October 2009 Board of Directors Meeting Recap

An organizational meeting was held prior to the regular board meeting. New board member Cal Halliburton and re-elected board members Ann Wilson, Earl Bridgewater, Bruce Christensen and Marcy Sparks were administered the oath of office.

The Board voted to retain its current meeting schedule for 2009-2010, in which board meetings will be held on the second Tuesday of every month. Ann Wilson and Earl Bridgewater will continue as president and vice president, respectively, and have completed the second year of their two-year terms. Terry Wycoff was appointed as the Board’s treasurer and Jenny Ugolini as the secretary.

No one from the public was present to address the Board. The Board then went into closed session at 6:12 p.m. and returned to public session at 7:01 p.m.

Margaret Borgen informed the Board that five of the six legislative priorities submitted to the Iowa Association of School Boards were used in the final proposal sent to legislators.
1. Sustain funding for school improvement.
2. Set an allowable growth rate that encourages continuous school improvement and reflects actual cost increases experienced by school districts and AEAs.
3. Create policy and a separate funding mechanism for the operation and maintenance of AEA facilities.
4. Increase funding for accredited early childhood programs, particularly four year-old pre-school and wrap-around programs.
5. Establish special education funding that accurately reflects costs.

The first reading of Board Policy 511 Internet Acceptable Use and Safety was presented. This policy was previously in place for Shelter Care students and was updated to meet new law requirements. The Board will have a second reading at its November meeting.

Interim Chief Administrator Comments:

• Ms. King shared that due to the recent announcement by Governor Chet Culver that 10 percent must be cut from the state’s budget, decision around the allocation of ARRA funds will be readdressed. The 10 percent cut is approximately a $2.9 million dollar loss for the Agency.

- Staff was sent a communication on Monday, October 12 informing them of the steps that would be taken to review the current budget.
- The AEA Chief Administrators held a conference call and agreed that they were all looking for possible savings through limits on hiring, travel and equipment/materials.
- Ms. King will come back to the Board next month with more information. During the next few weeks there should be a better idea of where the budgets gaps will occur.

• Ms. King thanked Mr. David King, Ms. Rebecca McCreary, Ms. Diane Schnelker, Ms. Jennifer Swanson, Dr. David Tilly and Dr. Kristi Upah for their hard work in meeting recent ARRA deadlines. They went above and beyond to meet reporting requirements.
• Ms. King announced that training sessions will be offered each month to board members if they would like to gain more in-depth knowledge about Cabinet members’ roles and responsibilities. These sessions will be held prior to the board work session from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. and are optional. Board members and anyone else interested are welcome to attend the sessions. Each month a different Cabinet member will be available to discuss the services and department he or she oversees.