The Channel

Regardless of your role with AEA 267, safety should always be your top priority. For those staff who make home visits, staying safe requires extra vigilance and attention to detail.

The agency offers a “Home Visitor Safety” course each fall to anyone  who will be providing home visits or would like more information on working safe. To register for the class, please sign up online at ‘My 267’ for professional development course #15305 “Introduction to Coaching and Home Visitor Safety.” If you are interested and become aware of additional safety courses available in your community, please share your interest with your Regional Administrator.

Aside from the Home Visitor Safety course, there are some basic guidelines that you can use in your daily work to help reduce your risks. Please take a minute to review these important reminders:

• If you ever feel unsafe, the agency supports you in driving by or leaving a home immediately. Always follow-up with a call to your Regional Administrator to report the incident.
• Always be aware of what is going on around you. Stay alert.
• Contact the family in advance and do some research if you need to. Plan your route and know your surroundings.
• Wear your AEA identification badge, have your cell phone charged, and be sure your online calendar is current so that your whereabouts are clearly known.
• Park in a well-lit area with access to an easy exit. Keep your keys handy and leave your purse (covered) in your car or trunk.

If you have some ideas on how to improve staff safety, feel free to share them with your Regional Administrator.

Flu season is right around the corner and the agency is offering a flu shot clinic at each of our office locations on Wednesday, October 19th.

• Cedar Falls: Conference Center Lobby, 6:30-8:00 A.M.
• Clear Lake: Room D, 7:00-8:30 A.M.
• Marshalltown: Room A, 6:30-8:00 A.M.

Sign-up by Friday, October 14 by calling (319-273-8246) or emailing Kathy Barfels in Human Resources. Employees and family members covered by AEA 267 health insurance can fill out a form at the time of the shot and the clinic providers will file the form with our insurance company. All others will need to pay at the time of the shot. *The clinic is not limited to AEA 267 employees.

AEA 267 will receive an intensive, “differentiated accountability” site visit by the Iowa Department of Education (IDE) in May. The department will first complete a “desk audit” around AEA standards including a focus on closing the achievement gap and early literacy. The audit will be followed by a formal visit from an IDE-assembled team including representation from schools we serve as well as staff from the other AEAs. Data will be collected around the healthy indicators rolled out by the Department last year.

The visit is a welcome chance for the agency to collaborate in an almost professional learning community environment to look closely at what’s working and not with regard to the impact of our services. We have already self-identified many areas for growth and are in the midst of implementing several new approaches including the Regional Administrator model.

Watch for more information to be shared at a future date!

The AEA 267 media center has a new video recording device available called the SWIVL that staff can use to record instructional content such as presentations or trainings.

The SWIVL is essentially a robotic mount that can hook up to a variety of tablets and smartphones. The kits available for checkout do not come with a tablet or smartphone so staff members must have access to one and be able to download the SWIVL App to their device. The app accesses the camera on your tablet or phone to record video content while the robotic platform holding your device “swivels” back and forth to track the movements of whichever individual is wearing the kit’s tracking “marker” around their neck.  From the app you can then easily upload your recorded clips to the internet.

Currently SWIVL kits are available for checkout only by AEA 267 staff intending to capture video for instructional uses.  The media center has six devices available.  Just contact any AEA 267 media center location to request and reserve a kit.  Also, please keep in mind that you may need to have individuals you’re recording fill out an AEA 267 media release form which is available on the staff website under Communication & Technology> “Digital Resources.”  If you have questions or need copies of the media release please contact Tiffany Schmitt. Also, please be mindful of copyright when considering your subject matter. This resource (also on the staff website) should be reviewed in advance.

Included in each kit is an instructional booklet to walk you through the process of setup and usage.  For further information and training on how to use the SWIVL, staff are encouraged to contact either Sarah Lalk or Cari Teske.

The Flex Room contains resources and technology that require special training in order to use them to their full capacity, beyond the basic projecting of one computer screen to all monitors.  This training will provide participants with the capability or projecting multiple devices at the same time, choosing multiple input and output selections and wireless presenting.  Participants can attend these half-day trainings for one, two, or three hours depending on their needs.  You can sign up for the Flex Room Training (Course # 15399)  through our professional learning system.

1. October 26 – 1:00 P.M.
2. December 13 – 1:00 P.M.
3. January 4 – 9:00 A.M.
4. April 25 – 1:00 P.M.
5. June 22 –  1:00 P.M.

If you have any questions about trainings, please contact Michelle Cowell.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met Wednesday, October. 5, 2016 in the Cedar Falls Conference Center. The board agenda and packet is available online and the minutes will be published online after approval at the next month’s board meeting.

