News

• Any desired supplemental digital tools that are not currently on the approved/not approved tools list should be submitted using the new Digital Tools Request form found in the Service Request (SR) System by May 30. 

  Additional Information: A digital tool is an interactive website, application including Google services, or software that requires an account with a username and password. HCPSS categorizes digital tools as Supplementary or Essential.  

  More information, including currently approved tools, can be found on the HCPSS Digital Tools public website and the Digital Tools Canvas community. If, after reviewing the information, you have questions regarding the approval process for digital tools, please email Julie Wray.

  • When staff submit a request through the SR system, principals/supervisors will need to sign off. A supervisor might deny a request because the tool is not instructionally appropriate or requires a purchase that is not within the school’s budget. 
  • Following supervisor approval, the tool is reviewed for data privacy, accessibility, technology, and curriculum standards.
  • Throughout the workflow, the submitter will receive updated emails regarding the status of their submission.
  • Forms submitted after May 30 may not be approved for the start of the next school year and will be reviewed as time allows.  
  • Staff are reminded that P-cards cannot be used to purchase supplemental digital tools.
  • Supplementary Digital Tools: HCPSS authorizes digital tools to be used as supplementary (non-essential) enrichments to staff and students’ educational experiences. Parents have the right to opt their students out of these digital tools. Examples include Khan Academy, Kahoot, and Plickers.
  • Essential Digital Tools*: Essential Digital Tools are digital tools that HCPSS considers necessary to deliver educational programs and operational services that support the system's goals. Examples include, but are not limited to, those linked on the student landing page, hcpss.me.
    
    *School-based staff should not request essential digital tools. These are requested by curriculum staff. 

Staff are reminded that staff retirement celebration announcements can be found online. Users can find that link by going to the Staff Hub, scrolling down to Resources, and then selecting the Retirement Announcements link under Communications.

To have a celebration of HCPSS employees who are retiring AND that are open to anyone wishing to attend added to the site, email communications@hcpss.org with the following:

• Who: Name of employee(s) being celebrated
• When: Date and time
• Where: Location, including address
• Cost: If applicable
• RSVP: If applicable, to whom and how

HCPSS Acting Superintendent William J. Barnes on April 22 announced the recipients of the school system’s annual principal and teachers of the year award:

• Principal of the Year: Dr. Joelle Miller, Centennial High School
• Teacher of the Year: Jeanette Swank, Ellicott Mills Middle School
• Teacher of the Year: Jessica Nichols, River Hill High School

Each recipient was named during surprise visits at their respective schools, and will be recognized at an upcoming Howard County Board of Education meeting. The three also serve as the HCPSS nominees for Washington Post Principal of the Year, Washington Post Teacher of the Year (Swank) and Maryland State Department of Education Teacher of the Year (Nichols).

Read more about these outstanding staff members online.

Below are updates for the Summer 2024 compensation that was originally published on March 8, 2024. 

HCPSS staff are invited to submit their interest to work within one of the following HCPSS Summer Programs: 

• Academic Intervention (AI) 
• BSAP Summer Institute (BSAP) 
• Cultural Exchange Program 
• Extended School Year Summer School (ESY) 
• Extended School Year RECC (ESY RECC) 
• G/T Summer Institutes for Talent Development (GT) 
• Innovative Pathways High School (IP) 
• STARTALK Chinese Language 
• Summer Camp Summer Math Scholars 

Summer 2024 Compensation: 

• Current permanent HCPSS staff who are hired for any of the summer school programs listed above will be paid an hourly rate based on the activity for the hours they work before the first set-up day of the Summer Program. 
• Current permanent HCPSS staff who are hired for any of the summer school programs listed above to serve in their regular school year position (as a teacher, substitute teacher, paraeducator, secretary, or liaison) will be paid an hourly rate for the hours they work, which is based on their current salary (per diem rate) excluding any stipends or supplements. 
• Current permanent HCPSS staff in the ESP bargaining unit and hired in another ESP position other than their regular position, will be compensated at the grade of the position that they are working within. The staff member will be placed on the step they are currently on within that grade. 
• Current HCPSS staff in the ESP bargaining unit that are hired into the HCEA certificated unit, will receive the hourly rate of a teacher on Step 4, Lane A of the certificated salary scale. 
• Current HCPSS staff in the HCEA certificated unit working summer school in an ESP position will receive the hourly rate of the ESP position in which they are employed. The employee will be compensated at the last step of the grade of the position that they are hired into. 
• Current permanent HCPSS staff who are hired for one or more of the summer school programs listed above that run 20 or more calendar days (including set-up days) will accrue a total of one (1) day of sick leave for working the entire program without missing any days of work. The accrued one (1) day of sick leave is not eligible for use during the Summer Program. 

Hiring Interest Surveys: 

To be considered for hiring, complete the Summer Programs Hiring Interest Survey for HCPSS Staff. Completion of the interest survey is NOT a formal offer of temporary employment. 

• Invitation-based Programs (Academic Intervention and Extended School Year Special Education): https://forms.gle/op1Zh9mBpWa8fZt86 
• Registration-based Programs (BSAP/Cultural Exchange/GT/Innovative Pathways/STARTALK/Summer Math Scholars): https://forms.gle/E32vRcCGb8pAMZZV7 

Qualified applicants who submitted their interest by March 22 will be screened first and then remaining open positions will be filled. Program staff will review the information and follow-up with references as needed. 

