The Channel

Recent news has included a story involving the settlement of a lawsuit involving the  Iowa Educators’ Consortium/Iowa Association of Educational Purchasing. The IAEP is an organization formed by the Iowa Area Education Agencies (AEAs) under Chapter 28E of the Iowa Code, to assist member schools with the purchase of products and services that enhance their school meals programs in support of the educational goals of students.

This was a  class action suit filed by a couple in the Adel-DeSoto district.  The premise of their suit was that Martin Brothers conspired to restrain competition in the market for the retail sale of food to schools and that Martin Brothers attempted to monopolize that market in violation of Iowa antitrust laws.

This case has been in process for over three years as Martin Brothers was not willing to settle the case because they thought this was a totally bogus class action suit. After further consultations with their attorneys, Martin Brothers generally made a business decision to limit their legal fees and attempt to reach a settlement through mediation.

The settlement agreement was filed with the Clerk of District Court in Dallas County on July 31. Key points of the Martin Brothers settlement include:

• Martin Brothers will pay $1,925,000 to create a settlement fund which will provide monetary relief to the settlement class.
• The settlement class is anyone who paid for a school lunch between January 1, 2000, and July 31,2014.
• A third party will arrange to have notices published in an attempt to reach 88 percent of Iowa’s residents.  This means that notices will be published in 14 of Iowa’s largest newspapers.  The notice will direct interested persons to a website.
• Individuals in the settlement class may complete and submit paperwork to receive reimbursement.  Individuals in the class may receive $3.50 for each year they attended a participating school district up to a maximum of $50.00.
• Any funds remaining after attorney’s fees and class members receive their payments will be paid to participating school districts on a pro rata basis.

Information on the settlement at the following web site http://www.iowaschoolfoodsettlement.com/.

The Iowa Association of Educational Purchasing remains committed to its mission of helping schools save money and provide students with the best meal choices.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met Wednesday, November 5 at 6 p.m. in the AEA 267 Cedar Falls Conference Center. During the meeting, the board:

• Heard a program review regarding Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) from Shaelynn Farnsworth, Consultant for School Improvement and Jeff Struck, Consultant for Mathematics.
• Approved the Educator Quality Committee for 2014-15.
• Approved the AEA 267 Advisory Committee for 2014-15.
• Approved the contract with Struxture Architects for the Cedar Falls Conference Center remodeling project.
• Approved the Title III Grant for 2014-15 with the Iowa Department of Education.
• Approved the contract with Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin for the Assessment and Intervention for English Language Learners with Language Impairment workshop on March 27-28, 2015.
• Approved participation in the Iowa Drug and Alcohol Testing Program for 2014-15.
• Heard a variety of reports from directors and fellow board members.

A new extension directory has been added to the staff website (Communications & Technology>Cell Phone Directory & Information and Staff Office Extensions) to make interoffice calling between Clear Lake, Marshalltown and Cedar Falls easier! The directory details the 4-digit extension number for all employees housed in one of the three offices. (These numbers are not listed in the searchable Contact Us directory on our public website as the numbers can’t be used by outside callers.)

The agency crisis plan has been updated to reflect the information we received during the August sector kick-off meetings regarding options for responding to a violent intruder in the workplace. Copies of the plan are in the process of being distributed to all AEA 267 administrators and offices, where they should be kept in an obvious location for reference. In addition, the plan is available on the staff website (use your email login/password to access the staff website). Please take time to review the plan and familiarize yourself with our agency procedures.

A day of learning, fun and camaraderie is being planned for agency support staff as part of the 2014 Office Support Professionals’ Day to be held Tuesday, November 18. The morning keynote presentation will focus on key aspects of our Core Operating Principles including building and maintaining positive relationships, developing a customer-focused attitude, handling conflict effectively, and taking initiative. The afternoon will feature three skill-building mini-sessions around proofreading/editing and business writing, going deeper with Google, and learning how to use the staff and public websites as resources to tackle daily tasks.

An official invitation with more details will be sent to support staff in the coming weeks. For now, please hold the date on your calendar!

Just a friendly reminder that the agency will host three flu shot clinics for staff members this month. Contact Human Resources at (319) 273-8246 to sign up or send an email to Judy Dummermuth by October 3 at 4:30 pm.

CEDAR FALLS- Wednesday, October 15, 2014 from 6:30 am to 8:00 am in the CF Conference Center Lobby (cholesterol testing will also be available)

CLEAR LAKE- Monday, October 13, 2014 from 7:00 am to 8:30 am in Room D of the Clear Lake Office (cholesterol testing will also be available)

MARSHALLTOWN- Tuesday, October 14, 2014 from 6:30 am to 8:00 am in Room A of the Marshalltown Office

Please bring your insurance or Medicare card to the clinic!  If you do not have insurance with AEA 267, you will have to pay for the shot at that time.

Someday, each of us would like to relax and enjoy the fruits of our labor. However, the Social Security administration believes that most people aren’t saving enough for that “someday” when they retire. Social Security offers a my Social Security account to help people prepare and manage their “someday.” With a my Social Security account, you can:

• Get your online Social Security statement;
• Verify your lifetime earnings;
• See estimates of your future earnings;
• Manage your benefits; and so much more.

Do you participate in Zoom conferences regularly? If so, you may benefit from downloading the free Zoom app to your smartphone. The app is available from the App Store for iOS devices and via the Play Store for Android. Please keep in mind that the use of video via a data connection has the potential to use a great deal of your data! You’ll want to be careful how often you choose this option if you have a smaller data plan. (Use of the app via a wireless connection should not impact your data usage.) And of course, NEVER Zoom and drive!

If you are the lead for a project that has had materials archived on Basecamp, you have probably already been contacted by Kerri Wilson about moving your materials to Google or another online location. Beginning January 1, 2015, the agency will no longer maintain an account with Basecamp given the variety of other online tools now available. Please contact Kerri if you have questions.