The Channel

The AEA 267 Emergency Procedures have now been updated and are available on the staff website and by hard copy in each AEA 267 building (arriving by November 16). Please take a moment to review the updated procedures and ensure that you are prepared in the unlikely event of an emergency.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met November 7, 2012 at 5 p.m. in the Sumner High School Auditorium along with the Keystone AEA Board of Directors for a public hearing regarding the proposed merger of the Sumner and Fredericksburg School Districts.

Dr. Roark Horn explained the purpose of the meeting. Steve Weidner, the attorney representing AEA 267, detailed the procedures to be followed. Rick Engel, the attorney representing the school districts, gave a description of the reorganization proposal. Mark Wendland, Fredericksburg Board President; Roger Shaffer, Sumner Board President; and Rick Pederson, Sumner and Fredericksburg Superintendent, gave opening arguments.

Comments were made by individuals in the audience. Petitioners responded to comments and objections. Questions were heard from the AEA 267 and Keystone AEA board members. The hearing was closed. The decision of the combined boards was to allow the districts to go to a reorganization vote. Immediately following the public hearing, the board held their regular meeting.

During the meeting, the board:

• Approved the GASB 45 (Government Accounting Standards Board) Service Agreement with IASB.
• Approved the reciprocal transportation agreement between Central Springs and Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock School Districts.
• Approved the reciprocal transportation agreement between West Fork and Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock School Districts.

Barb Opheim

Area Education Agency 267 (AEA 267) is pleased to announce that Barb Opheim has been elected to serve on the AEA 267 Board of Directors. Opheim will replace Charles Vaughn who recently retired.  She will serve as Director District 8 representing the Waterloo Community School District.

Barb has lived in Waterloo with her husband, Dr. Kent Opheim, for thirty-five years. Barb received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Iowa.  She served on the Board of Education for the Waterloo school district for nine years as well as serving on the boards of various community organizations.  Barb is especially interested in the role of special education in the school system and brings a wealth of experience to her new role. Barb enjoys spending time with her family, which includes three grown children and three grandchildren.

Please join us in welcoming Barb to AEA 267!

During the month of September, Dr. Anne Sullivan facilitated a series of staff focus groups to gather input in three key areas:

• What specifically worked well, which things could be improved, and what ideas do you have for future formats related to the Aug. 10th All Agency Day.
• In our efforts to do the “right less” with less, what do you think is the right less?
• Tell us a little about your sense of the climate and culture internally?  What things should we continue to do so that staff feel valued and inspired?  What else could we do or how could we improve?

A variety of themes were generated from the input which are reflected below.

Themes around feedback from August 10 all-staff meeting

• Regional meetings are better; Consider holding all-agency meetings every 3-5 years.
• There was some confusion about whether holding the meeting at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center presented a great expense for the agency. To clarify, the agency did not have to pay for the use of the facility.
• Lunch: There were mixed views about going out vs. staying in for lunch; some crowded conditions were mentioned.
• Speakers: Mixed reviews, but mostly positive; suggestions were made for more “inspirational” speakers.
• Staff recognition: Staff greatly appreciated this part of the day.
• More information would be appreciated about changes going on this year-instead of team meetings.
• Consider sending a letter out before the meeting with information about what group people are in, when groups meet, and who is the employee’s assigned supervisor?
• Special school teachers included.
• Some confusion around the purpose of the day.
• The meeting was held during a very busy time for employees (some certified staff, IT, print shop). It was difficult to miss a whole day of work for some.

Themes around doing the “right less” with less (positives)

• Hiring a School Administrative Manager (SAM) at Four Oaks.
• Maintaining quality staff over space/buildings.
• Learning Center move to Clear Lake Office.
• We are looking at workload now vs. caseload (in the area of speech/language services)/new speech model.

Themes around doing the “right less” with less (areas for improvement)

• Use technology even more efficiently. (Skype, Google Hangout, Adobe Connect)
• Providing lunch at all-agency meeting.
• Better alignment of agency goals and district goals-staying a step ahead.

Themes around culture and climate

• Keeping people informed and feeling a part of the process; Be clear about the reason for change.
• Speed of communication: The quicker the better so rumors don’t start.
• Continue the “years of service” recognition program.
• Not sure who I’m supposed to call for paper, mileage, etc. This used to be covered in a sector meeting in August.
• Continue to strive toward improved communication with staff.
• The agency’s openness about budget and sharing information about the budget with staff was good.
• Please continue these focus groups and forums for input.
• There is too much time spent away from schools/kids to attend meetings.
• AEA 267 expectations for paperwork (EER, PD expectations, assignments) is challenging.
• People concerned about not having a job with cuts in funding.

All of the themes were recently reviewed by the AEA 267 Administrative Team, the Wages & Working Conditions group, and the AEA 267 Board of Directors. Areas of improvement are being considered in future planning. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Given the ongoing changes that occur with individual cell phone numbers, staff resignations and hires, etc. it’s important to periodically access a fresh copy of the agency cell phone directory from the staff website at (please use your email username and login for access). Many cell phone numbers did change over the summer months.

