Category: Uncategorized

The 2009-10 board met in the Cedar Falls Conference Center at 6 p.m. and moved to adjourn the final meeting of the 2009-10 Board of Directors, thanking members for their dedication in directing the agency through another successful year of operation.

The 2010-11 Board of Directors met at 6:05 p.m. for their regular meeting.

During the meeting, the board:

• Elected Charlotte Upah as the President and Roberta Kraft-Abrahamson as Vice President of the 2010-11 Board of Directors. Kerri Wilson administered the Oath of Office to each newly elected officer.
• Appointed Kerri Wilson as Board Secretary and Dennis Scudder as Board Treasurer. Board president Upah then administered the Oath of Office.
• Heard a review from Annalisa Miner and Lisa Wymore on our programs for English Language Learners (ELL). (See related story.)
• Set dates and times for 2010-11 board meetings as the first Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m., with the exceptions of December 8, 2010 and February 9, 2011, on the second Wednesday of those months.
• Approved the Wells Fargo Bank and F & M Bank as depositories of AEA funds with a $10,000,000 and $3,000,000 limit respectively.
• Appointed Steve Weidner as the board’s legal counsel.
• Accepted with regret the retirement of Dr. Bruce Jensen, Area Director of Special Education (Clear Lake) and the resignation of Amy Lungrin, Speech-Language Pathologist (Sector 2), effective as soon as a suitable replacement is found.
• Heard a financial report from Dennis Scudder regarding the 2009-10 fiscal year and a preview of 2010-11.
• Authorized reserving funds in the amount of $150,000 for the Retro Program for workers’ compensation.
• Approved reciprocal transportation agreements between neighboring districts:

• • Forest City and Garner-Hayfield
  • Forest City and Lake Mills
  • Forest City and North Central (Central Springs)
  • Forest City and North Iowa
  • Forest City and Ventura
  • Forest City and Woden-Crystal Lake
  • Garner-Hayfield and Ventura
  • Garner-Hayfield and West Hancock
  • Lake Mills and North Central (Central Springs)
  • Lake Mills and North Iowa
  • Nora-Springs Rock Falls and North Central
  • North Iowa and Woden-Crystal Lake
  • West Hancock and Woden-Crystal Lake

• Accepted the NEA Foundation Learning Grant that was awarded to Karen Mixdorf.
• Heard a variety of reports from directors and fellow board members.

Annalisa Miner and Lisa Wymore, AEA 267 Consultants for English Language Learners (ELL), provided the AEA 267 Board of Directors with an overview of ELL programming during their regular board meeting this month. The board found the following facts and statistics very enlightening! Did you know?

• There are 3,168 ELL students in our agency’s service area
• 43 public school districts have identified ELLs along with two non-publics
• ELLs represent 4.5% of the total enrollment
• 49 languages are spoken in school districts served by AEA 267
• Over 1,100 participants participated in ELL professional development provided by the agency in 2009-10
• Since 1991, the percentage of ELL students in our agency’s area has increased 564.7% or 1,976 students. Since 2001, growth has been closer to 80%.

Annalisa and Lisa do a tremendous job meeting the growing demand for services for this special population of students. Great work!

October is National Physical Therapy month! AEA 267 physical therapists work as part of an intradisciplinary educational team and provide expertise in the areas of mobility, independent skill building, assisted skills, educational and work activities, gross and visual motor development and so much more. If you see any of the AEA 267 physical therapists listed below, please thank them for the important role they play in our agency:

• Mandy Burns
• Robin Charlson
• Judith Dale
• Christa Kelly
• Jaymie Redfern
• Arlys Stevens
• Jamie Van Erem
• Karen Weltzin
• Sarah Schultes

Jennifer Davis, AEA 267 Speech Language Pathologist, will be awarded the Bingham Innovation Award by the Iowa Speech Language Hearing Foundation for her innovative plans to use iPods with students. A $500 cash prize will be given to Jennifer to go toward the purchase of two iPod Touch devices and related apps to be shared by the AEA 267 Speech and Language department. Congratulations, Jennifer!

AEA 267?s Julie Crotty, Consultant for Curriculum Development, will present a ticketed session on brain-based learning at the National Middle School conference next month in Baltimore, MD. Congratulations, Julie!

As of October 1, the agency will no longer rely on Snowcap as our announcement provider for text and email announcements. While Snowcap provided some additional options that served us well, unfortunately, reliability proved to be an issue. Instead of Snowcap, the agency will go back to using Iowa School Alerts, a free, state-hosted announcement system, which many of our school districts also use. If you previously were signed up to receive announcements through Snowcap, please take a few minutes sometime before October 1 to sign up with Iowa School Alerts at https://schoolalerts.iowa.gov/. Downloadable directions for those that want step-by-step directions are available here!

Please note that the Iowa School Alerts system sends emails to cell phones. If you do not have an email enabled phone, you will receive the message as a text. Dependent on your cell phone provider, you may or may not receive all of the message (due to length of message). You should check with your cell phone provider to see if you will be charged for any text messages you would receive (incoming text).

Questions? Contact Jerry Schnabel, Kerri Wilson or Beth Strike for more information.

Members of the AEA 267 crisis team were called into action last week when a long-time elementary teacher in the Grundy Center Community School District died suddenly. Tragically, the teacher was just 36 years old and both students and adults in the school system were understandably impacted. Crisis team members provided counsel and support within hours of receiving the call for help. This service continues to be of great value to schools and team members are to be commended for representing the agency so professionally. Thank you!