Rapoport Academy Public School

2018-2019 Procedures Manual

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Financial Procedures 3 Money Collection Procedures General Collections Fundraiser Collections Purchasing Procedures Registering for Professional Development Reimbursement Procedures Lunch Procedures Transportation and Travel Procedures 5 Scheduling Transportation Travel Procedures Fueling procedures for RAPS vehicles Fueling procedures for traveling in personal vehicles Shared Calendar Procedures 6 Scheduling Events on Your Campus Scheduling District-wide Events Textbook Procedures 7 Requesting Additional Textbooks Checking out textbooks to students Record Keeping Procedures 7 Attendance Online Grade Book Retaining Records Website Procedures 8 Logging In Edit Your Page Insert A Picture and Change the Size Insert a Link or Email Creating a Slideshow Knowledge Bases My Homework Staff Documents Personnel Procedures 12 Personnel Records Personal Days Professional Development Year-End Report

Attachments 13

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Financial Procedures

Money Collection Procedures: General Collections: Payments for all school related bills (lunch, after school, etc.) must be collected by the Administrative Assistant at your campus, who will then submit the money to the Business Office for counting and recording. All checks should be made payable to Rapoport Academy Public School or RAPS, and must be date stamped by the RAPS employee accepting the payment, on the day it is received. Fundraiser Collections: All fundraising activities must be pre-approved by your campus leadership and campus administration at least 14 days prior to advertising or beginning any fundraiser. Approval must be obtained by completing a Fundraiser Approval Form, which can be downloaded from the Administrative Documents page of the RAPS website at http://www.rapoportacademy.org/administrative-documents. If you are sponsoring a fundraising event for a school group and will be depositing cash/checks on behalf of a student group, the following procedures must be followed:

1. Separate coins, bills, and checks. 2. Carefully count all money and record amounts using the Fundraising & Activity Deposit

Form, which can be obtained from our website: https://www.rapoportacademy.org/administrative-documents

3. Place all money, and the Deposit form, in a sealed envelope. Keep a copy of the form for your records.

4. Label the envelope with your name, name of group, and total amount to be deposited. 5. Turn labeled deposit into the Administrative Assistant at your campus by noon on Tuesday. The

Administrative Assistant will submit the sealed envelope with their normal Wednesday deposit (they will not count the money before sending it over to the Business Office).

6. In no instance are the funds collected ever to be given directly to a vendor for payment or held for longer than one week..

Purchasing Procedures:

1. The ordering of supplies has been delegated to the leadership at each campus. To request/order supplies, or other expenses, contact your campus/district leadership. Campus leaders will ensure that all purchasing procedures (as outlined in Attachment A, Purchasing Guidelines), are followed.

2. All purchases must be pre-approved through campus leadership. Failure to obtain prior approval may result in you being held financially responsible for the entire cost of the unauthorized purchase.

3. Employees are strongly encouraged to make purchases with either a Purchase Order issued by your campus leader, or your campuses credit card.

4. Employees needing a Purchase Order number should contact their campus leadership. 5. Employee choosing to make a purchase out of their pocket must still have their purchase pre-

approved. RAPS is exempt from state sales tax. It is the responsibility of the purchaser to ensure that they are not charged sales tax. Sales tax will not be reimbursed. A copy of the RAPS sales tax form is available on the RAPS website http://www.rapoportacademy.org/administrative-documents, or through your campus leaders.

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Tax exempt forms are for official school business only! Registering for Professional Development: Requests to attend professional development must be pre-approved by your campus/district leadership.

If you are registering for professional development through Region 12, the fee for most sessions will be covered by our co-op contract with the service center. Register online, via the Region 12 website, (esc12.net). If there is a cost for a Region 12 session, or if you are registering for a professional development session elsewhere, follow the Purchasing Procedures process listed above.

Reimbursement Procedures

To request a reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenditures: 1. Complete, and sign, Employee Reimbursement Form, which can be downloaded from the

Administrative Documents page on the RAPS website http://www.rapoportacademy.org/administrative-documents

2. Tape (do not staple) itemized receipt(s) to the back of reimbursement form, or a clean sheet of paper. Credit card slips are not itemized; therefore, they are not acceptable for reimbursement. NO reimbursements will be made without proper original, itemized receipts.

