Year: 2017

In an effort to ensure greater continuity between our regions and allow for more opportunities to meet as a full agency, the following dates have been selected for 2017-18 for regional/agency team meetings. While locations of the meetings have not been fully finalized, please reserve each of these dates and schedule professional and personal obligations around them as attendance will be mandatory. Locations are listed where they are known. All meetings are scheduled for 9 am-3 pm.  More details will be sent out to you as they are finalized. (In general, Regional Meetings will take place in the AM and Discipline/Content Teams will meet in the afternoon. The day of the week for the meetings will rotate as suggested to help ensure that services by direct service providers are more equally spread out and don’t always occur on the same day of the week.)

• August 14, 2017: Central Rivers AEA, 1521 Technology Parkway, Cedar Falls (All staff kick-off meeting)
• September 12, 2017
• October 18, 2017
• November 17. 2017
• December 21, 2017: Central Rivers AEA, 1521 Technology Parkway, Cedar Falls (All staff)
• January 23, 2018
• February 19, 2018
• March (date determined by Regional Administrator)
• April 26, 2018
• May 23, 2018: Central Rivers AEA, 1521 Technology Parkway, Cedar Falls (All staff)

We received news last month that Dr. E. Robert (“Bob”) Stephens died peacefully on the morning of Feb. 9.  For those not familiar with Bob Stephens, he wrote the original legislative language to create the AEAs in Iowa. He also served nationally on the Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA) Board. The AESA has three awards nationally that honor individuals, and one is named after Bob. (The AEA system also honors his legacy with an award named after him.)  He was truly a champion for education, especially for educational service agencies and was relentless in his pursuit to serve students and staff. We’ve lost a giant in our field, and he will be missed.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met Monday, March 6, 2017 in the Cedar Falls Conference Center. The board packet is available online and the minutes will be published online after approval at the next month’s board meeting.

This past month our elected officials marked the start of the 86th Iowa General Assembly along with many newly elected leaders. With Republican control in both chambers, we expect a markedly different legislative session from those we’ve had in recent years.

We are keeping our eye on a number of important issues that have the potential to impact the AEA system including the following:

The decision to set the state cost per pupil, known as state supplemental assistance (SSA), is due to be enacted by Feb. 10 to meet the 30-day deadline in Iowa Code. Efforts have been underway to remind legislators that investing in Iowa public schools pays dividends in the future, with an educated workforce that contributes to our economy. This week, over 150 superintendents and AEA administrators held an “advocacy day” at the capitol to raise awareness about the impact of inadequate funding on Iowa’s schools. The day was a success in terms of the number of legislators who attended and listened to our impact stories, but the true indicator of success is the amount of funding we receive.

Based on the early numbers we’re seeing and feedback from our lobbyists, there is the potential that districts and the AEA system will see a reduction in funding for Teacher Leadership & Compensation (TLC) support and Iowa Core implementation dollars, and Supplemental State Aid established at a rate of 2% or lower. Preliminary budget figures also indicate that the Governor supports restoring the late session budget cut that directly impacted our AEA system, which is hopeful.

We will also be closely watching decisions made regarding what the new federal administration will do to impact Part B special education funding as that funding stream is critical to maintaining our current special education efforts.

Your Administrative Cabinet has been working hard to estimate the impacts of these potential funding changes on our organization. We don’t have a crystal ball, and we continue to work with estimates and rough figures; however, we have a fiscal responsibility to continue moving forward with finding as many efficiencies as we can in how we serve students, families and educators. As positions are left vacant by resignations and retirements, conversations will continue to occur around how best to fill the void. In many cases those positions will be replaced and in other cases, assignment of responsibilities may change.

On another note, I wanted to provide you with an update regarding our facilities. I am pleased to share that we have sold our Administrative Services Building! The board held a public hearing and meeting to approve the sale. The building has been purchased by an organization in the dentistry field and they plan to take possession in early April. That means that for those of us working in the building, we will be temporarily relocating to one of the other two buildings on the Cedar Falls campus. While a little inconvenient, it’s a small price to pay as our plan to downsize facilities plays out and we work toward renovating our new Central Rivers AEA home at 1521 Technology Parkway. Renovation plans are now complete and work will begin in earnest in late March/early April. We are still hopeful that we can be moved in and operational around July 1!

As always, thank you for your continued dedication to those that you serve. Despite the many organizational changes we are moving through, service to our educational partners has never been delivered at a higher level. Superintendents and others share their appreciation for your work on an almost daily basis. Thank you!

Many staff members have been wondering when they can start incorporating our new name and logo into their work. Please remember that our new brand will not become official until July 1 which means holding off until much closer to that date. This month, lead secretaries and administrative staff had a chance to review the new branding guide as well as collaboratively generate a task list for changing things over from AEA 267 to Central Rivers AEA “behind the scenes.”  If you have questions, please contact your supervisor or Beth Strike, AEA 267 Director of Creative Services.

AEA 267 tech integrationists are working with agency staff to create a new video series, “The Tech Exchange: Ideas for Staff by Staff.” The first episode, “GSuite and the Explore Feature,” aired at last month’s regional meetings. This episode featured hosts Sarah Lalk and Cari Teske as they explained Google App’s recent name change to “GSuite” and ways the “Explore” feature can streamline your work in Docs, Slides and Sheets. In future episodes, look for agency staff highlighting ways to use technology more efficiently, effectively, and collaboratively. If you have a suggestion for a future tech tip, please contact either Sarah Lalk or Cari Teske.

Mark your calendars! Our first all-staff meeting as Central Rivers Area Education Agency will be held on August 14 at our new headquarters at 1521 Technology Parkway in Cedar Falls! We will start the day with social time and registration from 8:30-9 a.m. and are are planning a fun day complete with recognitions, inspiration and “edutainment” by Monte Selby.

Paper copies of the 2016 W2s and 1095-Cs were mailed on January 26 and are also available in the Portal under: My Compensation > Employee W2 > 2016 W2 Information.

If you need to make any changes to your 2017 W-4 for federal and/or state tax withholding, do so under: My Compensation > Employee Tax Forms.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met Wednesday, February 1, 2017 in the Cedar Falls Conference Center. The board packet is available online and the minutes will be published online after approval at the next month’s board meeting.