Sam Miller, AEA 267 Chief Administrator
Many of you are probably wondering what happened with the proposed $5 million cut to the Iowa AEA system. As you know, I sent a frantic email to all staff late last month asking for help in reaching out and advocating on our behalf. A huge thank you to each of you who took this opportunity to encourage educators and families to speak out. The good news is that your efforts made a difference. Over the weekend we learned that instead of cutting the system $5 million, we will instead be cut $3.75 million. Both the other Chief Administrators and our lobbyists firmly believe that the relationships and connections we have with those we serve made restoring some of the proposed cut possible.
Now for the bad news. Cutting the AEA system $3.75 million equates to about $525,000 for AEA 267. When combined with several years of stagnant revenue growth, the timing of this shortfall couldn’t be worse as we are steadily dipping into our reserves to meet the financial demands of our current staffing levels, programs and services. In the coming months, the AEA 267 leadership team will begin the arduous process of developing an action plan to bring expenditures in line with available funds. I’ll continue to communicate with you throughout the process and I encourage you to come forth with your ideas to continue to create efficiencies. We are all in this together!