The Channel

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met October 2, 2013 at 6 p.m. at the AEA 267 Clear Lake office for their regular meeting. During the meeting, board members were recognized for their dedicated service to AEA 267 this past year. The board then adjourned the final meeting of the 2012-13 Board of Directors.

Immediately following, the board called to order their first meeting of 2013-14 during which time the board:

• Elected Charlotte Upah as President and Roberta Kraft-Abrahamson as Vice President and Kerri Wilson administered the oath of office for all members.
• Appointed Kerri Wilson as board secretary and Dave Nicholson as board treasurer and administered the oath of office to each.
• Heard a program review from Dave Nicholson, AEA 267’s Director of Finance, regarding a financial update and the final Certified Annual Report.
• Set meeting dates and times for the 2013-14 board meetings. Meetings will be held the first Wednesday of each month with the exceptions of December 2013, January and August 2014, which will be held the second Wednesday.
• Approved appointments to the AEA Legislative Committee, the AEA Executive Committee, the AEA Audit Committee, the IEC Committee, and the IAEP Committee.
• Approved Wells Fargo Bank as the depository bank and established financial limits.
• Appointed Steve Weidner as legal counsel for 2013-14.
• Approved reciprocal transportation agreements for the following school districts:
  1. Clear Lake and Forest City
  2. Clear Lake and Ventura
  3. Central Springs and Osage.
• Approved an agreement with Marshalltown Community Schools for assistance with the Ladders to Learning program for 2013-14.
• Approved a contract with Waste Management for services at the Clear Lake office.
• Approved the first reading of the following board policies:
  1. 507.1-Student Wellness
  2. 401.3-Employee Background Checks
• Approved a contract with Solution Tree for RtI Coaching Academy.
• Tabled a request to accept bids and approve the purchase of Media vans.
• Heard a variety of reports from directors and board members.

(The following message is shared as a courtesy to the United Way. Pledge consideration is completely optional.)

United Way is changing lives of children, seniors, families and individuals in our community. By focusing on education, income and health—the building blocks for a good quality of life—United Way is making this a better community for us all.

Data tells us the investments United Way is making in our community are working. Thanks to your donation, families are more stable, teen pregnancies are down and child abuse has decreased. But the work is not done. United Way wants to do better, and you can help.

By giving what you can, you can change our future, and make our community better. Please give. You can do so online with your local United Way. There you will also be able to find information on your local United Way and its funded partners and programs, as well as other ways you can be involved in making your community stronger.

• Cedar Valley United Way
• Marshalltown United Way
• United Way of North Central Iowa (Mason City)
• Waverly-Shell Rock Area United Way

The iVisions expense reimbursement module is now ready! It is located under the My Toolbox menu item. This is the required method for submitting reimbursement requests effective Monday, September 9^th.  Requests that have already been submitted for August are being manually processed, no further action on your part is necessary. Although the instructions are archived in the portal, a courtesy copy can also be downloaded here.

The AEA 267 Monthly Mileage and Travel Reimbursement Claim form (located at the bottom of the Travel policy in My Toolbox) must be completed before submitting a request in iVisions. The form has been modified to account for regular travel separate from professional learning travel. You will simply enter the total dollar amounts for each type of reimbursement. The date range should be the first through the end of the month. Please save the completed form to your desktop. The form will be attached to the request in iVisions along with any required receipts.

Other Expense Reimbursement information:

• Requests route directly to your supervisor, similar to Leave Requests.
• Annual Cell Phone Stipend: More information will be coming regarding the process for cell phone reimbursements which take place in October.
• Direct Deposit of an expense reimbursement is automatic when you sign up for Payroll direct deposit. If you have previously signed up for direct deposit for payroll, we will use the same information to set up your direct deposit for your travel reimbursement. Please email ap@aea267.k12.ia.us (accounts payable) if you would prefer a paper expense reimbursement check.
• AEA 267 supplies must be purchased using a purchase order or p-card/credit card.  AEA supplies purchased with your own resources are not reimbursable.

Questions may directed to your administrative support secretary or ap@aea267.k12.ia.us (accounts payable in the Business Office)

While the online searchable schools directory (including labels) is current and accessible, the hard copy of the Ed Directory is still being printed. The directory will be distributed to AEA 267 staff members within the next two weeks. Questions? Contact Lori Thomas, Administrative Secretary.

The AEA Contact Manager system will be current with updated educator contact information by the end of the month.

A special note about the superintendent and principal labels: These labels contain van route information effective October 21, 2013. Thus, the route numbers are actually incorrect until that time. Please make manual changes to the labels until October 21.

Thank you again for your attendance and participation during the sector kick-off meetings held last month. For your continued reference throughout the year, the materials shared during the meeting are now located under the “Sector Resources” category on our staff website (remember to use your email login and password to access the staff website).

Please take note of the following reminders from the Human Resources (HR) office:

• September 15 is the deadline for notifying HR of intentions to change lanes on the salary schedule (certified staff).

• Per changes in law as explained during the Sector kick-off meetings, background checks are being conducted on all AEA 267 staff members. Checks must be completed by June 30, 2014.

• Personnel files are in the process of being converted to an electronic form to be included in each employee’s specific iVisions file. Stay tuned for password-protected access in the future!

• All professional licenses must be kept current. Professional licenses renew on the last day of the month of the individual’s birthday.

• Unpaid days will not be granted except under unique circumstances at the discretion of the supervisor.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors will meet in the AEA 267 Clear Lake Office for their October board meeting. The location change will allow board members to view recent improvements to the facility as well as tour the AEA 267 Charles City office en route.

