We have made great deal of progress the past two weeks in finalizing lease agreements for new District facilities. Jordan School District has signed an agreement to lease property at 7800 South Redwood Road. Many District services currently housed at the Auxiliary Services Building and some District services will be housed there. The Board will soon finalize a lease agreement for additional space to ensure that all current District-level services can be in place by July 1, 2009. Our lease agreements are for three years with options to renew the lease or, if desired, purchase the property. We have kept every option open for the District so we can maximize our financial resources and be able to continue to provide exceptional services to students and patrons. Once the lease agreements are finalized, we will enter into a third-party contract to have the space modified to fit our needs. I encourage you to keep an eye on the property on Redwood Road to see the transformation to a very functional, appropriate District facility we will all be proud of.
Monthly Archive for November, 2008
The Jordan School District Board of Education (west) is moving forward with steps to be independent of the Canyons District regarding shared services. After nearly a month of proposals and counter-proposals, the remaining Jordan District Board has determined it is in the best interest of its students and employees to move on without sharing services. The history of these proposals can be found on the Board’s Web site.
What does this mean? It means that both the Jordan District and the Canyons District will need to provide independent services and departments for payroll, insurance, accounting, information systems, printing, testing and accountability, intra-district mail, library-media, purchasing, nutrition services, building maintenance and repair, building security, energy management, transportation, warehousing, home and hospital services, and community education. Inasmuch as these need to be fully operational before July 1, 2009, both districts need to identify building space and get services up and running.
For the west, the first order of business is to lease office space within its district. Then, some remodeling will need to take place, furnishings and equipment must be ordered, and technology infrastructure needs to be established. This will take about seven months. By acting now, the Jordan School District Board feels it can be ready to provide services to students and staff without interruption by July 1, 2009.
The process for dividing District assets is different from the process that may determine shared services for staff and students. Dividing District assets is the role of the three-member arbitration panel. They will render a decision in January 2009. Sharing services to students and staff are decisions that will be made between the two boards of education in the new and remaining districts.
Dividing District assets mainly involves ownership of vacant land, school buildings and other facilities, buses, vehicles, building contents, and cash balances in various accounts. The question of dividing those assets in a fair manner has been the work of the transition teams and is now the work of the arbitration panel.
Shared services can be divided into two general categories, (1) business services, and (2) programs for students and staff. Business services include payroll, insurance, accounting, purchasing, auxiliary services, transportation services, etc. Programs for students and staff include special education, access to applied technology programs, staff development, guidance services, ESL services, student registration, home and hospital services, crisis teams, homeless services, etc. There are lots of these kinds of services.