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Betty Westmeyer, a long-time advocate for students with special needs, is stepping down from the AEA 267 board when her term ends in October. Westmeyer has been a member of the AEA board since 1982 when her son was a student at River Hills.

When asked about the highlights of her tenure as an AEA board member, Westmeyer cited her advocacy for a formal graduation ceremony at River Hills School. “Prior to that, there had not been a ceremony,” she said. “I’ve attended every ceremony since 1984 when they started and I’ve shed tears every time. It’s a very moving experience.”

Westmeyer was also instrumental in the transition from three Area Education Agencies (AEAs 2, 6 & 7) to one in 2003. “It was a time of great uncertainty and fear of the unknown. I feel very good about how things have turned out.”

Although her accomplishments are many, Westmeyer feels a tinge of regret about the fact that her advocacy for lengthening the school year has not resulted in real change in the state. She has been a long-time proponent of a longer school year to retain and advance student learning. Still, she feels the time is right to step down.

“The friendships I have made while on the AEA board have been wonderful,” said Westmeyer. “This closes an important chapter in my life. My advice to any new board member is to speak up and let people know how you feel…being a board member is very rewarding.”

In her capacity as an AEA 267 board member, Westmeyer has represented Director District 4 which includes the school districts of Charles City, Denver, Janesville, Nashua-Plainfield, Sumner, Tripoli, Wapsie Valley, and Waverly-Shell Rock. A search for a candidate to fill Westmeyer’s vacancy is pending.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met at 6 p.m. on August 5, 2009, in the AEA 267 Conference Center for their regular meeting.

During the meeting, the board:

• Heard a review of the work and experiences of the AEA 267 Crisis Response Team from Stan Hanus (team leader) and other members of the team regarding their recent work in Aplington-Parkersburg.
• Accepted with regret the resignation of Andrew Meister, Teacher of Behavior Disorders (Devonshire), effective immediately.
• Motioned to hire Jon McEwan, Jr., Teacher of Multi Disab/Severe & Profound (Mason City); Rebecca Eness, Speech-Language Pathologist (TBD); Cam Turner, School Social Worker (Castle Hill School); Jared Pospisil, Teacher of Multi Disabilities/SCI (Union High School); Farrah Olson, Work Experience/Transition Specialist (Sectors 1,2,4); Jeanna Cripe, Teacher of Behavior Disorders (Devonshire).
• Approved 2009-2010 master contract with the AEA 267 Education Association.
• Heard the second reading of board policies #405.1 (sick leave) and #405.2 (vacation leave).
• Approved the contract with Pruckler Physical Therapy.
• Approved the 2009-2010 contract for Adaptive P.E. Services with Marshalltown CSD.
• Accepted with gratitude a memorial gift to AEA 267 from the family of Deb McGowan. An outdoor bench will be placed near the front entrance of the AEA 267 Marshalltown conference center.
• Approved the consortium agreement between Mid-Iowa School Improvement (MISIC) Consortium and Bremwood providing access to MAP tests.
• Approved the transportation agreement between EPI, INRTC and AEA 267.
• Approved the agreement with Iowa Falls Community Schools for lease of office facilities in Iowa Falls.
• Approved the contract with the Iowa Juvenile Home to purchase psychologist services from AEA 267.
• Reviewed the mileage reimbursement rate. The board elected to maintain the current mileage rate.
• Approved contracts with North Iowa Community Action for Project Child Care and Head Start.
• Approved the contract with Iowa State University for LEA Administrator Technology Professional Development for 2009-2010.
• Approved renewal of the partner contract with Exceptional Persons for provision of Early ACCESS services.
• Approved the architectural contract and authorized preliminary window and door projects for the Clear Lake remodeling work.
• Heard a variety of reports from directors and fellow board members.

Nine AEA 267 staff members will represent the agency throughout the day on August 13 at the state AEA booth in the Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State Fair. Staff members will give out AEA logo tattoos to children, talk about AEA services and gather AEA success stories from those who stop by.