3. Submit your completed form to your campus/district leadership for approval. Once the campus leadership has approved the reimbursement, it will be sent to the Business Office for processing.

4. Request for reimbursements should be made within 60 days of the purchase. 5. Reimbursement requests may take up to 30 days to be processed and paid by the Business

Office. 6. Employees will be notified once their reimbursement check is ready to be picked up

(reimbursement checks are NOT mailed).

Lunch Procedures:

Rapoport Academy employees can purchase a school lunch, and one milk for $1.50 per meal. Employees taking more than one meal, or milk (i.e. hot lunch and salad bar or grab & go and salad bar), will be charged separately for each. It is the employee’s responsibility to ensure they notify the person recording lunch counts that they are eating, to ensure proper billing and accountability for the National School Lunch Program. Employees MUST deposit money into their Nutrikids account before eating. Deposits can be made online at https://rapoportacademy.revtrak.net/tek9.asp with a check or credit card. Cash payment should be made to an Administrative Assistant at your campus. At least monthly, employees whose accounts have been overspent will receive a Nutrikids generated email from the RAPS NSLP Coordinator informing them they have a balance due. RAPS employees are expected to maintain a positive balance on their lunch account and may check their balance online at https://rapoportacademy.revtrak.net/tek9.asp Note: Charges to accounts do not post to RevTrak until the next morning (after 9:00 am); therefore, your balance vary slightly depending on when you check it.

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Food Service and custodial employees are allowed one free breakfast and lunch meal a day, on days the cafeteria is serving. Food Service and custodial employees who choose to partake in more than one meal, or milk, will be charged $1.25 and $.30 respectively.

Transportation and Travel Procedures

Scheduling Transportation

To schedule transportation for field trips or other travel via a school vehicle: 1. Obtain approval from your campus/district leadership. 2. Send the District Administrative Assistant, Karen Davila, (kdavila@rapswaco.org) an email with

the subject ‘Transportation.’ In the body of the email include and all the pertinent information about the trip (date, time(s), destination (with specific address, if possible), # of students and adults attending).

3. Once Ms. Davila has confirmed transportation availability, and arranged for a vehicle/driver, you will receive a confirmation email from her.

4. If a field trip results in students being off campus during the lunch period, you must contact Tim Collier, Food Service Director, in the cafeteria, at least one week in advance, so he can adjust his headcount for meals that day.

5. If you will need sack lunches for your field trip, Mr. Collier (tcollier@rapswaco.org) must be notified at least one week in advance, so there is ample time to order and prepare the appropriate items needed for a sack lunch.

Travel Procedures All travel must be pre-approved by campus/district leadership at least one week prior to your departure. Employees are encouraged to utilize school owned vehicles for all possible travel. To schedule a school owned vehicle, follow the procedures above in Scheduling Transportation. Fueling procedures for RAPS vehicles:

All RAPS vehicles have a Fuelman gas card assigned to them. The card should remain in the vehicle. The traveler should locate the gas card prior to departure.

Fuelman cards require a personal PIN when fueling. All employees will be assigned a PIN by the

CFO. The traveler should obtain their PIN card, if they don’t already have it, prior to departure. RAPS vehicles must be returned to the school with a full tank of gas after every trip.

Fueling procedures for traveling in personal vehicles: RAPS does not pay mileage, but instead reimburses employees for the amount of fuel actually used while on out-of-town travel. To be eligible for reimbursement, the employee should ensure that their gas tank is full when they depart. Upon return from a trip, the employee must re-fill their gas tank. Obtain a receipt with this fill-up. This is the receipt that the employee may submit on a Reimbursement Request Form.

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Shared Calendar Procedures

Scheduling Events on Your Campus

To schedule an event on your campus (i.e., anything that will take place outside your classroom or will involve other staff, parents, or community members): 1. Check the shared calendar for your campus; 2. If your event does not conflict with an event on the calendar, email the details of your event to

your campus leaders so she/he can add it.

Scheduling Districtwide Events To schedule a districtwide event (i.e., anything that will involve staff or parents from other RAPS campuses, or community members): 1. Contact your campus leadership with the details of your event. 2. Your campus leadership will access the District shared calendar. 3. If your event does not conflict with an event on the District calendar, your campus leaders will

add the event to the District calendar.

