Follow-up on AEAs in the News
Last week we sent a communication about the proposal made by a State Government Reorganization Committee to move AEAs under the Department of Education. We now have confirmation that the proposed language has been eliminated from the Senate Study Bill (SSB) 3030. New language is under development which could call for a study of the AEA system for possible areas of savings and/or some changes in board governance. I will keep you informed as to how this develops. Please be sure to watch the Connection for updates. We remain confident that we will continue to provide quality services to our local school districts as a strong, vital AEA system.
Agency Budget Update
As you know, we are facing challenging economic conditions locally, in our State and across our nation. The governor has already implemented an across-the-board cut, and while we want to be hopeful as we move into this legislative session, we realize further reductions are possible. This is an update about the plans for 2010-11 and beyond. The Agency will continue to look for ways to reduce spending, add efficiencies and protect staff and clients as much as possible. We are mindful of the standards to which we are held accountable as an Agency, and we will stay focused on our mission.
FY 2010-11 budget:
We have just completed the process of building the FY2010-11 budget, which Dave King, Director of Finance and Business, discussed with the Board of Directors at their January meeting. Dave reported about the recent budget cuts which have been disappointing and have caused the Agency to review its resources carefully as they become more limited. While staff members have played a strong role in building a “culture of austerity” to assist with conserving our resources, the ability to cut costs won’t occur as quickly as revenue is reduced. Furthermore, our budget is further affected by increased costs of operation, compensation and infrastructure issues.
We are fortunate to have funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). They have helped offset the impact of the reductions we experienced during this 2009-10 year, and they will help again in 2010-11. ARRA funding is primarily used for special education; however, a provision in the law allows for a reduction in the required federal maintenance of effort level. So, some ARRA funds will be “freed up” to support general education and infrastructure expenditures. Over the next two years, in addition to using ARRA funds to cover gaps in the budget, $850,000 will be used from fund balance. Unfortunately, 2010-11 is the second and final year the Agency will receive ARRA funding.
FY 2011-12 budget:
At times, we wish we could have a crystal ball to look into the future. It's difficult to predict what the economic climate will be like in two years, and what legislation might be passed to alleviate financial factors for the 2011-12 budget. Right now, given what we do know, we believe the Agency will face additional funding reductions. Here are some things we do know:
- Typically, the legislature would take action to set the growth rate for 2011-12, but they have put that decision off until they have more information upon which to base their decisions.
- ARRA funds will sunset.
- It will be more difficult to make non-personnel cuts in the future beyond what is already being done to reduce costs and be more efficient.
- Based on growth and enrollment, it is unlikely the Agency will receive full funding for the next few years.
- The Agency will likely experience a $3M gap, which equates to roughly 40+ FTE. This is not to say reductions in force would occur at that level, but rather to provide staff a scope of measurement about the impact of the projected shortfalls.
So what are we doing?
The Board expects us to maintain services and minimize impact on staff. As part of the budget development process, Heartland AEA’s leadership staff created the statements below as the foundational principles for budget preparation, monitoring and control.
- Resources will be prioritized, aligned and allocated for maximum results.
- Resources will be allocated to support the greatest positive impact on student achievement.
- Resource allocations will be transparent, defensible, data-driven and aligned with Agency goals.
- Resource allocations will reflect the Agency’s mission, vision and guiding principles.
- Responsibility for resource allocation, budget preparation and expenditure monitoring lies with the administrative team.
- Relevant budget input will be sought from clients, partners and staff members.
- Federal and state statutes, rules and regulations will be followed.
- A minimum of 5% Unreserved/Undesignated fund balance will be maintained.
The Cabinet is working together and actively looking for ways to keep our costs down while moving forward with our work. Members of Cabinet, District Services Council and Operations Support Council are working on processes that will help the Agency respond to the budget challenges, including:
- Developing processes for decision-making about our programs and services
- Implementing a review of our post-employment policy
- Implementing a study of our compensation and contract structures throughout all Agency employment groups, including management.
I am very pleased with how well our leaders and staff members have been working to address these budget concerns. It is always disappointing to face budget cuts, but we remain focused and optimistic about moving the work of the Agency forward knowing that often challenges offer opportunities. One thing for certain is that we will remain committed to our mission to provide quality educational services to children, educators, schools and communities.
As always, thank you for all you do to serve children, families and educators. Please contact me if you have any specific questions.