To support a timely staff replacement process and assist in budget planning, a retirement incentive will be provided for Certified and Administrative Staff who provide early notification of their intent to resign or retire at the end of the 2016-17 work year.

The proposed incentive would be administered as follows:

Commitments of separation by resignation or retirement at the end of the 2016-17 work year submitted by Certified or Administrative Staff, and received in the Human Resources Office between October 3, 2016, and December 2, 2016, and accepted by the Board no later than the regular meeting on December 7, 2016, will receive an early notification incentive payment of $1,500 to be payable June 30, 2017 subject to the employee fulfilling their individual employment contract obligations for the 2016-17 work year. This incentive is only being offered to Certified and Administrative staff due to the challenge in securing replacement licensed staff in these categories.

The topic of professional dress has recently been discussed at our Regional Administrators’ meeting in an effort to ensure that we present ourselves and AEA 267 in the most positive light.  Our dress code was last clarified back in 2012, but with the beginning of the year, we felt it was important to remind everyone of the expectations to ensure consistency.  

The “spirit” of our expectations around professional dress is to represent our agency in a professional light and underscore the important work that we do.  We hope to present ourselves as an organization that takes their work and roles seriously and dress in a way that is parallel to the responsibilities of our jobs.

Here are some general reminders:

Monday-Thursday: Business casual (khakis/polos, dress pants, tops, etc.) to business professional (skirts, pant suits, etc.) depending on who your audience is for the day. If you are giving a presentation, you would probably choose business professional.  If you are simply working  in the office, then business casual is probably just fine (as well as a minimum expectation).

Friday: Jeans are welcome (with a business professional top).  However, again, please remember who your audience is for the day and dress appropriately given your audience.

Example of business casual

Example of “Friday casual”

Example of business professional

Some general rules of thumb:

• Please, no t-shirts.   
• No Flip-Flops. (Flip Flops are not the same as open-toed shoes.)

If you have compelling reasons for requesting variance to the expected attire, please speak with your supervisor. Our hope is that we don’t have to spend a lot of time or energy on dress code issues as we all have much more impactful priorities that desire our attention!  Thanks for your cooperation. Questions? Contact your supervisor.

Safety and accountability are important values for all AEA 267 employees. To ensure that all our staff are safe and accountable, beginning with the 2016-17 school year, we are asking all staff to check into and out of the facilities they support. While most school buildings have a sign-in area, AEA 267 administration has asked that all do by the start of the new school year. Not only is this an important accountability step, it will also ensure that your whereabouts are always known in the event of an emergency.

In addition to signing in at buildings, starting July 1, all staff are asked to ensure that their online calendars are kept current and detailed as follows:

(Deviations from these expectations can be made at the discretion of the supervisor.)

(Category 1) “Full” Calendar: Calendars will indicate on a daily basis using the “busy” designation where the staff member is physically located at the approximate times. In addition, other meetings may be listed on the calendar that the staff member may want to be conscious of or attend if time allows and are indicated using the “free” or “tentative” designation. All leave types should also be noted (i.e. sick, personal, EQ, etc.) using the “out of office” designation.

Staff who fall into this category: Administrative Team, direct service providers such as ECSE, Early Access, itinerant hearing, itinerant visually impaired, orientation & mobility , OT/PT, work experience/transition specialists and coordinators, audiologists, audiometrists, COTAs, SLPAs, Family Educator Connection staff, technology consultants, consulting staff, teacher librarians, and technology staff who serve multiple locations or districts.

(Category 2) “Repeat” calendar: Calendar shows the physical location where the staff member is located each day as well as the actual times they are in each location. Use the “busy” designation.  (If you deviate from your assignment, that deviation should be noted on your calendar.) All leave types should also be noted (i.e. sick, personal, EQ, etc.). Use the “out of office” designation.

Staff who fall into this category: Staff members who have a consistent schedule at multiple locations (e.g. Special Ed Team Reps, consultants, social workers, psychologists, SLPs,  and support staff assigned to River Hills.)

(Category 3) “Minimal” calendar: Calendar indicates when the staff member is out of the office for a meeting, vacation or other leave. Use the “out of office” designation.

Staff who fall into this category: Staff members who have a consistent schedule at one location including secretaries, HR & Business Office staff, custodians, print room staff, lending library staff and shelter/detention staff. All leave types should also be noted (i.e. sick, personal, EQ, etc.).

(Category 4) No online calendar completed

Staff who fall into this category: Van drivers.

Questions? Contact your supervisor.