Get a free seasonal flu shot in MPS

All staff — full time, part time, contract and hourly — are eligible for seasonal flu shots this year at no cost. You need not have insurance through the district or UnitedHealthcare. All you need is a valid MPS ID badge.

Your family members or dependents are not eligible, unless they are covered through the district’s UnitedHealthcare medical plan. Family members or dependents covered by UnitedHealthcare through another employer are not eligible.

Individuals 14 and over, who are not eligible for the district-paid vaccine, may receive a shot for $20. Scottsdale Healthcare does not make change, so please bring the exact amount.

Click “Flu Immunization Clinics” for dates, times and locations. Be sure to bring your MPS ID badge.

Renew your certificate the quick, easy way!

To speed the certificate-renewal process, the Human Resources Department will take your fingerprints and verify your professional development hours in advance.

Fingerprinting and verification of hours
7-9 a.m. and 3-5 p.m. Nov. 12
Administrative Services Center, Conference Room 301, 63 E. Main St., Mesa

Employees who get a head start Nov. 12 may use the VIP lane at the recertification event Nov. 23. That’s when the Arizona Department of Education will assist with on-the-spot certificate renewal.

Recertification event with the Arizona Department of Education
11 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 23
Curriculum Services Center, Board Room, 549 N. Stapley Drive, Mesa

Employees may submit their completed renewal applications with the appropriate fees to ADE officials and receive their new teaching certificates immediately. Human Resources staff will also be on hand to scan your fingerprints, verify professional development activities and answer your questions on this process.

Note Structured English Immersion fast facts

Please take note if you have, or will have, a valid Arizona elementary, secondary, principal, superintendent, supervisor, career and technical or special education certificate.

Provisional endorsement

If you were certified before Aug. 31, 2006, you must complete 15 clock hours or one semester hour of approved SEI provisional training and have this endorsement added to your certificate to meet the requirements for the provisional SEI endorsement.

If you were certified on or after Aug. 31, 2006, you must complete 45 clock hours or three semester hours of approved SEI provisional training and have this endorsement added to your certificate to meet the requirements for the provisional SEI endorsement.

ADE will waive the fee when you add the provisional SEI endorsement to your certificate.

Full endorsement

Within three years of having the provisional SEI endorsement added to your teaching certificate, you must complete an additional 45 clock hours or three semester hours of approved SEI training to apply for your full endorsement. To have this added to your certificate, complete the appropriate ADE application and include official transcripts with the fee of $60.

If you have questions about your SEI status, call Ginger McCarty, Certified Personnel Secretary. Phone (480) 472-0408. For details, go to the Arizona Department of Education’s SEI flier.

How do junior high teachers become highly qualified?

There are several options for teachers seeking highly qualified status.
Take the AEPA in November or January. MPS will support you with fee reimbursement.

For junior high teachers to become highly qualified, important considerations are the grade level you teach and whether you have an elementary or a secondary teaching certificate.  

If you teach only grades seven and eight . . .

If you teach only grades seven and eight, the options available for a single core subject area are clear. It is preferred that you pass the appropriate Arizona Educator Proficiency Assessment (AEPA). However, other options, include either:

• 24 credit hours of course work or a major degree in your core subject area
• or the use of a previous Highly Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) rubric in your core subject area

When you add ninth grade . . .

When you add ninth grade, there are additional certification requirements to meet highly qualified guidelines. For example, if you are a junior high teacher whose core subject area is English or language arts, there are several ways to be considered highly qualified:

• You have a K-8 elementary certificate, and you teach only seventh- and eighth-grade language arts. Having a K-8 elementary teaching certificate is appropriate. But you need to add middle grades language arts/reading or English to your teaching certificate as an approved subject area. 
• You also teach ninth-grade English. You need to add the middle grades endorsement to your teaching certificate and have English as an approved subject area. Remember that if you teach ninth-graders, the highly qualified criteria are different from the elementary (K-8) criteria and require the completion of a separate highly qualified teacher attestation.

AEPA scheduled in November and January

The next AEPA dates are Nov. 21 and Jan. 30. The district will support you in becoming highly qualified by reimbursing you for the testing fees. You need only submit an electronic Personnel Action Request Form (e-PARF) for tuition reimbursement with the appropriate information.

Please log on to the AEPA Web site for details.

You have semester break vacation and leave options

First semester ends Dec. 18. It’s an early release day for students. For most certified and classified staff, Dec. 18 is a work day. All short-term employees will be off work Dec. 21 through Jan. 1. Twelve-month staff will be off work Dec. 24 through Jan. 1. Students and employees will return Jan. 4.
    
Certified contract employees who wish to use a personal day Dec. 18 must submit an electronic Personnel Action Request Form for certified short-term leave with an appeal. You may state the appeal in the e-PARF’s comments section. If the request is approved, you will receive an e-mail notification from the district’s OnBase system.  
    
Classified employees must use accrued vacation, personal or compensatory leave if they wish to be absent Dec. 18. Direct the request to your site administrator or supervising administrator for consideration. An e-PARF is not required.
    
Submit your approved absence on an Absence Report to your site secretary as usual.   

Policy review: Electronic Information Systems

MPS has extensive electronic information systems: databases, e-mail, Internet and other computer-accessible sources, such as network data storage, hard drives and removable storage devices. Policy GBSA must be upheld while using electronic information systems and choosing materials accessed through these services.

Electronic information systems are intended for official school business, school-related purposes, performance of job duties and to further MPS educational and instructional goals.

Do not install privately owned software or connect personal computers

The installation of privately owned software on district workstations or devices is strictly prohibited. The connection of privately owned computers or devices to the MPS network, without administrative approval, is strictly prohibited.  

There is no expectation of privacy in connection with MPS electronic information systems, communications, or information sent, published, retrieved or stored.

MPS may monitor use, review or delete files

MPS may monitor use, and review or delete files and communications at any time without notice or consent. MPS e-mail is accessed via MPS Connect. Access to external or private e-mail accounts using district workstations is prohibited, unless administrative approval has been given. Internet or e-mail activity — anything viewed, written, received or forwarded — can be intercepted and tracked. Information that has been deleted may be traced and recovered.

If systems or resources are misused, further access may be denied, and the user may be subject to disciplinary action, including dismissal. For details, review Policy GBSA: Employee Computer and Internet Use. Policies are online, and in schools and departments.

Policy review: Records Management

Employees must comply with Policy EJ’s records management guidelines for all public records. Public records include e-mail records that are created or maintained by employees, but which are not covered by Policy JO: Student Records or Policy GBL: Personnel Records.

Public records include e-mail

E-mail messages and other administrative records received via e-mail must be retained and destroyed in accordance with the guidance memo issued by the Arizona State Library’s Archives and Public Records Department.

Employees who send and receive e-mail messages must destroy such records in accordance with the e-mail retention guidance memo. For details, review EJ: Records Management. Policies are online, and in schools and departments.

Published by Mesa Public Schools, an equal opportunity organization
Human Resources Department

If an employee feels that he or she has been discriminated against on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, handicap or disability, the employee should contact the district’s compliance officer, Janice Ramirez, (480) 472-0412.