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Textbook Procedures

Requesting Additional Textbooks

If you need additional copies of student textbooks, teacher’s editions, or consumables, send an email to Angi Cotton (acotton@rapswaco.org) (and cc your Dean of Academics) with the subject line “Additional Textbooks.” In the body of the email include the following information: ● Grade and subject ● Name of textbook (or consumable) and publisher ● How many student editions you have ● How many students you have enrolled

Checking out textbooks to students 1. Fill out Textbook Assignments Form (Attachment D). 2. Submit one copy to Angi Cotton (via email or hard copy) and keep the original. 3. All student textbooks must be turned in by May 24, 2018. 4. If a student has lost their book, notify Ms. Cotton, and your Dean of Academics, for replacement

cost; then notify student and parent of cost. 5. Notify Ms. Cotton once the book has been paid for and submit payment to the Administrative

Assistant at your campus who will record it & forward it to the Business Office.

Record Keeping Procedures Attendance

Attendance must be recorded for each class period using Skyward. 1. Select the class period in your Gradebook 2. Click ‘Attendance’ on the right-hand side (not at the top) 3. Select present, absent, or tardy for each student in the class 4. Be sure to save before exiting

Attendance should be entered for each class period at some point during that class period. This is especially crucial for 2nd period, which is the official attendance period for state reporting purposes. All teachers must create and retain back-up documentation for the official attendance period (2nd or 3rd period). The teachers will run the Weekly Attendance Verification report out of Gradebook. This form must be kept in hard copy, and submitted with signature to the office on Friday of each week. Any attendance taken in paper format must be maintained as the official record for that day. Contact your Dean of Academics if you have any questions about how to record attendance using Skyward.

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Online Grade Book

You must record your grades online using Skyward. To set up your grade book: 1. Click the icon for each class in the gradebook module and assignment feature. Click on the

green plus sign at the top right of the screen and follow prompts to set up the assignment. Be sure to save by clicking “save”

To record grades: 1. Click ‘Gradesheet’ within the gradebook module 2. Select the class list icon if the classes are not all displayed on the screen. 3. Select the appropriate course from the available icons 4. Click ‘t’ 5. Enter student scores 6. Be sure to save by clicking “exit scoring mode’ 7.

Be descriptive when labeling assignments. This will better assist parents in identifying assignments when they are viewing your grade book via the Parent Portal in Skyward. You must input grades promptly so that parents can view a current grade for their student. Contact your Dean of Academics if you have any questions about how to record grades using Skyward. Retaining Records Any records you produce in the course of your job must be retained at the end of the year. This includes (but is not limited to): ● Lesson plans ● Hard copies of grade books ● Attendance records ● Documentation of RTI interventions ● Documentation of Special Education modifications

Keep all such records in order and have them ready to submit to your campus leadership at the end of the year. If you have any questions about what records should be retained, contact the Dean of Academics or Dean of Students at your campus.

Website Procedures

Logging In https://cms.empoweredlogic.com LOGIN: youremail@rapswaco.org PSW: firstname2015 Click Content Click Pages on the black menu bar to the left You will see any club pages you work with and your teacher page.

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If you do not find your site or page please email me at nward@rapswaco.org Subject (website)

Edit Your Page

Click the edit button on the right next to the page you want to edit.

At the top of the edit page screen you will see to buttons right content and left content.

Left content The left content is the main portion of the page that you will update with content about your classroom, upcoming events, items needed to bring, classroom rules and any other information you want to be accessible to parents. Right Content is reserved your Picture, Name, Email, and My Homework

The right side of the editing page works much like a clipboard, you can upload pictures and documents and they will be contained in a list that you can then insert into the edit content area. To insert a picture or document put your cursor in the content section, click the title of the image you want to insert and press the blue insert button. Choose the block alignment selection. Your title will automatically be generated by the website so do not insert a title of your page. Use the format button to change the font sizes. H1 is the largest H5 is the smallest. If you keep the tab on format it will default to the normal font. Heading 1 for the large cursive font. Heading 2 for large sans serif font Heading 3 is smaller but still bold Heading 4 is a small bold sans serif font. The fonts will look like the fonts to the right when published on the website.