For more information, contact Sue Hotzel in the AEA 267 Cedar Falls Administrative Services Building.

Thanks to the many individuals who provided feedback regarding the future of all-staff meetings (see “Focus groups provide valuable input”). Your feedback was very helpful in assisting Ad Cabinet in reaching a final decision about how frequently to pull staff together in one location.

The plan going forward will be to bring staff members together in one location every three to five years and instead meet annually in sectors. The sector meetings can include time for “all agency” news and presentations allowing the remainder of the time to be used for sector related information. This will avoid the need for separate meetings for each purpose. Meeting dates for sector meetings will be shared yet this fall.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met on October 3, 2012 at 6 p.m. in the AEA 267 Conference Center for their regular meeting. During the meeting, board members were recognized for their time, energy, commitment and dedication on behalf of the agency and directing it through another successful year of operation. The “old” board then adjourned the final meeting of the 2011-2012 Board of Directors.

Immediately following the meeting, an organizational meeting of the “new” board was convened during which time the board:

• Elected Charlotte Upah as the new President and Roberta Kraft-Abrahamson as the new Vice President for 2012-13. Kerri Wilson administered the oath of office to each newly elected officer.
• Appointed Kerri Wilson as board secretary and Dennis Scudder as board treasurer.
• Heard a presentation regarding a position paper developed by Dr. Roark Horn, Dr. E. Robert Stephens (a retired professor and researcher who is widely considered to be the leading authority on the state intermediate systems), Dr. Troyce Fisher and others regarding a “new compact” between AEAs and local school districts to “co-own” responsibility for student learning. (More details on the position paper will be shared at a future time.)
• Set meeting dates and times for 2012-13 board meetings. Meetings will continue to be the first Wednesday of each month (with exceptions in July and August, which will be the second Wednesday).
• Approved board appointments to the AEA Legislative Committee, the AEA Executive Committee, the AEA 267 Audit Committee, and the IEC and IAEP committees.
• Accepted a petition from the Sumner and Fredericksburg Community School Districts to reorganize. The AEA 267 board will combine with the Keystone AEA board (which serves the Fredericksburg Community School District) on November 7 for a formal hearing and to make a decision on whether the petition should go forth to the public for a vote on February 5.
• Approved Wells Fargo Bank and the Great Western Bank as a depository of AEA funds.
• Appointed Steve Weidner as legal counsel for 2012-13.
• Approved a number of reciprocal transportation agreements.
• Approve contracts with Iowa Department for the Blind for vending services.
• Approved a 2012-13 agreement with St James Church for Gym Rental for Four Oaks.
• Approved a Statement of Agreement with Denver Community Schools for Interpreter for hard of hearing/deaf and Educational Assistant for Visually Impaired.
• Approved a Statement of Agreement with Mason City Community Schools for an Integrated Classroom at Lincoln Intermediate.
• Approved a Statement of Agreement with Waverly Community Schools for Interpreter for hard of hearing/deaf program
• Selected Tuesday, April 16, 2013 (tentative start time of 5:30 pm.) for a joint meeting with the North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) board of directors.
• Heard a variety of reports by directors and fellow board members.

The End of Bullying Begins with Me: that’s the message during National Bullying Prevention Month in October. It’s a time when communities can unite nationwide to raise awareness of bullying prevention through events, activities, outreach, and education.

AEA 267 employees are encouraged to wear orange on October 10 to show our united stand against bullying. Our organization will join many others as well as celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, Anderson Cooper and thousands of students across the country on what has become known as Unity Day.

For more information on National Bullying Prevention Month and the Unity Day effort, visit http://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/.

Printed copies of our 2012-13 AEA 267 Ed Directories have been distributed to all AEA 267 staff members, with a few copies sent to each school district.  If you haven’t received your copy, please contact Lori Thomas, Administrative Secretary, based in the Clear Lake Office.

Please remember that your best resource for current information are the online searchable directories for local schools and AEA 267 staff found on our website. Corrections and updates are made to these resources throughout the school year as we learn of new information.

Do you want to participate in meaningful professional development? Good news! The Educator Quality committee has compiled a list of examples of options of professional development opportunities that are eligible for five days of educator quality funding.  An email was sent to all certified staff on August 31 with more information.  If you did not receive the email, please contact Shirley Horak, Human Resources Coordinator, shorak@aea267.k12.ia.us

Dr. Roark Horn, AEA 267 Chief Administrator

Last spring, in meetings on the impact of the state budget cuts to our AEA, I promised to update you with final information regarding the cummulative effect of the 2011-12 $20 million reduction, along with any new information that I could provide regarding the result of the additional $20 million reduction for the 2012-13 school year. At the time, I only had estimates on numbers, and although we have not certified through our auditors that the numbers I will provide you below are absolutely correct, they are going to very close. Thus, I did not want you to have to wait for another two months before getting an update. If anything changes significantly during or after the audit, I will send out another update, but I feel very confident that the information below is where it will all end up!

