Go to http://aeas4iowa.wordpress.com/ to read the newest edition of “Impacting Lives.” The blog newsletter is a statewide effort to communicate AEA success stories and services across the state. The newsletter is sent to all school administrators, legislators (in-session) and AEA staff in Iowa.
This issue includes:
• Iowa's AEAs Unveil New Website and Video
• Miracles Happen Every Day at Wayne Elementary
• Making Classroom Experiences More Meaningful for Students
• iPad App Helps Youngster Communicate More Effectively
• Iowa Future: The world is changing. We need to change with it.
Monday, November 21, 2011
November 2011 Board of Directors Meeting Recap
The regular meeting of the Heartland AEA Board of Directors was held on November 8, 2011.
Public Forum
No one from the public was present to address the Board.
Discussion Items
Board Committee Reports and Updates
• Board Advisory Committee – The Board Advisory Council met in October. It was an excellent meeting as members are very committed and taking their work seriously. The majority of discussion focused on building partnerships and reciprocal accountability.
• Board Policy Task Force – The task force is working on series 200 of the Board Policy Manual. The work is going very slow as the policies are being condensed. They will contain the same information, only in an updated version.
Media and Technology Executive Summary
Mr. Steve Prall, Executive Director of Operations, reviewed the executive summary of the operations redesign study that took place in October and November. It has been a learning opportunity for the Agency, as it looked at the current state of the Operations Department and what was needed to provide services for the 21st century. From the study, five priority areas were developed that include recovering funds for the operations budget, developing and using assessment data as new services are offered, developing an integrated support system worthy of national attention, delivering facilities support to where the work is done and implementing internal services for job-alike workgroups.
AEA System Reform Initiative
Governor Branstad and Jason Glass, Director of the Iowa Department of Education, have released the state’s education reform plan. It’s unsure where the plan will go at this time, however it has brought the attention back to education within the state.
Capacity Building for Agency Work
Ms. Sheila King, Executive Director of Instructional Services, discussed a meeting that was held today between Heartland consultants and principals and school improvement leaders from Des Moines Public Schools. Time was spent focusing on what the Agency could do to help principals and leaders be the best they could be in meeting the needs of children. It was a great opportunity to learn together, build relationships and to learn how to leverage the Agency’s resources. Everyone left feeling very optimistic. The group will meet four more times over the winter and next month’s session will focus on instruction.
Board Self-Evaluation
Board members reviewed last year’s self-evaluation and discussed if changes were needed to the questions or rating system. The rating system will be on a 1-5 scale, with 5 the highest and 1 the lowest. No changes were made to the questions. Ms. Jenny Ugolini will send the survey within the next two weeks and present the results at the December meeting.
Chief Administrator Comments
• Dr. Vincent gave kudos to Heartland staff for their participation in the United Way campaign. There is always the concern about how far the Agency should push in fundraising, but because of United Way’s tie to increasing graduation rates and its educational goals, it is a worthy organization and staff raised over $10,000.
• Board members were given a copy of the AEA system’s response to the Governor’s education reform plan. The document was drafted so there is a consistent message across the state in how the AEAs can support the plan and impact instruction. Dr. Vincent was thrilled that the AEA system is focusing on those things that will make a difference in student achievement.
• There were over 100 applications for the AEA system government relations position. The application pool was reviewed and there are many highly qualified candidates. Interviews will be scheduled soon.
Public Forum
No one from the public was present to address the Board.
Discussion Items
Board Committee Reports and Updates
• Board Advisory Committee – The Board Advisory Council met in October. It was an excellent meeting as members are very committed and taking their work seriously. The majority of discussion focused on building partnerships and reciprocal accountability.
• Board Policy Task Force – The task force is working on series 200 of the Board Policy Manual. The work is going very slow as the policies are being condensed. They will contain the same information, only in an updated version.
Media and Technology Executive Summary
Mr. Steve Prall, Executive Director of Operations, reviewed the executive summary of the operations redesign study that took place in October and November. It has been a learning opportunity for the Agency, as it looked at the current state of the Operations Department and what was needed to provide services for the 21st century. From the study, five priority areas were developed that include recovering funds for the operations budget, developing and using assessment data as new services are offered, developing an integrated support system worthy of national attention, delivering facilities support to where the work is done and implementing internal services for job-alike workgroups.
AEA System Reform Initiative
Governor Branstad and Jason Glass, Director of the Iowa Department of Education, have released the state’s education reform plan. It’s unsure where the plan will go at this time, however it has brought the attention back to education within the state.
Capacity Building for Agency Work
Ms. Sheila King, Executive Director of Instructional Services, discussed a meeting that was held today between Heartland consultants and principals and school improvement leaders from Des Moines Public Schools. Time was spent focusing on what the Agency could do to help principals and leaders be the best they could be in meeting the needs of children. It was a great opportunity to learn together, build relationships and to learn how to leverage the Agency’s resources. Everyone left feeling very optimistic. The group will meet four more times over the winter and next month’s session will focus on instruction.
Board Self-Evaluation
Board members reviewed last year’s self-evaluation and discussed if changes were needed to the questions or rating system. The rating system will be on a 1-5 scale, with 5 the highest and 1 the lowest. No changes were made to the questions. Ms. Jenny Ugolini will send the survey within the next two weeks and present the results at the December meeting.
Chief Administrator Comments
• Dr. Vincent gave kudos to Heartland staff for their participation in the United Way campaign. There is always the concern about how far the Agency should push in fundraising, but because of United Way’s tie to increasing graduation rates and its educational goals, it is a worthy organization and staff raised over $10,000.