This is the second year the AEA system has had a booth at the State Fair. Last year’s booth was a huge success resulting in thousands of contacts with Iowans throughout the state.

For those staff members coming back from extended time away from the office over the summer, please remember to update your voice mail greeting and any automated email responses you set prior to leaving for the summer. Remember that the agency requires that all voice mail greetings be current for the day or week. If you need assistance, please see the help guides and scripts posted on the staff website.

Hats off to AEA 267 Devonshire students for raising over $400 for the Waterloo Canine Unit through their “Caring Coins” program. Students presented their donation to the chief of police and others from the department (including drug dog, Spike) at a special ceremony Thursday, June 4. The event is set to receive positive news coverage from both KWWL-TV and the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier.

This project is one of many AEA 267 Devonshire students take on to contribute positively to the community. Thanks for doing such a great job! Special thanks to Cindy Lang and Paula Goetz for their leadership.

Long-time AEA 267 employee Judy Dixon, a special education consultant in Sector 8, has passed away.
Services were held on Sunday, May 31, 2009 at St. Timothy United Methodist Church in Cedar Falls. Concern and sympathy are extended to her family and co-workers.

Based on an extensive review of a variety of data sources which speak to the needs of our educational partners, a near final draft of the agency’s plan for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) or “stimulus” funds is now available. The plan calls for a variety of “focus areas” or initiatives, including:

• Saving Current AEA 267 Positions:  Approximately 14 positions that would have been reduced or retirements not filled will be maintained.
• Early Childhood:  Provide intensive support to districts in birth-age three, ages three-kindergarten, and first through fifth grades.  This focus area would include support for literacy, math, and science as well as other areas.
• Iowa Core Curriculum:  Provide an additional 1.5 FTE to help districts with their implementation of the Iowa Core Curriculum.
• Instructional Decision Making (IDM):  Provide for materials and cost of additional staff time to provide for training of AEA and LEA teachers and staff in IDM.
• Schools in Need of Assistance (SINA):  Provide resources to assist SINA schools in the timely completion of their school audit.
• English Language Learners:  Provide an additional 1.0 FTE to provide consultant support to districts with growing and large ELL populations.
• Technology:  Upgrade AEA 267 technology to better support technology integration and web-based and other learning delivery systems.
• Leadership Development:  Provide internal staff development in critical areas so the AEA is less reliant on one person and would have potential back-up due to illness, retirement, etc. of key staff.
• Administrative Technology Leadership Development:  Provide technology training to school leaders to help them better utilize instructional technologies in their building or district.
• Professional Development: Provide resources to offer additional professional development opportunities for AEA and LEA staff.

AEA/DE Collaborative Projects, including:

• Learning Supports:  Commit .5 FTE for a Learning Supports Coordinator.
• Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS):  Commit .5 FTE for a PBIS Coordinator.
• Challenging Behaviors:  Commit 1.0 FTE for a Technical Assistant Consultant to address challenging behaviors.
• AEA 267 support for Iowa Department of Education (DE) Iowa Core Curriculum (ICC) efforts:  Provide a prorated share of support for DE ICC efforts.
• Instructional Coaching Academy:  A statewide professional development opportunity to train up to 80 trainers in instructional coaching strategies.

“These funds have very specific guidelines attached to them regarding how they may be spent,” said Dr. Dean Meier, chief administrator. “We believe we have made a direct match between the intent of the funds from the Federal government’s perspective and the most pressing needs of the children, families and educators that we serve. We are excited about the potential the funds create for increased student achievement.”

For a complete copy of the current draft of the plan, download it here.

The Workplace Environmental Safety Assessment form and procedure is now available.  This is a new form that is only to be used by AEA 267 employees if they believe there is an environmental safety issue at one of the AEA 267’s facilities to which they are assigned.  They are not to be used for maintenance work.  This form will be kept at your school/building secretary’s desk where staff will have to request a form.