Sheila King
Interim Chief Administrator
You should have received the insurance survey by e-mail on January 15, but we’d like to remind you to complete it here as well.
One of Heartland’s priorities is to gather feedback when making decisions that directly affect staff members. One way to gather staff input is through our Insurance Committee, which is made up of staff members who represent each of the Agency’s collective bargaining and management groups. This committee is responsible for collecting data and making decisions pertaining to the benefits that Heartland provides to its staff members. The Insurance Committee is asking for your feedback on how satisfied you are with the Agency’s current insurance providers and the services they offer. This feedback will be used to make decisions about future agency-sponsored benefits.
Please click on the link below to take the insurance survey. It will only be available from Friday, January 15 until 8:00 a.m. on Monday, January 25. Thank you very much for your participation.
http://tp2.aea11.k12.ia.us/002/HeartlandInsuranceSurveyJan2010.tp4We also encourage you to talk to your Insurance Committee representative any time during the year to discuss your concerns or opinions. Committee members are the following:• Doug Olson, Heartland Education Association representative, Guthrie Center office
• Keri Renze, Heartland Education Association representative, Adel office• Debbie Longnecker, Teamster’s Union representative, Johnston office
• Doug Schuster, Classified Non-union representative, Johnston office• Kim Thuente, Certified Non-union representative, Johnston office
• Chris Pierson, Assistant Director of Human Resources• Kathy Martin, Benefits Specialist• Steve Zimmerman, Human Resources/Benefits Specialist
Meeting DatesRegional Office Staff: January 26 from 8:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.Johnston Teaching and Learning Staff: January 29 from 8:30-11:30 a.m.Operations Staff: February 10 from 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Meeting Locations
Regions 1 & 2: Annunciation Parish Hall, Coon Rapids
Regions 3 & 4: Grace Lutheran Church, Adel
Regions 5 & 7: Ames AEA Office
Region 6: Best Western, Ames
Region 8: Woodside AEA Office
Regions 9 & 10: Johnston AEA Office, Rooms 3 & 4, ICN Room
Region 11: Indianola AEA Office
Regions 12 & 14: Third Reformed Church, PellaRegion 13: Lutheran Church of the Cross, Altoona
Johnston Teaching & Learning Staff: Johnston AEA Office, Learning Center
Operations Staff: St. Mary’s of Nazareth Church, Des MoinesRegional Office Staff Meetings
In order to save costs on printing, we will be asking staff members to download several documents onto their computers prior to the office meetings on January 26. The documents will be available for download after noon on January 22 from a tab on the Intranet called Professional Development Resources. The documents will be under a link called January Office Meeting Child Find Update.
Also, please note that all meetings on January 26 start at 8:00 a.m. The morning session will be a Child Find update and office meeting, and the afternoon is free for learning teams to meet in the location they choose.Central Teaching and Learning Meeting
The meeting on January 29 is for staff members assigned to the Central Office from the areas of Professional Learning & Leadership, Special Education and Innovation & Accountability. We would like support staff to join us for a short amount of time, which will start at 8:30 a.m. Learning teams will meet in the afternoon in the location they choose.
We last provided you an update on the chief administrator search on November 30. At that time, the chief administrator position had just been posted through the Agency’s search firm. Applicants have been applying for the position since that time, and the process has now progressed to the screening and interview stage. The Board has set the below timeline for interviewing of candidates and the final selection of a permanent chief administrator.
• January 22 - First Round Interviews with Board of Directors
• January 23 - First Round Interviews with Board of Directors
• January 25 - Second Round Interviews with Board of Directors and Cabinet
• January 26 - Second Round Interviews with Board of Directors and Cabinet
• January 28 - Second Round Interviews with Board of Directors and Cabinet
• Week of February 1 - Board members visit home site of finalist
• Mid to late February - Announcement of appointment
The candidate chosen will be encouraged to begin employment as soon as possible and no later than July 1, 2010.
If you recall, the Board of Directors is seeking a chief administrator who possesses these attributes and skills:
• Can articulate and rally support for the organization's mission, vision and values.
• Knows how to maintain positive relationships with the Board, staff and member districts.
• Can lead a large complex agency.
• Understands special education and the special needs of students.• Understands the service role of intermediate agencies.
• Is an excellent communicator and an effective team leader.
• Is committed to high standards for leadership behavior, operations and student learning.
• Is open, honest, caring and collaborative.
If you have any questions about the timeline or process, please contact Laura Gillon at lgillon@aea11.k12.ia.us or Steve Prall at sprall@aea11.k12.ia.us.
