The Channel

Planning to retire at the end of this year? Please let the Personnel office know as soon as possible so that we can celebrate with you and make decisions about staffing for the future. Contact Shirley Horak, Personnel Coordinator, at 319-273-8245.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors voted not to renew the lease on the AEA 267 Osage sector office citing budget restraints. Approximately 10 special education staff members are housed in the office which also serves as a daycare site for the community. Staff members will be provided office space in other locations in the area beginning July 1, 2010.

The move will save the agency approximately $35,000 including secretarial staff time and equipment related services.

After selecting G. Tryon and Associates as the firm to conduct the search for a new Chief Administrator and Assistant Chief Administrator/Director of Personnel, the AEA 267 Board of Directors is moving forward with assembling focus groups to assist with the process.

Five focus groups have been identified including the following:  Classified/Non-Union Support staff, Licensed Staff, AEA Administrative Staff, Superintendents, and K-12 Administrative staff. Each focus group will be comprised of 12 to 15 people and meet six times in order to discuss desired leadership characteristics, current issues impacting the agency, and participate in candidate interviews.

An advertisement for the Chief Administrator position has been published in the Des Moines Register and other pertinent sources. It is believed that the new Chief Administrator will be secured by April 2 and the Assistant Chief Administrator/Director of Personnel by April 20.

School districts and other educational agencies are encouraged to recognize the contributions of paraeducators during the month of February in observance of Paraeducator Recognition Month. The original proclamation recognizing paraeducators was issued by Iowa’s governor in 2006.  Governor Chet Culver in January of 2008 extended and expanded the proclamation to be observed throughout the entire month of February.

According to the Iowa Department of Education 2009 Condition of Education Report, some 10,270 paraeducators (“aides”) were employed in Iowa public schools in the 2008-09 school year. That number, reported in full-time equivalencies (FTEs), reflects an increase of 62 percent over the 6,341 FTEs reported by public schools in the 1997-98 school year. “As the educational system in Iowa evolves to face the challenges of the 21st century, paraeducators will continue to play a critical role in helping to meet those challenges,” says Norma Lynch, Iowa DE consultant for paraeducators.

A resource designed to assist schools in implementing effective paraeducator practices can be found at http://www.iowa.gov/educate/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=773&Itemid=1297 <http://www.iowa.gov/educate/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=773&amp;Itemid=1297> . Entitled Guide to Effective Paraeducator Practices, Edition II, the document can be reproduced in unlimited numbers. Contact: Norma Lynch, Norma.Lynch@iowa.gov <mailto:Norma.Lynch@iowa.gov> , 515-281-6038.

Mother Nature has provided plenty of opportunities over the past month to use our agency weather announcement procedures. Now that the weather has settled down (at least for now!), it’s a good time to step back and review. Below are three of the most commonly asked questions about our weather procedures.

If an AEA 267 service delivery center closes (i.e. Marshalltown, Cedar Falls or Clear Lake office), are all events scheduled in that office cancelled for the day?

Yes.

What about internal meetings? When professional development courses and workshops are cancelled are internal meetings automatically cancelled also?

No. Internal meetings are held at the discretion of the person leading the meeting. Many factors can be considered including the number of staff involved, where they are driving from and the length of the meeting. Be sure to check with the person leading the internal meeting if you have questions on bad weather days.

Sometimes it takes the news media or Snowcap awhile to share an announcement about an office closing or PD cancellations. Why is that? What if I need to know right away?

There are four ways to learn about whether the office is closed or PD is cancelled: 1.) the agency website; 2.) by calling our announcements line at 1-866-923-1089; 3.) signing up for email and/or text message alerts via Snowcap; or 4.) the news media. Of these four methods, the AEA 267 website and announcements line are by far the fastest. Generally speaking, within about ten minutes of a decision being made, these two resources are updated. The news media and Snowcap are “third party” carriers of our message and there are many variables that can delay timeliness including the number of other weather related announcements they are dealing with that day. When you need to know right away, check the website or announcements line first!

For a complete list of Frequently Asked Questions, refer to our staff website at: www.aea267.k12.ia.us/staff (user name: aeastaff and password: aea267ia) and look under “For Your Reference” on the right of the page.

As a reminder, if you are planning internal meetings that involve staff members from a distance, please remember to set meeting hours to start no earlier than 9 a.m. and end by 3 p.m. Having standard hours will promote car pooling among staff and allow for travel time. In addition, given budget constraints, please utilize technology for meetings whenever possible. This is highly preferred over face-to-face meetings that involve travel expense.

Some questions have been asked by staff members in service delivery center offices (Clear Lake, Marshalltown and Cedar Falls) about whether they are able to paint and decorate their office space to their individual taste. All service delivery centers have color schemes that are allowed and should be followed to support a consistent look and feel. Please remember that requests for office painting and any non-standard office decor items must have prior approval from service area directors and the person in charge of buildings and grounds in each service area.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met in a retreat prior to their regular board meeting this month to discuss plans for recruiting a new Chief Administrator and Assistant Chief Administrator/Director of Personnel for the agency. The board received proposals from four professional search firms and will meet by conference call on January 18 to select firms to interview. Interviews will take place on January 27 and a selection will be made so that the search can officially begin as early as February 3. It is believed that a new Chief Administrator and Assistant Chief Administrator/Director of Personnel will be in place by July 1, 2010. As shared before the holiday break by email, both Dr. Dean Meier, Chief Administrator and Dr. Ralph Bartelt, Assistant Chief Administrator, will retire effective the end of this school year.

In other business, the board:

• Accepted with regret the retirements of Rob Coates, School Psychologist (St. Ansgar High School); Stan Hanus, School Psychologist (Cedar Falls); and Marjorie Krull, Teacher of Behavioral Disorders (Bremwood) all retiring end of 2009-10 school year.
• Accepted the 2008-09 Audit Report from Dennis Muyskens, Hogan-Hanson auditor. It was noted that AEA 267 had no areas of non-compliance and Business Office staff are doing a tremendous job of managing agency finances.
• Heard the proposed  2010-11 budget from Dennis Scudder, Director of Finance and approved publication in local newspapers prior to the February public hearing.
• Approved participation in 2010 Iowa Drug and Alcohol Testing Program (IDATP) for bus drivers.
• Approved the 2010 Extended School Year Calendar.
• Noted the receipt of a letter from Grundy Center Community School District indicating their membership in the Special Education Pool will end on June 30, 2010. AEA 267 will work cooperatively to implement an effective transition.
• Heard a variety of reports from directors and fellow board members.

Barb Ruiter, Special Education Secretary serving the Forest City office was recently notified that an article she had written about her love of paperdolls would be published in the March issue of Paperdoll Review Magazine, a quarterly publication. “I’m excited to be published again,” said Ruiter, a former writer with the Mason City Globe Gazette. She is also the author of several stories including Pink is Perfect for Pigs, a children’s book published several years ago. She currently shares her love of writing and paperdolls through guest speaking in area schools. Congratulations, Barb!