The Channel

Don’t leave your $200 wellness incentive unclaimed!  Spring has finally arrived and it is time to shake off those cold winter blues and shift gears on your wellness track. Our  Employee Health & Wellbeing Program was introduced last fall as an incentive where staff have the opportunity to earn $200 (maximum) in wellness dollars for 2020-21 by completing challenges. Each challenge completed is worth $10. 

The payout date will be June 18, 2021.  That means there’s still time to login and complete tasks to earn cash! Login into the Wellness Wave and start earning your wellness rewards today!

Annotating in Zoom
When you’re in a Zoom meeting, do you ever wish you could draw something on the screen?  Guess what – you can!  Zoom allows you (and your participants) to annotate directly on the screen.

To annotate, select the Annotate button while sharing your screen, or select View Options if you are viewing a shared screen.  This option will bring up a new toolbar with a variety of ways to visually interact with your screen.

Printing to agency office printers
When an office printer doesn’t perform its one job, it’s easy to feel frustrated.  Many issues however, can be solved with a little DIY printer know-how.  To help you get back up and running with as little downtime as possible, we compiled a list of common solutions for printer problems.

• Verify the correct printer is selected: CRAEA-FollowMePrint
• Verify you are wirelessly connected to Network (Not Guest)
• Verify you are entering the correct five digit print code
• Verify the printer display screen does not indicate any errors
• Verify your document was sent to the print queue in the last 24 hours

If you have any questions or need technical assistance, please contact the Help Desk at 319.273.8231 or helpdesk@centralriversaea.org. 

Central Rivers AEA is pleased to announce the selection of two new team members to replace retiring members of the Regional Administrator team, along with an assignment change. 

Ryan Andreassen, currently a Consultant for School Improvement/Technology Integration serving Region 7, will replace Judy Moser in leading Region 6 as Regional Administrator. Judy is retiring from her position after 46 years of service in education.

Prior to coming to Central Rivers AEA in 2020, Ryan served as a PK-12 Instructional Coach and Professional Development lead at Jesup CSD. He also held roles at Jesup as a Specialist Instructor (Model Teacher) and 3rd grade classroom teacher. 

Amy Thoms-Starr, a Special Education Consultant serving Region 9, will move into the Regional Administrator role for Region 9. Heather Gould, currently the Regional Administrator for Region 9, will replace Dr. Karen Aldrich in Region 11. Karen announced her retirement this week having served in a variety of roles with the agency beginning in 1995.

Amy joined the agency in 2003 as a Special Education Consultant. Prior to that role, she served as a Special Education Teacher at Waterloo CSD. Amy has served as a poverty trainer, AEA mediator, and literacy team member during her career with the agency.

“We are fortunate to have had an abundance of talent in the pool of applicants for the Region 6 position and a late opening in Region 11,” said Sam Miller. “Both of the outgoing Regional Administrators leave big shoes to fill so it made sense to hit pause and thoughtfully consider where everyone would be placed. We think we’ve got it right and we are excited to see where these leaders will go with their new assignments. This is an exciting time for the agency and those we serve in Regions 6, 9 & 11.”

Honoring the work of Judy and Karen

Judy Moser started her career in education in 1973 at Sacred Heart School as a classroom teacher. In 1975, she joined the Area Education Agency system as a Special Education Teacher and went on to serve as Educational Strategist, School Psychologist, Special Education Administrative Intern, and Special Education Coordinator/Regional Administrator.

Judy leaves a legacy of service and leadership behind including pioneering work in the area of Standards Based Evaluation (SBE), which she will continue to guide on a part-time basis. “I’m deeply passionate about seeing this initiative fully implemented and I still have a tremendous amount of energy to give to the effort,” said Judy. “Still, I’m also looking forward to exploring other personal opportunities and a more relaxed pace of life.”

Dr. Karen Aldrich started her work in education at Marshalltown CSD where she began as a teacher of children with behavioral disorders. She served 12 years in Marshalltown before coming to the agency in 1995 as a Behavior School Improvement Facilitator. She later transferred to the role of Supervisor of Special Education before serving as a Special Education Coordinator/Regional Administrator.

Karen is perhaps best known for her leadership and advocacy for well-being and mental health supports. Her experience and depth of knowledge helped pave the way for today’s well-being initiative as part of the agency strategic plan. “My time as a teacher and the various roles in the AEA system have been so very rewarding. Working with each and every one of you has been my greatest joy in this incredible journey,” said Karen. “ I have learned so much from all of you and from those who have touched my life over my career. I am truly blessed!”

Last night, the Central Rivers AEA Board of Directors approved our recommended negotiation agreements, and we wanted to take the opportunity to share the information with you.

Given the fact that we are in a solid financial position and our cash on hand has increased the past few years, we reopened our previously agreed settlements to be a little more aggressive with our settlement. It is our hope that the change is received positively, and helps underscore our desire to provide raises and insurance benefits while maintaining our staffing levels and a balanced budget.  

Specifically, we were settled this year at 1.5%, but based on our current budget, strong solvency rate of 14%, and State Supplemental Aid (SSA) set higher than anticipated at 2.4%, we increased our settlement agreements.  We were able to achieve a salary raise and cover the premium increase for our single $2500 insurance plan.

Salary Information for 2021-22 (Total Package) 

Classified = 4.55% — .25 per hour to base wages

Certified = 3.08% — $360 to base salary

NUSS = 3.08%

Administration = 3.08%

Insurance Information for 2021-22 

Our preliminary insurance renewal rate currently sits at a 16% increase. This is a large increase and impacts the amount of funds we are able to allocate to salary. The increase is due to our use and some of our larger claims. Of course, we wish this was not the case, but it is just our reality. The renewal rate would have been even higher if we were not self-funded.