The Heartland Web Redesign Committee is pleased to share the URL for the Agency’s new, improved and completely redesigned website for internal staff review:
http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/index2.html
The committee is very excited to debut the site and is confident that it will improve communication with our clients and partners. You will see a fresh design featuring tabs that provide access to the site by audience—Parents, Educators, Leaders, Job Seekers and Partners. This should make finding information easier for those who visit our site and will improve the user experience.
The Web Redesign Committee would like all Heartland staff to take some time to review the new site to determine if there are certain programs or services that are not represented or are under-represented on the website. If you identify areas for improvement or have any suggestions to offer, please e-mail comms@aea11.k12.ia.us. You may also want to talk to members of the Web Redesign Committee: Arletta Dawson (chairperson), Evan Abbey, Joshua Burke, Mary Cabeen, Courtney Croatt, Lynn McCartney, Sol Rajch, Julie Sypersma and Jennifer Gilmore.
If you are an author of Web content, you have until February 9 to review and edit your content. A checklist has been developed that is intended to guide authors, editors and approvers in the proper evaluation of online content areas under their responsibility. The expectation is that this checklist will be utilized to review the presentation of content for each specific program or service area. This checklist will also serve as a tool for spot-checking content on a periodic basis and for evaluating new content that is submitted for approval in the future. Click here to download the checklist.
The new website will be presented to the Heartland Board of Directors at its February 9 meeting and the site will go live to the public very soon after the board meeting.
Starting Monday, January 25, a number of changes will be implemented in the Calendar Online system. The Calendar Online system will now fully interact with Leave Online to make sure Calendar Exchange requests and Leave Requests don’t conflict and are aligned with the employee’s online calendar.The “View Calendar” link has also been modified. You will now be able to view your leave requests on your calendar as well as pending calendar exchange requests. Leave is presented on the calendar via a “^” beside the date. If you hover your mouse over the date, information about the leave request or pending calendar exchange request will appear. The “View Calendar” link will also display calendars for multiple years. You may change the fiscal year that you are viewing by changing the Fiscal Year drop down menu at the top of the page. For all IFAS applications, we strongly encourage you to use the Firefox web browser.
If you have any questions, please contact Sara Becker at ext. 14593 or Rod Howell at ext. 14599.
Registrations are still being accepted for the Year Two, Day Two Leadership session for the Iowa Core Curriculum to be held in January and February. The January 25 session at Zion Lutheran Church in Des Moines is closed, but space remains in all of the other sessions. Registration information is available on the Heartland website at http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/icc/.
Participants registered for Day Two will receive an e-mail prior to their session with instructions for accessing materials for the session. The training will be paperless and Internet access will be limited, so participants will be asked to download the materials onto a laptop or print their own copies, if desired, to bring to the training session.
If you have any questions or would like more information, contact Linda Biermann Hoobin, Iowa Core Curriculum Consultant, at lhoobin@aea11.k12.ia.us.
Over the last year, you may have heard that the legislature amended the Iowa Code to include the following language:“The board of an area education agency or a consortium of two or more area education agencies shall contract with one or more licensed dietitians for the support of nutritional provisions in individual education plans developed in accordance with chapter 256B and to provide information to support school nutrition coordinators.”There has been some confusion in recent weeks that each AEA had hired a dietician, and that schools could contact these individuals for nutritional information. The AEAs did not hire dieticians, rather the AEA system contracted with Martin Brothers (which serves as the Iowa Educators Consortium’s main food service vendor) for their dieticians to provide nutritional support to schools.
So if you hear school personnel asking whether the AEAs are employing dieticians, please provide them with the correct information. If they have a general nutritional request, they may call Martin Brothers at 1-800-847-2404 and ask for Mary Sell or Renee Steffens.
The March Staff Advisory Council (SAC II) meeting will now be held on March 23, 2010, at Grace Lutheran Church in Adel from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m. The Regions 3 & 4 Brown Bag Chat Session will be at the same location from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The Agency would like to cut down on the junk mail that it receives to make mail delivery smoother and be environmentally friendly. If you work in the Johnston office and receive junk mail, don’t just throw it away, please write “Remove” on the envelope and send it to Tiffany Wingert, who will gladly call the company the mail is coming from to remove you from their mailing list. If you work in a regional office, secretaries will assist you in compiling junk mail items and sending them to Tiffany.
