Category: Uncategorized

American Education Week will be observed November 14-20 and is a great time to recognize all of you for the incredible work you do to serve children, families and educators. Please watch your van mail for a small token of appreciation in recognition of your efforts.

Every year, AEA 267 staff members have the option of contributing to the United Way. The United Way is working to advance the common good by focusing on education, income and health which are building blocks for a good life—a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health. If you choose to contribute, please download and print the United Way pledge card and return it Betty Beauregard in the AEA 267 Business Office by December 13, 2010. As a reminder, staff may designate where their contribution is directed; and for those interested, this year the River Hills Foundation has been added as a choice! Payroll deduction is also an option. As always, donations to the United Way are completely voluntary.

Although we’ve had drier-than-average weather and great conditions for travel, winter weather is undoubtedly in our future. Are you ready? Below are some helpful links to review:

Iowa School Alerts sign-up for AEA 267 office closing and PD cancellation notification.

Iowa Department of Transportation Road Conditions

Safe Motorist tips for winter driving

AEA 267 staff webpage on Inclement Weather (login: aeastaff/password: aea267ia)

Julie Trembath-Neuberger, Special Education Administrative Intern, was awarded the “Friend of the Year” award on October 29 from Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services. She was recognized for her enthusiastic efforts in partnering with the organization to assist transition students who have disabilities to prepare for and achieve excellent employment outcomes, which ultimately benefits the labor market needs of our state.

Felicia Hagerstrom, a contracted staff member who assists Waterloo Community School District with Positive Behavior Supports work, recently presented at the 2010 National PBIS Leadership Forum: Expanding the Effectiveness of School-wide PBIS Implementation at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, Illinois.  Hagerstrom presented with Dr. Lori Newcomer of the University of Missouri, in a presentation titled, Targeted Support through Social Skills Instructional Groups, Part 2.

Are you on Facebook? Over 500 million people in the world are and AEA 267 is too. Find us on our official AEA 267 Facebook page and follow AEA 267 stories and updates as they occur!

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met in Conference Room G in Marshalltown from 4 – 5:30 p.m. for a board retreat work session with G. Tryon and Associates. The purpose of the work session was to share thoughts and ideas regarding the transition process to new leadership at AEA 267. The board then reconvened at 5:30 p.m. for their regular meeting which began with a transportation appeal between a group of parents open-enrolling out of the Marshalltown Community School District and Marshalltown Community School District administration. The board heard remarks from both parties in the dispute and will take action at a later date upon further consideration of the evidence and pertinent case law.

Also at the meeting, the board:

• Heard a recommendation from Roark Horn, Chief Administrator, regarding the non-union support position of Interim Site Superintendent in the Clear Lake office. Horn recommended Tom Fey, currently superintendent at Rockwell-Swaledale Community School District.

• Heard the First Reading of Board Policies:

401.7 – Evaluation Procedures and Due Process for Non-Certified Personnel

401.7R1 – Classified Employee Evaluation

401.8 – Child Abuse Reporting

401.11 – Transporting of Students by Employees

401.25 Employee Conduct and Appearance

401.26 – Notification of Arrest, Criminal Charges or Child Abuse Complaints

• Heard Dr. Anne Sullivan’s presentation of Amended Board Policies:

041.16 – Substance-Free Workplace

401.16R1 – Substance-Free Workplace Regulation

401.16R2 – Notice to Employees Regarding Substance-Free Workplace

401.24 – Health Insurance, Portability, Accountability Act

402.4 – Employee Purchased Tax-Sheltered Annuities

• Approved reciprocal transportation agreement between:

o   Charles City and Allison-Bristow/Greene

o   North Central (Central Springs) and Osage

o   North Central and St. Ansgar

• Heard a variety of reports from directors and fellow board members.

In order to help districts make informed decisions about AEA 267 Iowa Core professional development offerings in the area of literacy, math, and science, three podcasts available for administrators and teachers were posted to the AEA 267 website recently. The purpose of the podcasts is to help district personnel determine, based on their data, whether or not they should have participants attend Iowa Core Professional Development offerings sponsored by the agency. They also help guide educators on who should attend. The podcasts give a more detailed description of what will be learned and expectations for each offering.

In his visits with area school districts, AEA 267 Chief Administrator Roark Horn learned that this type of information was of high value to educators and he began inquiring with AEA 267 staff about how the task could be accomplished. Within days, our folks had risen to the occasion and produced the podcasts. Podcasts can be viewed at http://www.aea267.k12.ia.us/icc/index.php?page=Resourcespodcasts
AEA 267 Educational Services consultants Laurie Hayzlett, Chris Quisley, Drinda Williams and AEA 267 Digital Teaching and Learning Coordinator, Deb Versteeg, produced the podcasts on behalf of their respective teams. Astonishing!