Month: May 2020

COVID-19 Pandemic Return to Work Safety Plan 2.0

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close-up-of-face-masks-4197562Earlier today all employees were emailed a copy of the COVID-19 Pandemic Return to Work Safety Plan 2.0, which has been updated since the first version sent to employees last week.

The most significant change is that hand gloves are not required to be worn in our schools or support buildings. Health officials have indicated that it is safer to practice effective hand-washing.

While Thurston County is now in Phase 2, we want staff to know we still continue to encourage employees to work from home. If you feel it is necessary to work onsite, we ask that you first contact your supervisor. Then, when you come to a school or support building, please follow the updated “COVID-19 Pandemic Return to Work Safety Plan 2.0.”

Payroll Department announces end-of-year due dates

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Please be aware of the following end-of-year due dates shared by the Payroll Department:

6/5/2020 – OPA & OEAPA time off requests need to be entered into Skyward and approved by the supervisor for cashouts that happen in June for these groups per their CBA’s.

6/26/2020 – OEA time off requests need to be entered into Skyward and approved by the supervisor for cashouts that happen in July per their CBA.

6/30/2020 – All 2019/20 school year timesheets are due to the payroll office.

7/31/2020 – OEA staff development for the 19/20 school year needs to be entered into Skyward and approved by the supervisors per the CBA.

Paraeducators: Fundamental Course of Study training moved to June

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Line up of computers in use on a work tableHello OSD Paraeducators,

The Fundamental Course of Study (FCS) training through the ESD, scheduled for July, has been moved to June.  If you had previously registered for the July session, your registration will automatically move to the new dates and times listed below:

June 8, 2020 – 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
June 9, 2020 – 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
June 10, 2020 – 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
June 11, 2020 – 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
June 12, 2020 – 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
June 16, 2020 – 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
June 17, 2020 – 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

All sessions will be held via Zoom.  Once registered you will receive additional login information.

Please note:  This training is for OSD Paraeducators only.  You will NOT be able to search directly in pdEnroller to register.  You MUST register by using the following link: June FCS Training for OSD

New video captioning workshop scheduled June 3

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ClapperboardInterested in sharing video content with the community? The Communications and Community Relations Department is offering additional Zoom workshops on ensuring the accuracy of YouTube’s automatically-generated captions.

Attendees will learn tips on increasing the accuracy of automatic captioning, how to edit the captions for grammar and spelling and how to correctly format captions for sounds or music.

The next workshop is Wednesday, June 3 from 1-2 p.m

If you plan to attend the training, please RSVP to communications@osd.wednet.edu. Have other accessibility questions or tips? Feel free to reach out to Robert Hardy, the district’s website accessibility specialist.

Fraudulent unemployment claims information

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It has come to our attention that fraudulent unemployment claims are being filed using the social security numbers and names of some school district employees.

The Employment Security Department (ESD) has sent us the following information to share with you. Please note the additional steps you can take to protect yourself. Also attached to this email is information from Equifax on reporting fraud.

If a fraudster uses your identity to apply for benefits:

1. The fastest and best way to report it is to go to the Fraud page on the ESD website and follow the directions.
2. Check the page over the next few days for updates and new directions as we (ESD) ramp up our anti-fraud efforts. For example, we (ESD) will have a new secure form for people to submit their information.
3. In addition to reporting it to ESD, if this has happened to you, then your information has been previously stolen and you are a victim of identity theft. Two recommendations from the Washington State Patrol are:

  • Go to the FTC identity theft website. This resource has the most current, detailed step by step process for reporting and protecting people from further victimization.
  • Request your free credit reports and review them for other fraudulent activities.

Here’s what we know

ESD and HRMS have not experienced any data breach; fraudsters have not stolen the information from us. Instead, they are using information that they had previously stolen from other sources and using that to apply for unemployment benefits.

This type of “imposter fraud” isn’t new, nor is this unique to Washington state. We work year ’round to prevent it. We often find it either during the application process, during our routine practice of contacting employers to inform them of a former employee’s application for unemployment benefits or when routinely reaching out to claimants for more information.

What’s new is the volume of fraud. It’s on the rise all across the country, in large part because of the high volume of claims due to the COVID-19 crisis and the incremental amount of money thanks to the CARES Act.

The ESD is doing a number of things to combat unemployment claims fraud, including:

  • Dramatically increasing the number of agents on the fraud hotline; 100 more of whom just started yesterday.
  • Hiring more fraud investigators.
  • Creating a more secure portal where victims can submit information to us.

More information that your members might want to know

  • If someone is a victim of fraud, they will not have to repay the money.
  • If someone is a victim of fraud and then needs to apply for benefits, they will still be able to do so.

Join us for the annual Ice Cream Social Thursday, May 28 on Zoom!

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2019 Teacher of the Year Dan Lundberg shown with his wife at the Ice Cream Social

OSD Ice Cream Social 2019

Mark your calendars for the Olympia School District’s annual Ice Cream Social from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, May 28.

This annual event honors district retirees, celebrates school advocates of the year and recognizes the Olympia Education Association Teacher of the Year.

