next step is to work with individual groups to iron out details… for example,  working with ESL to confirm that we have all questions that they need, as well as how and when will they be notified of non-english speaking families.  For Nurses, we’ll be working on whether the health records will or will not be included, as well as how we can work together to verify immunization information.  We would like to have the details with the various groups worked out within the next few weeks.

7)      We are also working on documentation for the new requirements, including examples of what forms of address verification and age verification that we accept – as our goal is to update the registration page on the district website to ensure that all requirements and process are posted online.

8)      Our goal is that by the end of Oct, we will have completed all the tasks listed above – and the next step will be change rights/permission within Infinite Campus, as that only person who will be able to add new families and students will be the District Registrar.  Buildings will still be able to change phone numbers, email addresses, etc.

9)      We’ll will explore holding some registration dates, possibly for Kindergarten, during the winter to help collect as many registrations as possible.  We’d also like to explore holding some of these registrations at some of our schools, most likely Hillside/Phenix, or Clive/Crestview.  In addition, we will explore the idea of holding general registration dates for new families earlier in the summer (June and July), to help collect as early as possible.

10)   Our last step – we will begin working with Infinite Campus on the details of also making the registration process available on-line. We’d like to begin this work in late Oct, as it’s a 4 month process before programming is able to provide the final product.

Q&A’s….

Q1.  As I understand it there are 10 requirements that the district registrar must have before a student can be enrolled, does that mean it will take longer for us to get students into the classroom?  We used to allow students to take a seat on the day they showed up.
A1.  Yes, this is correct… students will not be allowed to start school without submitting the proper paperwork.  If there are cases where a student’s prior school records are not available, and that’s the only item remaining, then the district registrar will notify the building principal, and the principal can make the decision as to whether the student is allowed in without prior school records.

 

Q2. Does this mean that the District Registrar will be calling to the prior schools, handling records requests?
A2.  Yes, this is correct.

Q3. Will the buildings get copies of the paperwork or is the information just entered into Campus?
A3. As soon as all the requirements have been met, the District Registrar will place all of the registration forms, age verifications, etc, into a new cum folder – and will ship the cum folder to your school.

Q4. How soon will ESL be notified in the process?
A4. We’re open to talking with ESL about this topic –  as we can certainly notify the ESL teacher at the school as soon as the students school placement has been deteremined.

 

Q5. How soon will  Special Education be notified during the registration process?
A5.  As soon as we are aware that the child has an IEP.  Many times this doesn’t happen until the records are sent in from the prior school.

Q6.  This sounds good – but seriously, can one person actually do all this work?
A6.  Our discussions with other districts (of comparable size) , indicate that it can be done by one person during *most* of the school year, and that additional support will need to be hired during the heavy enrollment periods (mostly June, July, Aug, start of Sept).

 

Q7.  Does this mean that schools won’t have on site registrations next year?
A7. Schools will still have on site registrations – as many schools require that families visit the school to obtain the course schedule and take the student photo ID.  It may also be that nurses can choose to have the health history forms collected on site at the school instead of through the registrar.

 

Q8. Will the District Registrar be processing the fees?
A8. No.  We will collect the fees and send them to the building for processing.

Q9. What about Kindergarten registrations?
A9.  All Kindergarten paperwork and registrations will go through the District Registrar.

Q10. What about preschool registrations?
A10.  This area is unique.. and for now, we are going to allow school based registration for preschool. However, once you have the information for a preschool student/family, the school will have to send copies of the information, as the District Registrar will be responsible for entering the student/family into Campus.

Q11. Currently, new families have to make their way up to the 2^nd floor of the LRC to find the District Registrar – will it always be that way?  Wouldn’t it make more sense if this position was on the first floor near the entrance?
A11.  For the rest of this school year, the District Registrar will remain in her current position.  There are tentative plans we are working on to move the registrar to a new office space on the first floor, starting next year.

New on-line staff directory coming soon!

 

In the next few weeks, the district will be launching a re-designed district web site.  This will include a new staff directory, allowing easier access to search for staff not only by name, but also by school, department, and other criteria.

Here’s a quick glimpse of what the directory will look like….

Q1.  Did you talk with Teachers Association about the use of the photos?
A1.  Yes, we reviewed the design of each field and item in the directory with the Teachers Association.

Q2.  Will the most current photo be used?
A2.  Ideally, yes, we would like to use the most current staff photo.  However, if a staff member has a preference for a different photo, we will certainly change the photo.  We will also make arrangements for a retake if a different photo if desired.

Q3.  When the new staff directory launches, will it contain our newest 2012 staff photos?
A3.   Unfortunately, our district’s photography company has not yet provided this falls staff photos – so we will be starting with last year’s photos and will update them as soon as the new photos are available.

Q4.  Will more information be available in the future? For example, could I have web links to my various classroom websites?
A4.  Yes, we are planning some additional fields for the directory, but do not expect them to be ready for a 2 or 3 more months.  They will include the ability to add web links that relate to the courses and/or resources that each staff member uses.  There will also be an area for listing extra-curricular or activities the staff member is involved with.

Q5.  My legal name is listed in the directory, can I request that it be changed to the name that I commonly use?  (example, my legal name is Stephen, but I would prefer Steve in the directory)
A5.  Yes, please send us any changes to regarding your name, teacher title, or other field that needs to be adjusted to Brian Abeling, and I’ll take care of them.

Q6.   Has the directory been proof read by anyone?  In other words, when the new online directory is out, will it have a bunch of errors in it?
A6.  We’ve used several sources, including the district phone directory, email, and phone system, which have been reviewed by multiple individuals.  Our intent is to make the directory as accurate as possible , however, we must recognize that errors do occur when typing that many entries.  Please contact us right away if there are errors that need to be corrected.