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L f Ri h

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Insert A Picture and Change the Size Click your curser under the paragraph on the right side of your page pick your picture and press the button that says insert. You can press which option for alignment. Left right or center. The picture you insert will be huge. Click your picture in the paragraph and right click. Go to image properties. Set the width anywhere between 50 to 750 for a normal picture I would click about 300 wide press ok and your picture should size appropriately. You can also click and drag the crosshairs on the outside of the picture. Insert a Link or Email link: Type your title highlight it and press the button that looks like a chain link. Type in the web address you want it to go to. email: yourname@rapswaco.org Highlight the text and click the link. Where it states url click email and then type your email address. Press ok.

If you work on it as a team it is recommended that you work at different times or on one computer. Just make sure you save your info before your team member edits. It takes 2 -3 minutes for it to update live at rapoportacademy.org

Creating a Slideshow

In the black menu bar on the left of the screen press menu item : MEDIA New Collection

Give it a title press save

Press the edit button to the right of your collection

You can press the bulk upload and upload several pictures.

You can change the type of media collection by pressing the template option at the top.

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Carousel narrow will create a smaller slides show Carousel will create a full width slideshow

Album will create small thumbnails of your pictures that you can manually click on. Once you have uploaded your pictures press save. To insert the slide show into your page Click on pages, Edit the page, Put your cursor where you want your collection to go, Click on “collections” on the upper right hand side of the page select and press insert. You should see a little code that looks something similar to this. {{ media_id(000) }} Leave the code as is, press save at the bottom of the page and it should appear live on the main site at rapoportacademy.org in about 8 minutes after you press save.

Knowledge Bases

In the knowledge bases section you can find many important documents such as instructions to use the site, handbooks, insurance information etc. Check it out for all your important documents.

My Homework

All staff will post student homework assignments on the school website every day. Instructions for posting assignments are listed below:

● Login into https://cms.empoweredlogic.com ● Use your Login and Psw ● Click Content ● Click EDIT next to the Homework Page for your campus ● Drag your curser over your name to highlight ● Click the tiny Link button in the editor ● Open New browser ● Log into your planbook page ● Click Go to ● Sharing Options ● Enter a Teacher Key “any word or letter you want” ● Enter a Student Key “Any word or letter you want” ● Put a check next to the information you would like to share with students ● Select what weeks you would like for the students to see. ● Highlight the link at the bottom and click CTRL C ● Go back to your original browser for the cms login. ● Under the Tiny Link Menu ● Press Ctrl V and paste in your planbook link ● Press Save

When updating this content many teachers will just create one post that links to their planbook site. Contact your campus leadership for questions related to Website Procedures. Staff Documents

Several frequently used Administrative Documents are available for download on the RAPS website http://www.rapoportacademy.org/administrative-documents. These include, but are not limited to:

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● Employee Handbook ● Payroll Calendars ● Tax Exempt Forms

● School Calendar ● W-4 Form ● Absence From Duty Form

● Reimbursement Form

Please visit the website before contacting the Business Office for copies of form. If there is a form or manual that you would like to access via the website, email April Strickland (astrickland@rapswaco.org).

Personnel Procedures Personnel Records It is the responsibility of the employee to notify Human Resources when you have changes that would affect your payroll, such as address changes, changes to your bank account, etc. These changes must be submitted to Human Resources using the designated forms with can be found on the Administrative Documents page of the RAPS website (http://www.rapoportacademy.org/administrative-documents). Personal Days

If you take any time away from campus during the school day, do the following: 1. Contact your Dean of Academics and/or Dean of Students (or District Leader for non-

instructional staff) to request to leave campus, or that you are needing to take personal leave. 2. Record your time away from campus on an Absence From Duty form, and submit the form to

your Dean of Academics and/or Dean of Students (or District Leader for non-instructional staff) prior to leaving campus. Indicate the time you are absent, in quarter days.

3. In the event your personal leave plans change, notify your campus/district leadership immediately to ensure proper reporting of leave to the Business Office.

Consult the employee handbook for further information about the number of personal days per school year and how excess personal days are deducted from your paycheck.

Professional Development

All professional development should be recorded on an Absence From Duty Form and submitted to your Dean of Academics and/or Dean of Students (or District Leader for non-instructional staff).