Salary Information for 2022-23 — Total Package = 1.0% for all groups.

Into the future…

We continue to appreciate multi-year agreements that put us in a position to get our contracts out as soon as possible. Recently, we have been in a pattern of increasing our agreed upon settlement, based on our financial condition. We have tried to be aggressive the first year of the settlement, and continue to drop the percentage for the second year of the settlement. This allows us to be as aggressive as possible in the short-term, but provides a more conservative settlement should we need it for the subsequent year. Our desire is not to be in a position to have to use the lower settlement amount, but we are prepared if something out of our control impacts our financial picture.

We want to thank everyone for all their efforts, flexibility, and positive attitude this year. We hope that our efforts throughout this year have provided evidence that we value and support you personally and professionally. 

Please let us know if you have any specific questions, comments or concerns! 

Karl Kurt, Assistant Chief Administrator/Director of Human Resources

Michael Kalvig, Chief Financial Officer

Central Rivers AEA recently updated the Emergency Procedures Manual which includes a series of procedures to follow in various emergency situations and cases of illness or injury. The manual also lists specific emergency information for each office location including contact information for the first responders and locations of first aid supplies and equipment. 

Spiral bound copies will be available at each office and Rivers Hills School. The manual can be downloaded/viewed on the staff website under Resources > Emergency Procedures & Crisis Response Team Manual. 

Please contact Human Resources if you have any questions or concerns. 

Zoom – Background Noise Suppression
The Zoom client has settings that allow the utilization of noise suppression, which can help remove distracting sounds that can be picked up by participants’ microphones. Background noise like paper crunching, keyboard typing, fan humming, and dog barking can be filtered out to create a better meeting experience.  By default, Zoom automatically applies background noise reduction, however the settings can be adjusted to be more or less aggressive based on the environment.

1. Within the Zoom meeting, select the caret (^) from the microphone icon and choose Audio Settings.
2. Under the Suppress Background Noise section, choose your preferred level of noise suppression.

Zoom – Additional Virtual Backgrounds Available
Central Rivers AEA has recently added several additional virtual Zoom backgrounds to the available bank of options.  The virtual background feature allows users to display an image or video as your background during a meeting.

1. Within the Zoom meeting, select the caret (^) from the camera icon and select Choose Virtual Background.
2. Within the Background & Filters section, choose your preferred virtual background.

Zoom – Security Updates
Zoom regularly provides updated versions of the desktop client and mobile app to release new features and security enhancements, so we recommend checking for updates on a regular basis.  

If you have any questions or need technical assistance with any of the above information, please contact the Help Desk at 319.273.8231 or helpdesk@centralriversaea.org.

We continue to try and coordinate vaccine opportunities with our various counties with mixed results.  In general, you are considered for the vaccine based on your tier (1A = Medical or 1B = Education), the county you work or reside in, and if that county has the vaccine and has offered us the opportunity.  As you can imagine, there is a lot of variability in when our counties are receiving the vaccine, the amount of vaccine they are receiving, and how they are prioritizing the opportunity.

We want to reiterate that if you choose to get the vaccine and have the opportunity prior to one being coordinated through Central Rivers AEA, please feel free to do so.  Some staff have had success in contacting their local Department of Public Health, and some staff have been successful in calling various pharmacies in an effort to get added to their list or scheduled based on availability.  Sometimes it is easier to get added as an individual than as a group, as they may need to find a single person to ensure that a vial is completely used.

The Iowa Department of Public Health recently launched a website providing some information on the locations/links for organizations that may be offering the vaccinations.  If you desire to try and secure a vaccine ASAP, you may want to try this link:  IDPH Vaccination Information.  Click on “Vaccine Provider Information” to see potential opportunities in your county.  

Please let HR know if you have any questions, comments or concerns.

After several office closure days due to inclement weather, we want to provide some clarity on how staff should count their time when the office is closed for weather.

This guidance comes in consideration of our current norms around Remote Work Site (RWS) and flexibility due to the pandemic. 

For hourly (Classified or NUSS) employees on a 260-day (year round) contract who have been given RWS privileges this year, the expectation is that you will clock in/out and work your normal day and hours from home when the office is closed due to weather. This includes answering the Zoom phone, email, and completing all normal work.

For hourly (Classified or NUSS) employees on a 260-day (year round) contract who do not have RWS privileges, an office closed day due to weather will be converted to inclement weather time and you are not expected to work from home. (Please note that some staff, such as custodians, still have work that needs to be completed on this day even though you are not working from home.)  For this group of staff, your supervisor will make the time clock entry for the day using the Inclement Weather job code (300) for the actual time missed with the reason noted.

For Certified, CWA, and NUSS staff members on a less than 260-day contract, you have up to two office closed days that can be converted to RWS before a calendar adjustment is made.

Any employee who is unable or unwilling to work on an office closed day due to weather when the expectation is that you will be working from home will need to request appropriate leave time to cover your absence. 

As we return to post-pandemic operations, this guidance may be subject to change. Please address any questions or concerns to your immediate supervisor. 

With a few storms behind us, we want to remind staff to be extra vigilant about their safety during the winter when walking on sidewalks and in parking lots. 

Please do not come to the office during or immediately following winter weather events so that our maintenance staff have time to clear sidewalks and parking areas. If you have any questions, please visit with your supervisor.