March 2012 Board of Directors Meeting Recap

The regular meeting of the Heartland AEA Board of Directors was held March 13, 2012.

Discussion Items
High Performing Organizations and the Link to Culture and Leadership
Ms. Laura Gillon, Executive Director of Human Resources, and Dr. Jim Verlengia, Regional Director, shared information about the Denison Model that explores the relationship between culture and leadership. Research shows that an effective culture leads to higher employee performance and that high performing organizations demonstrate certain characteristics within their leadership. They asked Board members if they would consider Heartland to be a high performing organization and if this model was something to be pursued. The model provides an opportunity to hone in on areas that need further development and to see what already exists. Board members were interested but asked for additional information including costs and the time investment. Ms. Gillon will provide a detailed proposal at an upcoming board meeting.

Closed Session
The Board went into closed session at 3:42 p.m. to discuss the 2012-13 negotiations process. The Board returned to public session at 4:39 p.m.

Public Forum and Correspondence
Dr. Vincent discussed director district changes that are occurring in schools as a result of the 2010 U.S. Census. Director districts can change due to shifts in population, which occurred in Des Moines. Des Moines Public Schools was asked to redraw its director districts and that work has been completed and filed with the Secretary of State’s Office. The AEAs will also look at their populations to see if there will need to be any changes to board director assignments.

Discussion Items Continued
Board Committee Reports and Activities
Board Policy Task Force – The task force met last week and reviewed the 300 series. Progress is slow and there remains a lot of work before starting the next series.
Affirmative Action – Mr. Turnquist attended the affirmative action committee meeting. There are two more meetings scheduled.
IEC – The lawsuit brought by Hawkeye Foods against the IEC was given approval by the Iowa Supreme Court to move forward. More information will be shared at the April Boards of Directors’ Conference.
Legislative Update – The Education Reform Bill is being debated this evening in the House. There were over 40 amendments presented to the bill and hopefully one version will be passed to the Senate. Changes to juvenile homes were also proposed. The proposal was very harmful to the ability to provide support to children across the state. Heartland staff members, Mr. David King and Mr. Steve Iverson, were helpful in advocating on behalf of the children and AEA system.

District Services
Ms. Sheila King and Dr. Cindy Yelick, Executive Directors of Instructional Services, discussed recent conversations and planning that has taken place with staff and districts. Meetings have been held with all regional directors about the state of their district service plans, priority of services and capacity levels of staff to meet district needs. Three themes emerged:
1.) Support for core instruction – The structure around curriculum, instruction and improving outcomes for students. Heartland staff needs to have the ability to coach teachers on instructional practices and services.
2.) Integration of technology – The Agency will try to approach this on different levels, such as capacity building for staff and doing work to support 1:1 schools.
3.) Continuum around behavior – Next spring the Agency will hold a conference for staff, parents and teachers on behavior. The conference will focus on three major areas: how to enhance instruction, how to use basic reinforcement and the increase in challenging behaviors that teachers don’t have the tools to handle.

Chief Administrator Comments
• Exira Community School District is exploring a merger with Elk Horn-Kimballton. If it moves forward, Heartland will be heavily involved in the merger process.

Board Comments
• Board members discussed rescheduling the April 24 board agenda planning meeting. It will be held as scheduled.
• Dr. Bridgewater inquired about the Agency’s current rate of mileage reimbursement.
• Mr. Halliburton asked if special education could be added as a topic at a future work session.