The November 2010 Heartland AEA Board of Directors meeting was held on November 9, 2010.
Public Forum
No one was present to address the Board.
Board Recognition
Ms. Arletta Dawson, Heartland Director of Technology, recognized Heartland staff members Joshua Burke, Tuan Dao, Truong Dao, Dustin Gean, Rod Howell, Jim Lagnese, Steve Prall and Maureen Whited for their work in the planning and design of the Agency’s new server bunker. The server bunker is a 65,000-pound state-of-the-art facility with fire suppression and a back-up generator for the Agency’s servers and data storage. It offers a much safer and secure site to store the Agency’s data and puts the Agency in a place to assist districts and the Department of Education with their data needs. Conversations have also begun with Grant Wood AEA about options for backing up each other’s data. Dr. Earl Bridgewater presented certificates to Ms. Dawson, Mr. Burke and Mr. Dao and commended all the employees involved for their contributions.
Discussion Items
Post Employment Policy
No further discussions were held on the Post Employment Policy.
Board Learning
Dr. Steve Rose facilitated the Board’s learning from the book How the Mighty Fall by Jim Collins. Board members discussed highlights from chapters 2 and 3. Dr. Rose agreed to facilitate chapters 4 and 5 for the December meeting and Ms. Margaret Borgen will facilitate chapters 6 and 7 in January.
Board Self-Evaluation
Board members reviewed options for completing their self-evaluation. While many of the options were very detailed in their questions, they were not in line with the Board’s work. Dr. Vincent presented an option that included a short survey for board members to complete. Based on the results, the information would be used for this year’s evaluation and to help develop next year’s process. Dr. Vincent will add the four goals to the survey and email it to board members. The survey will need to be completed by November 20 and results will be shared at the December meeting. Board members discussed if the survey should be completed anonymously. No preference was determined.
Board Leadership Structure
Dr. Earl Bridgewater discussed the current Board leadership structure that consists of the president, vice president and past president. At last month’s meeting, Board members discussed adding a fourth member to the structure or holding additional board meetings so more members could be involved. Dr. Bridgewater shared the input he received and noted that the leadership team met specifically to review upcoming agendas and was not a decision-making body. Ms. Wilson commented that during her tenure as board president there were unforeseen circumstances and legal issues that had to be discussed. These were extraordinary circumstances that board members were later made aware of in closed session. Board members discussed having public meetings in which all members were invited and could attend if they were able.
Action Items
Post Employment Policy
A MOTION was made by Ms. Ann Wilson and seconded by Ms. Margaret Borgen to continue the present post employment policy for one more year so board members could continue to study all options. Motion passed. The current policy will expire June 30, 2012. Ms. Nola Bond will continue working with the Post Employment Committee to gather further data, and the topic will be added to future board agendas.
Proposed Board Operational Procedures
A MOTION was made by Dr. Steve Rose and seconded by Mr. Nels Turnquist to establish a formal Board Agenda and Problem Solving Committee for 2010-11. The Committee would consist of three permanent members and all board members could attend at their discretion and would have voting rights. A roll call vote was taken and the motion failed 7-2. A MOTION was made by Ms. Marcy Sparks and seconded by Dr. Steve Rose to add a fourth member to the Board Agenda Planning Committee for the next six months. The meeting agendas will be posted and would be open to all board members and the public with full board participatory rights. Motion passed 8-1.
Board Comments
• Board members would like to tour the server bunker and remodeling at the Johnston Regional Education Center 6500 sometime after the new year, as deemed possible by construction and weather.
• Mr. Cal Halliburton, Mr. Bruce Christensen and Ms. Margaret Borgen will begin work on developing a process to evaluate the chief administrator.
• Dr. Earl Bridgewater appreciated hearing compliments from the Department of Education about Heartland’s special education services.
• As a reminder, the Iowa Association of School Boards Conference will be held on Thursday, November 18 at Hy-Vee Hall. Dr. Bridgewater noted that board members have a responsibility in helping support IASB and assisting them in reestablishing their credibility.
• Dr. Earl Bridgewater and Dr. Paula Vincent will be attending the Urban Education Network meeting next week.
Chief Administrator Comments
• Dr. Vincent is appreciative of the help from board members with developing a process for her evaluation. She will add it as a board work session topic in December.
• Further information will be available at the December or January board meeting regarding the Agency’s compensation study that is currently in progress.
• Board members received the final draft of recommendations from the AEA Task Force for the AEA Study. If board members have any questions or concerns, they should submit them to David King by Monday, November 15. There is no guarantee that ideas will be considered or added to the final report.
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