• Board members were given a copy of the AEA system’s response to the Governor’s education reform plan. The document was drafted so there is a consistent message across the state in how the AEAs can support the plan and impact instruction. Dr. Vincent was thrilled that the AEA system is focusing on those things that will make a difference in student achievement.
• There were over 100 applications for the AEA system government relations position. The application pool was reviewed and there are many highly qualified candidates. Interviews will be scheduled soon.
Velcro Available for Staff Use
Some staff members in job-alike work teams and other groups have found that they need hook and loop fasteners (commonly referred to as Velcro®). If you need Velcro for a project, please have the office secretary order it through the Central Supply ordering system or contact Dustin Gean at dgean@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14460.
Regional Support Staff: Update on Transition for 2012-13
As we communicated in earlier Connection updates, the Agency is working on the transition process for changes impacting regional support staff roles. Thanks to input from staff and significant discussion in the Agency’s planning councils, we’ve defined some additional details.
Effective July 1, 2012, staff who currently have the title of special education clerk, secretary I or regional secretary, and who are providing support to our regions, will have the title regional administrative assistant. Click here for the job description for this position. For the 2012-13 school year, regional administrative assistants will retain the number of contract days they had for 2011-12. More information concerning compensation for this position will come after the first of the year.
We appreciate your patience as we work to make fair decisions that affect our staff. Watch The Connection for further updates as information becomes available.
Effective July 1, 2012, staff who currently have the title of special education clerk, secretary I or regional secretary, and who are providing support to our regions, will have the title regional administrative assistant. Click here for the job description for this position. For the 2012-13 school year, regional administrative assistants will retain the number of contract days they had for 2011-12. More information concerning compensation for this position will come after the first of the year.
We appreciate your patience as we work to make fair decisions that affect our staff. Watch The Connection for further updates as information becomes available.
Kabel Business Services Holiday Schedule
Kabel Business Services, the provider of our medical flex spending, dependent care and Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) plans, has notified us of its holiday hours so that you can be reimbursed for your claims in a timely manner.
Kabel will be closed for Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25. There will be no disbursements for claims on these days.
Kabel will be closed for Christmas on Friday, December 23 and Monday, December 26. There will be no disbursements for claims on these days.
Kabel will be closed for New Year’s on Monday, January 2, 2012. There will be no disbursements for claims on this day.
If you have any questions about your accounts at Kabel Business Services, call (515) 224-9400 or (800) 300-9691.
Kabel will be closed for Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25. There will be no disbursements for claims on these days.
Kabel will be closed for Christmas on Friday, December 23 and Monday, December 26. There will be no disbursements for claims on these days.
Kabel will be closed for New Year’s on Monday, January 2, 2012. There will be no disbursements for claims on this day.
If you have any questions about your accounts at Kabel Business Services, call (515) 224-9400 or (800) 300-9691.
Important Reminders About Agency E-mail Accounts
1) When you delete e-mails, they are moved to the Deleted Items folder. It is recommended that you regularly empty your Deleted Items folder to free up server space. Each e-mail account has a quota, and every e-mail in your Inbox, Filed Mail, Deleted Items AND your Sent Items counts against that quota.
2) Because deleted items are “out of sight, out of mind,” it is easy to forget about them, and they can take up a lot of server space. To prevent huge amounts of deleted e-mail from building up on the server, all e-mails in the Deleted Items folders are permanently deleted if they are 30 days old.
3) E-mails that you would like to save should be filed some place other than your Inbox (which will get very big in a hurry) or the Deleted Items folder. Create a series of subfolders under your Filed Mail; using file names that make sense to you, and move items into those files as appropriate.
4) Each person has a Junk E-mail folder as well. We encourage users to check their Junk E-mail folder at least once a day, because on occasion, legitimate e-mail is routed to the Junk E-mail folder. (E-mail servers make educated guesses as to whether or not an e-mail is “junk.” Sometimes the server guesses wrong and puts an item in your Inbox that is “junk” and puts an important e-mail in your Junk E-mail.) Any e-mail that is in the Junk E-mail folder that is 30 days old is also automatically deleted.
If you have questions about how to make subfolders, check your e-mail quota, empty your Deleted Items, etc., please contact Mike Permann (mpermann@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14767), Greg Wilcox (gwilcox@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14618) or Judy Cleveland (jcleveland@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14538) for assistance.
2) Because deleted items are “out of sight, out of mind,” it is easy to forget about them, and they can take up a lot of server space. To prevent huge amounts of deleted e-mail from building up on the server, all e-mails in the Deleted Items folders are permanently deleted if they are 30 days old.
3) E-mails that you would like to save should be filed some place other than your Inbox (which will get very big in a hurry) or the Deleted Items folder. Create a series of subfolders under your Filed Mail; using file names that make sense to you, and move items into those files as appropriate.
4) Each person has a Junk E-mail folder as well. We encourage users to check their Junk E-mail folder at least once a day, because on occasion, legitimate e-mail is routed to the Junk E-mail folder. (E-mail servers make educated guesses as to whether or not an e-mail is “junk.” Sometimes the server guesses wrong and puts an item in your Inbox that is “junk” and puts an important e-mail in your Junk E-mail.) Any e-mail that is in the Junk E-mail folder that is 30 days old is also automatically deleted.
If you have questions about how to make subfolders, check your e-mail quota, empty your Deleted Items, etc., please contact Mike Permann (mpermann@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14767), Greg Wilcox (gwilcox@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14618) or Judy Cleveland (jcleveland@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14538) for assistance.
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