Year-End Report

All teaching staff (including specialists) will submit a year-end report at the end of each school year. This report should include a narrative description of your course(s), including the goals of the course, an outline of the curriculum, and a description of the types of assignments and activities you used in your course. It should also include personal reflections about the year and the challenges and successes you had that year.

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Attachment A

Purchasing Guidelines Rapoport Academy Public School (RAPS) has implemented procurement procedures to ensure that funds received are being spent in a fiduciary manner. RAPS has established both formal and informal bidding process is based on a set dollar threshold. Texas State purchasing law requires that any purchase expected to exceed $50,000 be approved through a formal bid process. However, Rapoport Academy Public School has approved a lower threshold of any purchase over $25,000. (Charter Board Policy 100.20, Section 1.2). Purchases that are not expected to exceed $25,000 should be made through the appropriate informal bidding processes outlined below. INFORMAL BID: Less than $1,000* The bidding process may be as simple as calling approved vendors that sell the product or service you need and getting a verbal quote. The quotes should be notated in a file somewhere, in case there is a question later regarding “who quoted what item and how much did it cost?” After comparing the quotes, normally the purchase will be awarded to the “lowest bidder,” provided the purchase was pre-approved by the Administration and Board of Directors during the budget process, and is listed as an approved item in the budget. Any purchase that was not pre-approved by the Administration and/or the Board of Directors, requires written purchasing approval from either the Superintendent, Chief Financial Officer, or the Chief Academic Officer. Once approved & awarded, documentation on the quotes should be submitted to Accounts Payable to be attached to the invoice received and made part of the invoice packet. $1,000 but Less than $4,000* The bidding process for purchases over $1,000 but less than $4,000 require the approved vendor to provide a written quote for the product or service on their company letterhead/forms. The quote should describe the product/service, quantity, unit price, and total price. The total price should include freight/shipping charges, if applicable. Purchases may not be split to circumvent the bidding processes. After comparing the quotes, normally the purchase will be awarded to the “lowest bidder,” provided the purchase was pre-approved by the Administration and Board of Directors during the budget process, and was listed as an approved item in the budget. Any purchase that was not pre-approved by the Administration and/or the Board of Directors, requires written purchasing approval from either the Superintendent, Chief Financial Officer, or the Chief Academic Officer. Purchases will be awarded to the “lowest bidder.” The documentation on the quotes should be submitted to Accounts Payable to be attached to the invoice received and made part of the invoice packet.

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$4,000 but Less than $10,000* The bidding process requirements for purchases over $4,000 but less than $10,000 are the same as the process for purchases over $1,000 but less than $4,000. Purchases may not be split to circumvent the bidding processes. However, Board policy requires that any purchase over $4,000 be approved by the Board of Directors; the purchase will not be allowed until after Board approval has been granted. Requests that need to be considered by the Board of Directors must be submitted two weeks prior to the next scheduled public meeting. $10,000 but Less than $25,000* Purchases expected to be $10,000 but less than $25,000 will be handled solely by the Business Office. The requestor will provide the Business Office with complete specifications regarding the service or product that is being sought. In addition, the requestor may provide the Business Office with potential bidders; however, the Business Office may elect to obtain bids from other vendors to ensure the best value is received. Purchases may not be split to circumvent the bidding processes. The requestor must present the Business Office with complete specifications, which would include things such as an item number, description of the item, quantity needed, etc. In the event the item is only available from one vendor (such as Teacher Created Materials), the specification should include a statement that the item is only available from that vendor and provide contact information for the vendor (included, but not limited to a contact name, email address, website, and phone number). In this category, the purchase award does not have to be the “lowest” vendor. Other factors may be taken into consideration such as whether it’s a local vendor, prior experience with the vendor and their products currently in use, etc. Award in this category may be to the vendor/product that will provide the “best value” to the school. However, because of the Board of Directors requirement that any purchase over $4,000 be approved by the Board of Directors; the purchase will not be allowed until after Board approval has been granted. Requests that need to be considered by the Board of Directors must be submitted two weeks prior to the next scheduled public meeting. FORMAL BID [$25,000 and over] The formal bid process is significantly more stringent. This process requires formal preparation and distribution of a Request For Proposal (RFP) or Request For Qualification (RFQ). In most cases, the RAPS Chief Financial Officer prepares the RFP or RFQ. The packet will contain at minimum the following elements:

● detail specifications regarding the service or product being sought; ● a calendar/timeline of the request for proposal process; ● a disclosure of what criteria will be used to evaluate any responses received; ● a disclosure of the weight each of the elements of the evaluation criteria will carry;

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● a detail of any requirements for insurance; ● Announcement of the time, date and place of any pre-bid meeting to be held.