If you are interested in applying to MORE THAN ONE summer program, you will need to submit a SEPARATE form for each program. You will see a link to "Submit another response" after completing the survey. 

If you have any questions regarding the dates/times, locations, pay scale or completing the Summer Programs Hiring Interest Survey for HCPSS Staff (linked above), please contact the appropriate program lead listed in the survey. Thank you for your interest in working in HCPSS Summer Programs!

Staff should be aware there is the potential for meaningful emails to be directed to staff members’ junk folders.  

Because email providers and their users are inundated with unsolicited email, providers use various strategies to try to help their users focus on the email that are important to them, and to block or sort malicious and/or unwanted correspondences. One effective strategy is an automation that sorts messages that have a high likelihood of being spam into a Junk or Spam folder.  At times, this automation may lead to meaningful emails to be directed to a junk folder. 

Recommendations: 

• Check your Junk mail folder regularly.
• Teach your account which emails are junk and which are relevant. Over time the algorithm used will be more in tune with your wishes. 

Please contact HCPSS Technology Support at techsupport@hcpss.org if you require technical assistance.

Staff emailing external recipients should be on the lookout for bounce back messages and seek alternative means of communications and/or try again later if bounce back messages are received. 

Staff are seeing an increased number of bounce back messages when emailing some external addresses that say “Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups: <email address>...Your message couldn't be delivered. Despite repeated attempts to contact the recipient's email system it didn't respond.”  Reports have shown that some yahoo.com and aol.com addresses have been impacted and there may be others. Microsoft has confirmed that a third-party anti-spam service is blocking a portion of Microsoft’s servers to protect organizations that use their services. Microsoft is working with the anti-spam service to rectify the issue. 

Please email HCPSS Technology Support at techsupport@hcpss.org if you require technical assistance. 

Workday will be updated on Sunday, March 10, after which, when you log into Workday, you will notice that the Benefits application and Pay application have been replaced with a new unified application called Benefits & Pay. The Benefits and Pay Hub (application) provides a single location for employees to conveniently review and maintain their benefits, compensation, payroll information, as well as access related reports. 

For additional information on how to perform tasks within each area, refer to reference guides located in the Workday Community Canvas course.

Staff should be aware that beginning Wednesday, Feb. 21, parents/guardians may select to receive automated weekly emails summarizing their student's HCPSS Chromebook internet usage. Once selected, weekly emails are sent each Sunday to provide an overview of their student's internet usage. The same email contains an option to sign up for the Lightspeed Parent Portal, which provides near real-time information on their student's HCPSS Chromebook internet activity, and other features such as the ability to pause web browsing and block social media sites when not on the HCPSS network. Information about the new Lightspeed Parent Portal will be communicated to families tomorrow, Feb. 21 via the HCPSS News weekly email. Staff can learn more about the new Lightspeed Parent Portal online.

Reminder! Teachers can use Lightspeed, during specified timeframes, to control how a student uses their HCPSS-issued Chromebook, including viewing student screens, sharing resources, locking devices, reviewing class activity, and restricting non-instructional sites. A teacher may find this tool useful to:

• Quickly share web pages with the whole class, including links to frequently used applications like Wixie, Google Slides, Canvas, Actively Learn, and others
• Share an independent digital activity for students to complete while the teacher is working with a small group. 
• Block non-instructional sites during students' independent work time to help ensure they stay on task and are not distracted by other web pages or games sites.  
• Check-in on students when conducting independent research on their device. 

Staff members who wish to use the tool must complete the required Classroom Management professional learning module to be informed about compliance with data privacy for all students. 

Per Article 15.E. of the HCPSS/HCEA Master Agreement, "Any unit member who retires or resigns effective July 1 of any year and who files the necessary documents committing to such intent no later than March 1 of that year will receive termination pay in the amount of $750."

As such, certificated instructional staff (teachers, counselors, etc.) should complete the Intent to Retire form by March 1 in order to receive the additional pay of $750 upon their retirement.

The HCPSS Intent to Retire form can be found on the Staff Hub > Services > Employee Resources > Retirement and requires Active Directory login.

Please note! This notification bonus is for certificated staff only and does not apply to non-certificated staff (paraeducators, secretaries, student assistants, custodians, etc.), or supervisory staff (principals, assistant principals, directors, coordinators, etc.).

Using your work email for personal activities can increase the likelihood of spam and junk emails in your inbox. Here's why:

1. List Sharing: Your email may be shared with third-party marketers, leading to more promotional emails and spam.
2. Data Breaches: Using work email for personal accounts increases the risk of phishing attempts.

To keep our email system secure, please avoid using your work email for personal activities. If you've already done so, consider updating your subscriptions with a personal email.

A new resource: Captain Awareness: Foil Phishing, has been added to your KnowBe4 library. The resource can be accessed by navigating to the Staff Hub > Services > KnowBe4 Cybersecurity Resources > Library.

Please contact HCPSS Technology Support at techsupport@hcpss.org if you require technical assistance.