For more information, contact Roxanne Colling, Personnel Specialist.

A project to include the conversion of the Educational Services area to a large conference room with moveable walls has been approved by the AEA 267 board of directors. The remodeling project, which will begin late summer, will create badly needed meeting space for larger groups. Currently, the agency must rent meeting space off-site for groups over 70.

“It isn’t cost effective for us to continue to rent space outside of the agency to hold larger meetings,” said Dr. Dean Meier, chief administrator. “This improvement will enhance our professional development program and allow us to better serve our educational partners.”

In addition to the larger conference space, the plan calls for expansion of the women’s bathroom in the center of the building to accommodate the increased traffic in that area. Both the women’s and men’s bathrooms will also be upgraded.

To eliminate off-site storage space and provide shelter for delivery vans, a non-climate controlled garage will be built on the property as well. The agency has rented storage space in Mason City for several years to create needed space.

“The agency has a line item budget for facility improvements each year,” said Meier. “These needs in the Clear Lake office have been around for quite some time and we need to address them.”

A schematic of the updated floor plan is available here.

The agency will shift to summer hours beginning Monday, June 8. Summer hours will be from 7:30 am-4 pm through August 14.

Are you interested in being trained to perform CPR/Basic First Aid or to use the Automatic Defibrillator? The agency is offering another round of trainings to those interested both as a benefit to staff in their personal lives and to add to the cadre of employees who have the ability to save lives should an emergency arise in the office.

Tuesday, July 28th–Clear Lake Office

Wednesday, July 29th–Marshalltown Office

Friday, July 31st–Cedar Falls Office

For more information or to sign-up for the training, please contact Kerri Wilson at 319-273-8201. Thank you to Julie Neuberger for her willingness to provide this training to staff.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met for a Board retreat at 4:00 p.m. June 3, 2009 to discuss the proposed AEA 267 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act program plans and to review proposed remodeling plans for the Clear Lake office. They reconvened at 6:00 p.m. in the AEA 267 Conference Center for their regular meeting.

During the regular meeting, the board:

• Heard a program review of a book produced through AEA 267’s Service Learning Grant, The Bosnian KOLO Folk Dance Photo Book, by authors, Zulfeta Rizvic and Sefika Sarkic, and AEA 267 editors, Linda Martin and Dr. Sara McInerny.
• Motioned to hire Mandy Burns, Physical Therapist (Marshalltown); Kari Christenson, Special Ed Consultant (Sector 4); Tiffany Everding, School Psychologist (Sector 8); Pamela Johnson, Teacher of Early Childhood Special Education (East Buchanan Elementary); Leanne Kaiser-Wehling, SLP (Sector 2); Judith Kenealy, Special Ed Consultant (Sector 2); Seth Kite, School Psychologist (Sector 6); Lydia Robertson, Speech-Language Pathologist (location TBD); Angie Schrage, Multi-SCI Teacher (New Hartford Elementary); Janet Thomas, Speech-Language Pathologist (location TBD); James Zabel, Teacher of Multi-Disabilities/Resource (Tripoli Middle/High).
• Accepted with regret the resignations of Michelle Krivanek, Teacher of Early Childhood Special Education (Castle Hill School); and Jamie Sadler, Teacher of Multi Disabilities/SCI (State Training School).
• Approved a lease extension for the Grinnell sector office.
• Approved the second reading of the following board policies:

o    601.4    Financial Records
o    602.1    Custody of Funds
o    602.3    Deposit of Receipts
o    603.6    Inventory
o    605.1     Insurance Management

• Heard a variety of reports from directors and fellow board members.
• Held a strategy session for collective bargaining issues.
• Discussed ratification of collective bargaining contracts for 09-10: AEA 267 CWA.
• Held an exempt session to discuss non-union support staff and administrative salaries for 2009-2010.
• Approved salary packages for 2009-10 including 4.11% total package for CWA staff; 3.93% total package for Non-Union Support Staff and 3.52% total package for administrative staff.