Opheim

Barb Opheim, who represented the Waterloo territory on the AEA 267 Board of Directors, attended her final board meeting this month. Opheim, whose term has expired, will not run for re-election. She was awarded with a plaque for her contributions to the agency and will be missed on the board. We wish her the best in her future endeavors!

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met September 4, 2013 at 6 p.m. in the AEA 267 Conference Center for their regular meeting. During the meeting, the board:

• Heard a program review regarding the Web IEP. The presentation was delivered by Kimberly Crowe and Lisa Yoder, AEA 267 Speech Language Pathologists.

• Approved the 2013-14 Certified Annual Report.

• Selected Richard VandeKieft as the AEA 267 Board Member to attend the IASB Delegate Convention. Dr. George North will serve as the alternate.

• Approved the Reciprocal Transportation Agreements for LEAs.

• Held a public hearing to review Internet Policy/Regulation 101.4R2 and approved the Acceptable Use policy.

• Approved the 2013-14 agreement with Four Oaks Independence Shelter Program.

• Approved a second reading of Board Policy 504-Early ACCESS Policies.

• Accepted submitted bids and approved the sale of buses.

• Approved an agreement with the Center for Authentic PLCs.

• Approved an agreement with HSHMC.

• Heard a variety of reports from directors and board members.

The AEA 267 Foundation met immediately following the regular board meeting.

[ARCHIVED FOR REFERENCE]

Hello everyone and welcome back for those of you who are returning after a summer break! We look forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming sector meetings. Please remember that this is a required meeting for all staff (Note: Pinecrest and River Hills instructional staff will receive the information at a later date).

Although we are planning on each staff member attending their specific sector’s meeting, if you find yourself in a situation where you need to attend another sector meeting location instead, it is very important that you let your supervisor know in advance so that adjustments can be made by those in charge of logistics. We will have sign-in sheets at each location.

A social time will be held at 8:30 a.m. followed by the official start to the meeting at 9 a.m. We will break for lunch (on your own) at approximately 11:30 am. and return at 1 p.m. for breakout meetings by service area until approximately 3 p.m. (Note: Clerical staff, Info Tech staff not assigned to a sector, and central administrative team members who are not a part of a sector may be free to return to their work locations after lunch. Please check with your supervisor.)

• Monday, August 12:  NW Sector at the AEA 267 Clear Lake Office
• Tuesday, August 13:  NE Sector at the Waverly-Shell Rock High School (Rada Auditorium)
• Wednesday, August 14:  East Sector at the AEA 267 Cedar Falls Conference Center
• Thursday, August 15:  South Sector at the AEA 267 Marshalltown Office

Meeting materials:

Power Point presentation outlining our work for 2013-14

Years of Service awards

Peer collaboration information

AEA 267 peer collaboration log

Employee background check information

TEACH Iowa information

Update on Emergency Medical Leave request process

New AEA 267 staff for 2013-14

Core, supplemental and intensive resource (Learning Supports)

Learning Supports matrix example

Learning Support Team 2013-14

Check back in the coming weeks for an online photo album from this week’s meetings!

Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs) are pleased to announce the launch of a statewide Pinterest site.

The Iowa’s AEAs Pinterest site is a collaborative project of Iowa’s nine AEAs. The site is maintained by AEA consultants from all over the state who specialize in different curriculum and instructional areas. The over 35 pinning boards provide a visual, dynamic forum which informs parents, educators and school administrators about AEA programs and resources, as well as other quality, credible ideas and resources relating to education.

Items posted to the site are reviewed by AEA staff with the intention of providing participants with quality ideas that can be used in the classroom and beyond.

Would you like to share your expertise and become a “collaborator” on one of the AEA Pinterest boards? Please contact Beth Strike.

Learn more about the value of Pinterest to educators in a recent article published by Edutopia.

Dr. Brad Buck

Gov. Terry E. Branstad named Dr. Brad Buck, 44, to be the next Iowa Department of Education director, calling him a visionary leader with the right skills to implement the landmark education reform package passed by the 2013 Legislature.

Buck has served as superintendent of the 1,300-student Saydel school district in rural Polk County since July 2011. He previously worked as a school administrator in the Waukee, Hudson and North Mahaska school districts from 1997 to 2011. Buck began his education career in 1992 as a science teacher at Parkview Middle School in Ankeny.  He is also a past president of School Administrators of Iowa.

Visit the DE website to access the complete news release.

Kathy Enslin

Area Education Agency 267 (AEA 267) is pleased to announce that Kathy Enslin has joined AEA 267 as the Interim Assistant Chief Administrator/Director of Human Resources. Enslin replaces Dr. Anne Sullivan, who accepted a position with the Des Moines Public Schools.

Kathy has been the superintendent of Denver Community Schools for the past 11 years and prior to that served 18 years at North Kossuth as a teacher, principal and eventually the superintendent. Along with her extensive experience in the school districts, Enslin has been a member of the AEA 267 Information and Technology board and is currently serving on the AEA 267 Special Education board.

Enslin received her Bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University, a Master’s degree in Special Education Administration and an Educational Specialist in Educational Leadership from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Please join us in welcoming Kathy! The AEA 267 Board will be reviewing options for the Assistant Chief Administrator/Director of Human Resources position through the next several months.

TeachIowa.gov is part of the Teach Iowa Initiative, a component of the new education reform law that aims to attract top talent into the teaching pipeline.

The system is managed by the Iowa Department of Education and the Board of Educational Examiners.

Hundreds of job openings at school districts and AEAs have been posted to TeachIowa.gov so far. The new education reform law requires public schools and AEAs to post all job vacancies to the system starting today. The system is optional for nonpublic schools.

For more information, please visit http://www.teachiowa.gov.