ADVERTISEMENT OF RFP/RFQ OPPORTUNITY ● A notice advertising the request for proposal must be published in a newspaper of general

circulation once a week for two consecutive weeks; ● The first notice advertisement must appear before the 14th day before the day the

bids/proposals will be opened and read out loud. ● The advertisement must detail the specifics of the request for proposal or information as

to how an interested vendor may get a copy of the RFP packet; ● The notice must also detail date, place, and time of the deadline for submission and public

announcement, of when bids received will be opened and read out loud; ● Announcement of the time, date and place of when the bid will be awarded: ● An evaluation matrix should be presented to the Finance Committee (if requested) showing

a comparison of the responses received and how each compares by criteria developed for the RFP.

The Board may choose to interview the individuals/companies submitting responses. Awards will be made to the submittal that will provide the “best value” for Rapoport Academy Public School, as determined by the Administration, Finance Committee, and the Board of Directors. An Administrator, Finance Committee member, or member of the Board of Directors may be required to file a Conflict of Interest Affidavit or recuse themselves under certain circumstances when consideration of the award is being contemplated/discussed. State Purchasing Cooperatives Purchasing cooperatives, such as TIPS, TCPN, Buy Board, etc., pre-bid a myriad of products and services. Purchasing products/services through a purchasing cooperative satisfies the State requirement to bid out items. This process can reduce the time necessary to purchase items. Even though buying through a purchasing cooperative satisfies all State requirements, it is best to compare the prices between two or more cooperatives to preempt any questions that may arise about the price. Board Approved: June 20, 2017

         G:\Aprils Data\Forms\Fundraiser Approval Form ‐ RAPS.docx    Last Updated: August 1, 2017 

 FUNDRAISER APPROVAL FORM 

  

REQUESTS MUST BE SUBMITTED TO CFO OR SUPERINTENDENT FOR APPROVAL AT LEAST 14 BUSINESS DAYS PRIOR TO ADVERTISING OR BEGINNING ANY FUNDRAISER. 

Organization Name:         

Fundraiser Title:         

Fundraiser Start Date:    Fundraiser End Date:_________________________________   

Description of Fundraiser: 

     

 

 

 

Faculty/Staff Representative:           

Phone:    E‐mail: @rapswaco.org

FUNDRAISING POLICY AND AGREEMENT 1. Student organizations raising funds on behalf of a 501(c)(3) non‐profit organization can do so for no more than 14 days per fiscal year. 

2. Individual students are not allowed to solicit for personal gain. 

3. Profit‐making corporations or organizations may not use campus organizations to advertise or sell their products. 

4. Only authorized faculty/staff representatives, may raise funds on behalf of the organization. 

I have read and agree to abide by the Fundraising Policy. 

  

   

Authorized Representative Signature    Date  Campus Leadership Signature    Date  

This completed form must be received in the Business Office at least 14 days prior to advertising or beginning any  

fundraiser.  Retain a copy for your records. 

 

Upon CFO/Superintendent approval, the authorized representative & the campus leadership will receive a confirm‐

ation email with a copy of the approved form. 

 

 

BUSINESS OFFICE USE ONLY 

CFO/Superintendent Approval:  _________________  Date:    

Fundraiser Approval Number: ______________________   Date confirmation sent:     

Fundraiser Approval Number:

Submitted to Campus Administrative Assistant:

Organization/Group Making Deposit:

Cash Total Being Deposited:

Check Total Being Deposited:

Deposit Total:

Depositor: (Organization/Group Advisor):

Fundraising/Activity Deposit Form

(Date)

(Please print)

Notes/Comments: (optional)

FOR BUSINESS OFFICE USE:

Received Date: ______________ Received By: ________________________________________

Bank Deposit Date: ___________ Websmart Deposit #: _________________________________

G:\Aprils Data\Forms\Fundraising & Activity Deposit Form Last Updated:  8/1/2017