Author: lthomas

IPERS is still not scheduling any local face-to-face meetings or individual appointments. You may contact member services at (800) 622-3849 to schedule an appointment or visit the IPERS website for resources. A Retirement Tools and Resources page is available for additional assistance.

Plan now to join your colleagues for the all staff retirement celebration on Friday, May 27, beginning at 9:00 am. Due to the great response after last year’s event, this year’s celebration will be held virtually with a similar format. Look for a complete listing of our retirees in next month’s staff newsletter.

Zoom to join:

• May 27, 2022, 9:00 AM
• https://centralriversaea.zoom.us/j/87124894173
• Meeting ID: 871 2489 4173
• One tap mobile +13126266799,,87124894173# US 
• Need support? Contact the CRAEA Tech Help Desk at 319-273-8231.

A new INspired Leadership Toolkit site is now available for everyone who wants to further their training. Filled with resources, it’s a great place to learn more about:

• The 7 Levels of Energy
• Decision Making
• Communication
• Reflection
• Problem-Solving
• Mindset

Staff who were unable to join Chief Administrator Sam Miller on April 1st for the latest agency update can view the recording online. Use the passcode +b2hDYTQ.

Please reach out to your direct supervisor if you have any questions. 

Within our shelter schools our goal is to provide opportunities for students to learn and use skills that will build their employability goals and be future ready when they leave our programs. To provide those opportunities, we have teamed together with our Work Experience Coordinator to begin to build a school based enterprise within the shelter school setting.

Recently we were awarded the McElroy Excellence in Education Enrichment Grant. With that grant we were able to purchase the items we needed to begin our Woofhaven Barkery business at our Woodhaven Youth Shelter Classroom. The students will be making homemade dog treats to sell within the community.

Our students are excited to begin this venture and would love to get some help from within our agency as they prepare their business plan. Part of that plan includes market research to determine what types of treats they should make. We would love your help in completing a survey that our students will use to further their business plans. This is a short 10 question survey that will be used within our shelter classroom to research product interests. We have also included our initial plan proposal for you to see our vision for our students. 

“The goal of this project is to create a school-based enterprise for our students to operate in collaboration with our educational staff. Students will transfer the 21st-century employability skills and grade-level math, reading, and writing skills from in the classroom to the school-based enterprise. Students will write up a plan and calculate costs and a budget for the enterprise.

Once a plan has been developed, students will then research and purchase the needed materials to create dog treats. Students will create marketing campaigns in the local community to promote their products. Students will create samples of the dog treats and distribute them to local community members and dog daycares. Students will work on building relationships with local businesses in order to create a steady stream of customers to sell their products. 

Timeline -Create a written plan and budget by 12/20/21. Purchase materials by 1/30/22. Make samples to hand out to local community members and businesses by 2/20/22. Have an operational school-based enterprise with a steady stream of customers by 5/20/22.” 

Please complete the Woofhaven Barkery Questionnaire by April 10, 2022. Thank you for supporting our students!

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on our survey! We learned a lot from the data and responses. Below, you will find a few things we learned across the whole organization. Your feedback will help us get better at what we do.  

2022 Survey Stats
513 employees were invited and 458 responded (89.3%).
We received over 1600 comments as well.

What three words best describe Central Rivers AEA?

1. Supportive
2. Positive
3. Collaborative

Top Scores 

These three areas were identified as the most encouraging:

1. Execution – At Central Rivers AEA, we do things efficiently and effectively.
2. Appreciation – I feel genuinely appreciated at Central Rivers AEA.
3. Values – Central Rivers AEA operates by strong values.

Bottom Scores

These three areas have the most room for improvement:

1. Meetings – Meetings at Central Rivers AEA make good use of my time.
2. Inclusion – I feel included at Central Rivers AEA.
3. Clued-In Leaders – Administrators understand what is really happening at Central Rivers AEA.

Getting your feedback on the survey was the first step and we loved hearing about what you appreciate, and also what concerns you. Our data indicates that the Culture and Climate is very positive, and we are performing well in comparison to our peers. However, we know we do have some opportunities for improvement, that can make us even better.  

We are in the process of reviewing the comments that we received to gather a deeper understanding as we look to create plans for improvement. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, we look forward to taking the necessary steps to improve.

Having trouble hiding floating controls on Zoom?

Sharing your screen in Zoom and can’t get that pesky floating meeting controls panel out of your way? Hiding it takes only a few seconds! Learn how you can hide your meeting controls from the screen so you can present with ease. 

• In your Zoom meeting control panel, select More…
• Select Hide Floating Meeting Controls

Google Workspace Docusign add-on creates convenience

Having DocuSign eSignature in your Google Workspace puts electronic signing where it offers the most convenience. Generate agreements from Gmail, Drive, or Docs, add recipients or a personal message, then tag the document in DocuSign. Collect signatures or sign agreements all through the DocuSign add-on in your Google Workspace.

