Congratulations to Glenn Maring, Telecommunications Support Technician, and Sandy Kruse, Early Childhood Special Educator, who recently announced their retirement. We wish both Glenn and Sandy well and extend our appreciation for their dedicated service!
Applications for Remote Work Site (RWS) will be accepted through June 19 for the 2020-21 year. Only those working RWS on a regular basis need to fill out the application form. Applications and details can be found on the Portal under My Toolbox > Remote Work Site Program.
May is set aside as School Board Recognition Month and is the perfect time to thank our dedicated board members! Serving over 62,000 students, 5,000 educators, and approximately 500 staff members, these nine committed volunteers are the backbone of the agency, setting the course for our work!
Do you ever wonder how your other Central Rivers AEA co-workers spend their work life? (Okay, we mean when we aren’t safe at home during a pandemic!) On the Job @Central Rivers AEA is a monthly series we’ve just launched to give you a peek into the work of others in the agency. Each month, Chief Administrator Sam Miller spent time with a Central Rivers AEA employee and learned more about the work involved in their position. These highlight videos will also be shared on our website and social media sites to help educate the public about the work of an AEA.
Up this month? Holly Ritter, Consultant for Reading/Language Arts.
This year’s retirement celebration was a virtual celebration held on May 15. A recording of the celebration and the text chat are available to view online.
If you wish to personally congratulate our retirees, please send your cards and notes to their home addresses while the offices remain closed.
Applications for Remote Work Site (RWS) are being accepted through May 22 for the 2020-21 year. Only those working RWS on a regular basis need to fill out the application form. Applications and details can be found on the Portal under My Toolbox > Remote Work Site Program.
The Board of Educational Examiners (BoEE) no longer provides districts with access to a reporting system that allows Human Resources (HR) to search for expiring licenses. Therefore, we now rely on staff to provide HR with a copy of/or notification of an updated BoEE license. In turn, we will still be able to send out notifications that your license is coming up for renewal.
In order to see what is on file in the HR office, please check your status in the Portal under My Personal Information > Personal Information. Since many staff have not provided HR with a copy of their license, we are in the process of updating these licenses from the BoEE website. However, if the dates are not up-to-date, it could mean your license is current but HR was not given a copy of your renewed license. We will continue to update the portal with the BoEE website as time permits but it is an employee responsibility to keep his/her license up-to-date. Reminders are sent out as a courtesy. If you have any questions, please contact the HR office.
The open enrollment for benefits will close on May 10. All benefits-eligible employees must complete this process even if declining insurance, making no changes, resigning, or retiring.
To complete enrollment, access the Portal and go to My Benefits > Benefits Enrollment.
Zoom recently released an update on April 27 to Version 5.0. To benefit from these updated features, you will need to ensure that you are logged into your Zoom account and your account is up to date.
If you need assistance, Central Rivers AEA Technology Support Services provide a wide range of support to staff during office closure. There are three ways to request IT support:
Many districts have submitted their 2020-2021 calendars, which are available online on the staff website under Resources > District Calendars. Continue to check back as the remaining calendars are submitted.
We made it to June! This meme seems to sum up perfectly how I’ve been feeling lately. It’s been an intense past few months and I think we are all anxious to make our best attempt at enjoying the nicer weather and more relaxed pace of summer, despite the fact that Covid-19 has not gone away and likely won’t for many more months.
Over the past several weeks, our agency administrative team, in support of the board, has been working on a “Return to Work” plan which began June 1. I use the word “return” a bit lightly because I know that the work didn’t stop for the majority of us while we have been working remotely. Our plan details are as follows:
Phase 1: Approximately June 1
Safety protocols were specifically designed for each of the following departments who have now physically returned to work (or will in the coming days). Our Phase I staff members can’t physically do their work from a remote setting which necessitated their return along with the fact that they have essential responsibilities to perform. We appreciate their commitment to keeping vital services such as equipment repair, custodial maintenance, printing, and the processing of media materials operational.
Phase 2: Approximately August 1
In Phase 2, we will move from essential/critical workers to lower exposure risk staff (office-based) who are eligible to return to a physical office location. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) defines these workers as having minimal occupational contact with the public and other co-workers. Office-based staff are considered lower exposure risk given that they have limited public contact and social distancing is easy to accommodate. Others may continue to work from home as deemed appropriate and necessary by their supervisor. Those employee groups who are identified as eligible to return to the office during Phase 2 include:
Each department is developing unique safety protocols in collaboration with Human Resources to mitigate risk and create an environment that is as safe as possible in light of what we know today about the spread of the virus. These protocols will be shared with “Phase 2” staff members prior to returning in August. Special considerations will be given to those employees deemed to be in a high risk category. If you feel that this applies to you, please contact the Human Resources department.
For those staff members who work primarily out in schools, reaching a conclusion on specific protocols will be heavily dependent on the Return To Learn plans that are developed by each district and due July 1. Rest assured that the agency will have a strong voice in the conversation to ensure that Central Rivers AEA employees are put in the safest position possible while delivering service. Much more to come on this topic as details begin to emerge! Also note that because Covid-19 is an evolving pandemic, our decisions may change as we continue to stay in conversation with public health officials and analyze the data in our area. This is still a very fluid situation.
Questions about returning to work? More specific details and direction will likely be coming from your supervisor. In the meantime, feel free to share any questions, concerns or ideas with Karl Kurt, who is heading up our Return to Work effort.
Earlier this week, the Central Rivers AEA Board of Directors authorized Chief Administrator, Sam Miller, to pay hourly and/or non-exempt employees and contracted, salaried and management employees their customary and regular pay, for a period extending through the end of the fiscal year during the temporary closure. The resolutions also state that if the Central Rivers AEA operations continue to be closed through the end of the fiscal year (i.e., later than June 30, 2020), then the Board shall reconvene and determine what authority, if any, the Chief Administrator has to continue paying hourly and/or non-exempt employees and contracted, salaried and management employees during the temporary closure.
We can’t thank our Central Rivers AEA board enough for their support during this challenging time!
The Open Enrollment period for insurance will be April 20 through May 10. Even if you do not take insurance, you must go through the open enrollment process, which can be found on the Portal under My Benefits > Benefits Enrollment. Be sure to go through each step carefully.
Information regarding the plans is under My Benefits > 2020-21 Insurance Information.
An insurance presentation for all staff will be held on Thursday, April 23 at 1:00 p.m. and the Zoom information to join is below.
Join Zoom Meeting on Apr 23, 2020, 1:00 PM
https://zoom.us/j/94207741241
Meeting ID: 942 0774 1241
One tap mobile: +13126266799,,94207741241#
Help celebrate Administrative Professionals Day on April 22 by taking the time to recognize our outstanding office support staff. This group of office support staff have been instrumental in helping keep the agency up and running during the temporary closure. We couldn’t do what we do without them!