Fiscal Year 2011-2012

A reminder that the total loss of revenue for AEA 267 in 2011-12 due to the reduction of state aid to the AEA system was $3,850,902. We began the year with an unrestricted balance of $5,832,795, which represented about 12% of our yearly operational budget of $47.5 million. I estimated that $2.5 million of that reserve would have to be used to meet expenses, with the additional use of $1 million of federal special education Part B money.

It ended up a bit better than expected, as the actual use of reserves was $2,157,377. In addition, we only had to use $500,000 of federal special education Part B money instead of the projected $1 million. When I visited with you last spring, this was the best case scenario that we could have hoped for.

Fiscal Year 2012-2013

We begin the 2012-13 year with an unrestricted balance of $3,675,418, or about 8% of the fiscal year budget. Because we did not use the projected amount of Part B money last year, we also have $500,000 more of that money to start with. Another piece of good news is that we have been told by the Federal Department of Education that federal sequestration will not affect us this year, so the worry of a mid-year cut of about $1 million to our AEA is mitigated. We have also reduced expenses, mainly through the attrition of personnel.

However, all of that does not eliminate the fact that we have another cut in state aid to AEA 267 of $3,850,902. Between our balances, federal Part B money, 2% allowable growth (revenue of about $450,000) and reduction of expenses, it is likely that we will finish this year with a small balance of funds, barring any unexpected major expenses.

Absent another state aid reduction, and if the specter of federal sequestration is lifted, working together we will have weathered two very difficult years, although our operational balance will be greatly compromised. However, if the state continues to cut aid to the AEAs and/or if 10% of federal money is cut due to sequestration at the end of this year, we will need to continue to work in tandem to figure out how to continue to provide the outstanding service that you provide with continued depletion of funds.
Phew! That’s a lot of information but I want you to have the facts and the most current information about our situation. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

As always, thank you for everything you do to support the children, families and educators we serve!

Charles Vaughn, who has served the AEA system as a board member since 1999, has retired from the board. Charles was a tireless supporter of staff, educators and most of all, children.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met on Wednesday, September 5 at the AEA 267 Cedar Falls Conference Center. During the meeting, the board:

• Approved the consent agenda
• Heard a program review by Dennis Scudder, Director of Finance regarding the Certified Annual Report and agency finances.
• Approved all contracts and agreements. (See the official “board book” for specific details.)
• Made the following appointments: Roberta Kraft-Abrahamson to the IEC Board of Directors; Dr. Debra Rich, IEC Management Committee; Dr. Roark Horn, IEC Management Committee and IAEP Executive Committee; Jerry Schnabel, IEC Operations Committee and Oversight Committee.
• Accepted the Excellence in Education Enrichment Grant from the R.J. McElroy Trust.
• Accepted the resignation of longtime board member Charles Vaughn.
• Held a public hearing to review Internet Policy/Regulation 101.4R2 and approve Acceptable Use Policy.

Did that headline catch your attention? Many of us have laughed over the years about the lack of understanding people still have about what the AEA system is and does. We have been confused with many groups–including “AA” or Alcoholics Anonymous”. The next time someone asks you, “what’s an AEA?” here are some helpful words to use in your response!

Congress enacted the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA) in 1974, and Iowa developed Area Education Agencies (AEAs) to provide support services required by the act. Though 75 percent of the AEA budget is tied to special education, the Iowa legislature assigned many other responsibilities to the AEA to provide support to schools. Some of the most frequently used of these services include:

• Media (books, videos, on-line Websites and curriculum materials)
• Professional Development
• Technology (email and access to the Internet)

The AEA system assures families that each child will receive quality educational services and materials regardless of where they live – in a large district or a small one.

The AEA provides specialists who work in the schools in support of teachers and students. These special roles include, but are not limited to:

• Speech-language pathologists
• School Social workers
• Physical and occupational therapists
• School psychologists
• Audiologists
• Special Education Consultants

In smaller districts, the student caseload may require less than a full-time person. AEAs hire these specialists and provide these services to multiple schools and districts.

In larger districts, the AEA provides many behind-the-scene services in addition to providing these same services. The AEA helps districts meet the requirements of public mandates such as No Child Left Behind, the Individuals with Disability Education Act, Common Core, and the Iowa Teacher Quality Initiative.

Currently, Iowa is divided into nine service areas with each one served by an AEA. All public and accredited nonpublic schools receive AEA support services. State law also requires the AEAs to provide services to parents home-schooling their children.

Iowa’s AEAs are impacting lives. Visit http://aeas4iowa.wordpress.com/ to read the “Impacting Lives” blog newsletter, which is a statewide effort to communicate AEA success stories and services across the state. If you have a story to share, contact Beth Strike, Site Superintendent/Director of Communications or Lori Thomas, Secretary to Site Superintendent/Director of Communications.

As part of overall efforts to update the agency’s Emergency Response Plan, fire and disaster drills will be conducted on each of the agency’s main campuses (Clear Lake, Marshalltown and Cedar Falls) sometime between September 11-18. Please consult the Emergency Response Plan so that you are prepared to act if you are in one of the impacted buildings when a drill is conducted. (Special schools conduct their own drills and are not included in these plans.)

September is National Emergency Preparedness month. Plan ahead today to ensure you are prepared in a crisis situation!