All staff is welcome to attend this special recognition event in this year’s new online format.  A Zoom meeting link will be provided closer to the event. We hope you can join us!

District network outage set for 3 p.m. this Friday, May 15

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Abstract art of interconnected blue laser lights crossing

This Friday, May 15 the district network will be taken down at 3 p.m. for a core network appliance swap out and upgrade. This work will take down all in-district network reliant services such as (but not limited to):

  • Networked server shares
  • Internet (hardwired and wireless)
  • Phones (internal and external)
  • Faxing

The outage will not affect the ability to email staff from off campus.

The My OSD Portal will remain functional during this time, including the Participation Tracker. The district website may also continue to be accessed while the server work is being completed.

Staff will be informed when the upgrade is complete and the network is available again for in-district use.

Videos and photos requested for a documentary to honor Gordon Chamberlain’s life

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Gordon Chamberlain, longtime OSD educator, surrounded by streamers in his office at OHSOn behalf of the family, Marla Williams, sister-in-law of longtime OSD educator Gordon Chamberlain who passed away on May 2, will be producing a documentary tribute to Gordon. She requests that anyone who is interested share their photos and their memories to help as she makes a short film about Gordon.

Marla asks that people search through their phones and files and shoeboxes for photos, cell phone or home movies, and other recordings they may wish to share. She welcomes short cell phone videos or voice memos and has set up dedicated folders in Dropbox and Google Drive to upload photos, voice recordings, music, or videos of Gordon.

Marla also welcomes short videos of “you telling a story about Gordon, or sharing a memory about him.” These could be recorded on any type of smartphone or camera and should be roughly 90 seconds or less.

She says, “Please know it may not be possible to include everything in the film tribute but be assured that all photos and recordings will be shared with the family and carefully saved as part of his tribute.”

Some things to consider when sharing photos or recordings:

  • Send items to the Dropbox or Google Drive folder by mid-June.
  • Send the highest quality image or recording possible.
  • When uploading, send the “original” size (instead of “optimizing” for email). The Dropbox and Google Drive folder will take very large files.
  • For all still photos, the larger the size the better – ideally above 1000×1000 pixels and in JPEG, PNG or TIFF format.
  • For sound or visual recordings, please send as Quick Time, .mov or MP4 files (preferably 90 seconds or less).
  • Remember to copy your photos or recordings to one or the other of these folders: Dropbox or Google Drive

If you have any questions or need technical help, please email Marla Williams directly at marla@nwpassages.net

Gordon was well known in the community, both as an educator in OSD for nearly 20 years and as a keyboard player in the Mick Hart and the Classic Vinyl Band. He retired last June after working as a dean and teacher at Olympia High School. He also worked in various other leadership roles in the Olympia School District, including assistant principal/dean at Capital High School and Reeves Middle School.

Gordon’s family thanks everyone in advance for sharing their memories.

Wednesday is the deadline to nominate colleagues for Employee Recognition Awards

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Capital High School Special Education Team holding plaque engraved as The Dream. Team

Capital High School Special Education team, one of two winners of the 2018-19 “The DreamTeam” Employee Recognition Award. The District English Language Learner Program Team also won this award last year.

Don’t forget to nominate your colleagues for an Olympia School District Employee Recognition Award. We are asking that nominations be submitted by 4 p.m. this Wednesday, May 13 so that we can officially honor the winners at the Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Olympia School Board meeting. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. and will be held as an online Zoom meeting. This annual employee awards tradition has become a great way to honor the hard work of those around you!

Fill out and submit the online nomination form, which is sent to the Communications and Community Relations Department. If you have questions, please email the Communications and Community Relations Department at communications@osd.wednet.edu.

Nominations must be received by the Communications and Community Relations Department on or before 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13.

Thank you!

Fill out the online nomination form

Learn about Washington State Deferred Compensation Program on May 21 webinars

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Person typing on a laptop computer

The Department of Retirement Systems’ Education & Outreach team will provide two live webinars covering the Washington State Deferred Compensation Program (DCP):

DCP essentials – Thursday, May 21, at 9 a.m.

This webinar will feature the fundamentals of DCP.  Content includes:

  • Minimum and maximum deferral amounts
  • Income tax reductions
  • Overview of investment approaches
  • How to make account changes
  • Withdrawal eligibility
  • And more!

DCP distributions – Thursday, May 21, at 12 p.m.

This webinar will dive deeper into distributions from DCP and answer the following questions:

  • When can I take distributions from my DCP account?
  • What are my withdrawal options?
  • Can I leave my money in DCP?
  • Can I complete a rollover or use my balance to purchase an annuity?
  • And more!

Please select the link of the webinar you would like to attend.  It is recommended to join the webinar about 10-15 minutes prior to the start to test your connection and sound.  It is also recommended participants review how to join a DRS Webinar for tips on accessing the webinar, audio, and sending questions. Please note that the audio comes through your computer, so you will need speakers or a headset.

If you are unable to attend either webinar,  you are invited to watch the DCP online video at your convenience.