This month during the regular meeting of the Central Rivers AEA Board of Directors, the board took action to approve our recommended negotiation agreements. This article provides a summary of each settlement along with some additional information about our financial picture as an agency.

Given the fact that we are in a solid financial position and our cash reserves have increased the past few years, we reopened the previously agreed upon settlements to be more aggressive in favor of employees. It is our hope that the change is received positively, and helps underscore our desire to provide raises and insurance benefits while maintaining our staffing levels and a balanced budget. 

Specifically, we were previously settled for this year at 1%, but based on our current budget, strong solvency rate of 12.45%, and State Supplemental Aid (SSA) set higher than anticipated at 2.5%, we were able to increase our settlement agreements. 

This year’s settlement is not impacted by insurance premium increases. Our insurance rates for next year will stay the same, so all settlement dollars will be allocated to salaries. Although this isn’t always the case, it is wonderful when it works out this way! I think everyone can agree that we would rather see money in paychecks rather than going to an insurance company.

Salary Information for 2022-23 (“Total package”) 

Note: The total package includes the year-over-year increase in the cost of salaries and benefits of current staff.  Benefits include employer costs for medicare, social security, IPERS, health, dental, vision, long-term disability, and life insurance, unemployment, and workers compensation.

Classified (CWA) = 8.20% total package ($267,878) which equates to a 11.51% increase in salaries. This also includes step movement as applicable, redesign of increased wage table, and a $0 increase in employer health, dental, and vision contribution/employee costs.

We needed to improve our starting wages to better compete with a changing labor market, while also honoring our staff who have provided many years of service. We believe that we were able to achieve a good balance. All Classified employees will receive at least a $1 per hour increase for the 2022-23 school year. 

Certified (EA) = 3% total package ($1,024,427), which equates to a 3.37% increase on salaries. Includes step movement as applicable, $765 increase to salary schedule base (new base: $35,930), and $0  increase in employer health, dental, and vision contribution/employee costs.

NUSS = 3% total package ($87,979), which equates to a 3.55% increase on salaries, a $0 increase in employer health, dental, and vision contribution/employee costs.

Administration = 3% total package ($138,380), which equates to a 3.21% increase on salaries and a $0 increase in employer health, dental, and vision contribution/employee costs.

Additional note:

In addition, CRAEA may ask the Board to approve allocating up to $500,000 (from cost savings due to unfilled positions)+ $181,620 to reimburse the self-funded insurance pool for the cost of COVID claims (2/1/20 thru 6/30/21) in an effort to build our self-insurance pool and mitigate the impact of insurance rate increases.

Essentially, we would like to use these one-time funds in an effort to build our self-insurance pool. The healthier our pool, the better we are able to mitigate the impact of insurance rate increases. And as evidenced this year, if we can do that, then more of our settlement dollars go towards increased paychecks. The allocation of the above-identified resources (if approved) will not be costed as part of the settlement.

Below is a table showing the total package increase and cost for each group. 

Estimated New Money (2.5% SSA) = $798,000
Group	Salary (%)	Total Package (%)	Total Package Increase ($)
Certified ($765 base)	3.37%	3.00%	$1,024,427
CWA	11.51%	8.20%	$267,878
Admin	3.21%	3.00%	$138,380
NUSS	3.55%	3.00%	$87,979
Total cost (all funds)			$1,518,664
New Money is the year-over-year increase in state funding received.  Total Package includes the year-over-year increase in the cost of salaries and benefits of current staff.  Benefits include employer costs for medicare, social security, IPERS, health, dental, vision, long-term disability, and life insurance, unemployment, and workers compensation.

For 23-24 (i.e., Year #2 of Settlement): 

1% total package for each group (EA, CWA, NUSS, and ADMIN).

Note 1: We may consider an equal disbursement of our negotiated settlement to each CWA member for 2023-2024. 

In summary, we continue to appreciate multi-year agreements that put us in a position to get our contracts out as soon as possible. Recently, we have been in a pattern of increasing our agreed-upon settlement, based on our financial condition. We have tried to be aggressive the first year of the settlement, and keep a lower second year of the settlement. This allows us to be as aggressive as possible in the short-term, but provides a more conservative settlement should we need it for the subsequent year. Our desire is not to be in a position to have to use the lower settlement amount, but we are prepared if something out of our control impacts our financial picture.

We want to thank everyone for all their efforts, flexibility, and positive attitude again this year. It is a challenging time in education, and our staff have met the challenges with positive attitudes and energy that has made a difference for students, families and educators. We hope that our efforts as an organization have provided evidence that we value and support you personally and professionally. 

Please reach out to Karl Kurt, Asst. Chief Administrator/Director of HR or Michael Kalvig, Chief Financial Officer if you have any specific questions, comments, or concerns.