Month: December 2008

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met at 6:00 p.m. on December 10, 2008 at AEA 267 Bremwood School in Waverly for their regular meeting. A foundation board meeting was held immediately following.

During the meeting, the board:

• Toured the Bremwood campus. The tour was given by Justin Stockdale, Principal of Bremwood School.
• Heard a report by Dr. Ralph Bartelt who reviewed the new AEA 267 Affirmative Action Plan.
• Reviewed the 200 Series of AEA 267 Board Policies.
• Reviewed and maintained the mileage reimbursement rate at the current $.37/mile.
• Approved the Forest City and North Central of Manly and the Lake Mills and North Central of Manly busing agreements.
• Approved the extended school year calendar for 2009 which includes 19 school days (June 23 – July 23) and 1 work day (June 22).
• Discussed a spring meeting with community college board members.
• Heard a variety of reports from directors and fellow board members.

Recently, staff members were invited to participate in focus group discussions around how 21st century technology tools could strengthen current practices and support new practices in support of AEA 267’s mission and goals. These conversations centered around identifying needs, desired states, and intended outcomes that could result from using new and existing technology tools.

Four sessions were held with approximately 50 staff members participating in at least one of the sessions. After reviewing the information gathered at these sessions, the following top three needs were identified: podcasting and video, videoconferencing, blogging and discussion boards. The next step will be the development of an action plan to roll these technologies out agency-wide. The development of agency-wide capabilities in these three areas should go a long way in our efforts to leverage the power of technology to benefit our programs and services.

This is an exciting time as we move forward to implement these technologies. The focus group discussions also yielded meaningful insight into support structures that will be needed as implementation plans are developed. For more information, contact Jerry Schnabel, Service Area Director of Information and Technology.