Staff Resources

Staff Guidelines During Referendum Campaign

Minnesota political campaign laws are very clear that NO SCHOOL DISTRICT FUNDS can be used to promote a "yes" or "no" vote for a bond, or for an individual candidate or position. The school district may use funds to provide factual information so that voters can make an informed choice.

The district’s role is to INFORM citizens - not to advocate for a particular vote.

Please use the guide regarding what you as a staff member may or may not do in regard to an election. If you have additional questions, call the Communications Office at 651-351-8320.

Note: All referendum informational materials prepared or distributed with the use of school district funds must be approved by the Communications Office. The goal of a district’s informational campaign is to keep residents informed and provide accurate information in a neutral manner.

^{1 The EAP service is provided through an arrangement with Morneau Shepell, which is not affiliated with The Standard. Morneau Shepell is solely responsible for providing and administering the included service. EAP is not an insurance product and is provided to groups of 10-2,499 lives. This service is only available while insured under The Standard's group policy.} 

^{2 Individual EAP counseling sessions area available to eligible participants 16 years and older; family sessions are available for eligible members 12 years and older, and their parent or guardian. Children under the age of 12 will not receive individual counseling sessions.} 

The Standard is a marketing name for StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. and subsidiaries. Insurance products are offered by Standard Insurance Company of Portland, Oregon in all states except New York. Product features and availability vary by state and are solely the responsibility of Standard Insurance Company. 

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All staff and dependents 18 year and older who are enrolled in our Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance program may be eligible to participate in Omada Health at no cost. Omada Health is a digital lifestyle change program personalized to help you reach your health goals -whether that's losing weight, gaining energy, or improving your overall physical health. As part of the program, you will receive a wireless smart scale, a professional virtual health coach, personalized support, and so much more. To find out if you're eligible, fill out a short questionnaire.

2023-2024 Holiday Schedule

2021-2023 Custodian Contract

2022-2024 Paraprofessional Contract

2021-2023 District Directors Terms and Conditions

2021-2023 Tech Support CSS Terms and Conditions

2021-2023 Cafeteria Contract 

2021-2023 Principals Contract

2022-2024 Community Ed Leads and Assts Terms and Conditions

2021-2023 SCEA Master Contract

 

 

 

Members of the SCEA, district administration, and Board of Ed worked collaboratively for more than two year to develop the Stillwater Teacher Development and Evaluation Plan (TDEP) for the purpose of fostering professional growth and development, driven by the following Purpose Statement:

The primary purpose of teacher evaluation in ISD 834 is to foster professional growth and development, operating within a framework of collaboration and trust. The main outcome of such evaluation is improved student learning through strengthened educator practices.

Technology Levy Update - January 2023

In November 2021, the District’s Technology Levy was approved by voters. The Levy promised to provide 1:1 chromebooks to students, fund teacher laptop replacements, upgrade classroom audio/video technology, increase support staffing, and improve computer network security. The Levy was approved for 10 years and funding became available on July 1st, 2022.

Student Chromebook Rollout

The District has rolled out 5,000 Lenovo Chromebooks (2022 Purchase) to 6-12th grade students. We are currently rolling out 2,500 Acer Chromebooks (2020/2021 Purchase) in 2nd-5th Grade classrooms. This process is moving a little slower than expected, and should be completed soon. Elementary classroom will have enough chromebooks for 1:1 assignments. Students in elementary school do not need to take their devices home unless it supports a class project and parents are informed.

We are now using the Hapara content filter on student chromebooks. The filter is integrated with our class schedules and students can request website overrides from their teachers. Teachers can override the filter for their students for up to 5 days. Permanent override requests can be made via a help ticket (http://help.stillwaterschools.org). Due to filtering requirements, students cannot log into their chromebooks with personal accounts; this is because personal accounts bypass district content filtering. We are looking at more flexible solutions for students.

Some students have not checked out a chromebook. Student use of a district chromebook as a requirement is largely dependent on teacher expectations. If classroom teachers use apps like the Schoology Lockdown Browser, then students will be required to check out a device in order to take classroom assessments. Secondary teachers can send individual students to the media center to check out their device.

Teacher Laptop Rollout

The District has rolled out 160 of 185 teacher laptops this school year (2022/2023). Under the District’s Technology Plan, we are scheduled to roll out 125 laptops per year, which allows for the replacement of all teacher devices once every five years. Due to historical funding volatility, our current laptop inventory for 2015 acquisitions cannot be replaced efficiently under that schedule; and so we have increased the 2022-2023 allocation to help address these seven year old devices. We will be replacing another 150 next year (2023/2024), and moving to the 125/year schedule in 2024/2025.

Classroom Audio/Video Upgrades

This year to date, the District has deployed 93 interactive TVs to classrooms, replacing projectors that are 10+ years old. We have also hit a difficult challenge with “new” Epson projectors that have failed but are less than 5 years old. Moving forward, we will need to prioritize both 7+ year old projectors and newer Epson short-throw projectors that have failed (SAHS new construction). Our goal is to be projector free in 5 years; we will achieve this by accelerating display technology implementations while holding off on audio system upgrades.

The annual budget under the Technology Levy for screen technology is $200,000/year. As stated above, we will be spending more than this during the first 3 years to get caught up on classroom screen replacements.

Support Staff

Under the Levy, we have solidified our Family Help Desk support, and increased tech support at   each middle school and high school. We’ve added a Technology Integration Coordinator, and we’re looking at future improvements to elementary support. This staffing provides us with the needed support to ensure that our technology is accessible, and help is available when needed. We are also working to improve our professional development and training practices around the use of technology in the classroom.

Security Software

While most security upgrades are invisible to users, we want to share the work that is being done to keep our data and our students safe. We have added EndPoint Protection (EDP/EDR) across the district to improve security of devices and data. This is similar to anti-virus software, but more robust. We have also added additional security software to our chromebooks as required under CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act) legislation. In September, we completed a data backup project which was required for our cyber insurance compliance. Lastly, we added a website for parents that explains what software services we use, what data those software services can access, and privacy policies for each service provider. All of these additions to security are required by State or Federal law, or cyber insurance, and are funded by our Levy.

This year, ISD#834 is having all staff take the following three technology training courses: Cybersecurity, Phishing Awareness, and FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). These trainings are being offered through the District’s Professional Learning platform. Staff with access to PowerSchool can access their assigned trainings through the Waffle icon (top-right).

Staff without access to PowerSchool can go straight to the training site using the following link: https://stillwater.pl.powerschool.com/

You may need to log into your District Google Account to access the training site.

If you need help accessing your training website, you can view the following Loom videos: