The Channel

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Hello everyone and welcome back for those of you who are returning after a summer break! We look forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming sector meetings. Please remember that this is a required meeting for all staff (Note: Pinecrest and River Hills instructional staff will receive the information at a later date).

Although we are planning on each staff member attending their specific sector’s meeting, if you find yourself in a situation where you need to attend another sector meeting location instead, it is very important that you let your supervisor know in advance so that adjustments can be made by those in charge of logistics. We will have sign-in sheets at each location.

A social time will be held at 8:30 a.m. followed by the official start to the meeting at 9 a.m. We will break for lunch (on your own) at approximately 11:30 am. and return at 1 p.m. for breakout meetings by service area until approximately 3 p.m. (Note: Clerical staff, Info Tech staff not assigned to a sector, and central administrative team members who are not a part of a sector may be free to return to their work locations after lunch. Please check with your supervisor.)

• Monday, August 12:  NW Sector at the AEA 267 Clear Lake Office
• Tuesday, August 13:  NE Sector at the Waverly-Shell Rock High School (Rada Auditorium)
• Wednesday, August 14:  East Sector at the AEA 267 Cedar Falls Conference Center
• Thursday, August 15:  South Sector at the AEA 267 Marshalltown Office

Meeting materials:

Power Point presentation outlining our work for 2013-14

Years of Service awards

Peer collaboration information

AEA 267 peer collaboration log

Employee background check information

TEACH Iowa information

Update on Emergency Medical Leave request process

New AEA 267 staff for 2013-14

Core, supplemental and intensive resource (Learning Supports)

Learning Supports matrix example

Learning Support Team 2013-14

Check back in the coming weeks for an online photo album from this week’s meetings!

Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs) are pleased to announce the launch of a statewide Pinterest site.

The Iowa’s AEAs Pinterest site is a collaborative project of Iowa’s nine AEAs. The site is maintained by AEA consultants from all over the state who specialize in different curriculum and instructional areas. The over 35 pinning boards provide a visual, dynamic forum which informs parents, educators and school administrators about AEA programs and resources, as well as other quality, credible ideas and resources relating to education.

Items posted to the site are reviewed by AEA staff with the intention of providing participants with quality ideas that can be used in the classroom and beyond.

Would you like to share your expertise and become a “collaborator” on one of the AEA Pinterest boards? Please contact Beth Strike.

Learn more about the value of Pinterest to educators in a recent article published by Edutopia.

Dr. Brad Buck

Gov. Terry E. Branstad named Dr. Brad Buck, 44, to be the next Iowa Department of Education director, calling him a visionary leader with the right skills to implement the landmark education reform package passed by the 2013 Legislature.

Buck has served as superintendent of the 1,300-student Saydel school district in rural Polk County since July 2011. He previously worked as a school administrator in the Waukee, Hudson and North Mahaska school districts from 1997 to 2011. Buck began his education career in 1992 as a science teacher at Parkview Middle School in Ankeny.  He is also a past president of School Administrators of Iowa.

Visit the DE website to access the complete news release.

Kathy Enslin

Area Education Agency 267 (AEA 267) is pleased to announce that Kathy Enslin has joined AEA 267 as the Interim Assistant Chief Administrator/Director of Human Resources. Enslin replaces Dr. Anne Sullivan, who accepted a position with the Des Moines Public Schools.

Kathy has been the superintendent of Denver Community Schools for the past 11 years and prior to that served 18 years at North Kossuth as a teacher, principal and eventually the superintendent. Along with her extensive experience in the school districts, Enslin has been a member of the AEA 267 Information and Technology board and is currently serving on the AEA 267 Special Education board.

Enslin received her Bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University, a Master’s degree in Special Education Administration and an Educational Specialist in Educational Leadership from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Please join us in welcoming Kathy! The AEA 267 Board will be reviewing options for the Assistant Chief Administrator/Director of Human Resources position through the next several months.

TeachIowa.gov is part of the Teach Iowa Initiative, a component of the new education reform law that aims to attract top talent into the teaching pipeline.

The system is managed by the Iowa Department of Education and the Board of Educational Examiners.

Hundreds of job openings at school districts and AEAs have been posted to TeachIowa.gov so far. The new education reform law requires public schools and AEAs to post all job vacancies to the system starting today. The system is optional for nonpublic schools.

For more information, please visit http://www.teachiowa.gov.

A new video provides visitors to the AEA 267 website with a descriptive tour of all the features and services available via this important electronic resource. The tour features information about how to access services, locate AEA 267 staff, order materials, register for a professional development opportunity, as well as utilize instructional content. The video will be shown at 21 opening day district kick-off meetings this month by members of the AEA 267 Administrative Cabinet and other administrative staff. To view the video, simply go to the agency’s website and click “play” on the video in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.

Iowa’s Area Education Agencies are pleased to announce the launch of a new website redesign at www.iowaaea.org. The new design better meets the needs of Iowa educators and families by making the site more functional, intuitive and appealing. Let us know what you think!

Mason City Community School District has changed the name of the Four Oaks instructional program to Pinecrest Center. The program, which contracts AEA 267 instructional and administrative staff, will reside at the same location in Mason City.

Emily Holt

Emily Holt, a physical therapist with Area Education Agency 267 (AEA 267) has earned a Pediatric Specialist certification  from The American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties (ABPTS).  Obtaining the pediatric specialist certification gives the physical therapist a greater depth of skills in their area of practice and provides formal recognition of advanced clinical knowledge in pediatrics, as well as assisting consumers and the healthcare community in identifying these physical therapists.

Emily came to AEA 267 in 2011 from Kentucky where she worked in an outpatient pediatric clinic.  Choosing to advance her education in order to provide the highest possible level of physical therapy care for children, Emily is one of only 17 physical therapists in Iowa who has earned the certified specialist credential in pediatrics.

Emily and her husband, Konrad, live in Clear Lake with their dog, Floyd.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met July 10 at 5 p.m. via a conference call from the AEA 267 Conference Center for their regular meeting. During the meeting, the board:

• Approved the 2013-14 Fiscal Agent Agreement with Cedar Valley Promise.

• Approved agreements with Statewide System for vision services.

• Approved a lease with Community United Child Care Centers for a classroom at Valley Park for 2013-14.

• Approved the 2013-14 Transportation contract with EPI/Northland Regional Transit.

• Approved the 28E agreement with Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock for an education associate for the 2012-13 school year.

• Reviewed Board Policy 405.7-Jury Duty.

• Approved the revision of the AEA 267 Reorganization Plan.

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

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met August 14 at 6 p.m. in the AEA 267 Conference Center for their regular meeting. During the meeting, the board:

• Heard a program review and watched a demonstration of the Infinite Visions software.

• Approved an amended contract with the State Training School for 2013-14.

• Approved the 2013-14 contract with MJ Care for Medicaid services.

• Approved the amended 2013 Fiscal Agent Agreement with Cedar Valley Promise.

• Reviewed the AEA 267 mileage reimbursement rate.

• Approved authorization to accept bids for new Media delivery vans for 2013-14.

• Accepted the RJ McElroy Grant for 2013-14.

• Approved revisions of the following Board Policies and Regulations:

  • 405.8-Personal Business Leave

  • 504-Early ACCESS Policies

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

The phone systems at our Cedar Falls, Clear Lake and River Hills sites have been configured to support four-digit dialing between agency phones located at those facilities.

Utilizing the four-digit dialing system will not only connect you directly to the phone of the person to whom you wish to speak, but will eliminate the cost for long distance calls between our Cedar Falls and Clear Lake facilities.

The “Phone Book” button on agency phones can be used to lookup four-digit phone numbers for staff. After pressing the “Phonebook” key; simply use the keypad to type in the first few letters of a staff person’s last name, press the “Lookup” key, press the “Next” and “Backup” keys until the correct name appears, and then press the “Call” key.

If you are dialing from the Clear Lake office, to reach the Cedar Falls receptionist dial 1100. If you are in the Cedar Falls office, dial 1001 to reach the Clear Lake receptionist.

To eliminate toll charges, 800 numbers should not be used to make calls between the Cedar Falls, and Clear Lake facilities.

At this point, we do not have four-digit dialing for our other offices, so please continue to make calls to and from those offices as you have done in the past.

Dr. Roark Horn, AEA 267 Chief Administrator

Final decisions on educational appropriations were made by the State Legislature on the last day of the this year’s session, which occurred after I conducted budget hearings at the main offices. There was good news and bad news regarding the AEAs. We are getting the 2% in supplemental state aid (formerly allowable growth), so increased revenue to us on that will be about $450,000. But the language in the bill was written in such a way that AEAs would not receive the additional 2% in the “2% + 2%” proposal. This was a surprise and we believe this was not the legislative intent. We are trying to get this addressed, but it is possible it will stand as passed since the legislature has adjourned. That will cost AEA 267 about $450,000 in additional revenue. The good news, however, is that the Legislature did restore some of the $20 million cut that we have been under for the past two years. They gave the AEAs back $5 million, which is an additional increase for 267 of about $700,000. Negotiated settlements have been reached, but some are yet to be ratified. Once that is all done it appears that for next year expenses will exceed revenues by about $1.5 million. This continues us on the wrong trajectory, but if everyone continues the current practice of working together to manage expenses there is hope that we can pause or reverse that trajectory in 2014-15.