Members from the Agency Planning Council (APC) have been meeting with each Regional Planning Council (RPC) during regularly scheduled October meetings, which is where most of this week’s questions were raised. Some questions came up that we don’t have answers for yet, and APC will continue to provide updates in this weekly venue as often as new questions have been identified or there is new information to share. This will be an ongoing discussion item with the HEA collaboration team as well as in LLPC, SSPC and APC settings. APC also plans to gather input from job-alike coordinators and facilitators. If you have any questions, please e-mail them to comms@aea11.k12.ia.us.
Q: Has the agency defined a set number of supplemental contracts that will be divided among the regions or work groups?
A. No, will not be setting a number of supplemental contracts. It is not a set number of days total that are available and then we divide them by the number of employees. We will work together to identify our work and issue supplemental contracts as needed as this is not meant to be a competitive process among staff.
Q: Can supplemental contracts be of different length?
A: Yes, they can.
Q: Is it possible that people within the same workgroup could have different contract lengths?
A: Yes, it is possible based on the functions that staff member supports and the identified need. Therefore, contract lengths could be different across staff with the same job-title (e.g., school psychologist, speech-language pathologist, etc.) as well as job-alike group (e.g., Professional Learning Providers, School Psychologists, etc.).
Q: Some of us calendar our contract days over 12 months and some of us calendar over 10 months. Are you considering making us all one way or the other?
A: Service year (calendaring time over 10 months or 12 months) is being discussed at this time. Right now, APC has made no decisions about changes.
Q: When are supplemental contracts issued?
A: Supplemental contracts will be issued at the same time we do our base contracts.
Q: Will regional directors use the same criteria to make contract length recommendations? They seem very broad right now, but I understand they are getting more defined. When will we see all the criteria you will use?
A: Yes, everyone will apply the same criteria for decision-making, and APC will be responsible for making final decisions.
We are collecting information during October planning council meetings to bring more definition to the criteria. We expect to be able to share that input by the end of the month.
Q: I am concerned that no one really knows what I do in my work. Who do I talk with to make sure the Agency understands my role?
A: Please have conversations with your supervisor to provide that input.
Q: What input will districts have into this process?
A: We are in ongoing conversations with our districts regarding their priorities and needs. This happens through a variety of settings, including individual and agency planned meetings we have with school leaders. Also, the regional directors engage in routine conversations with district leaders and are responsible for keeping the service plan for each district updated with current information.
Q: How do we know when to use addendum days?
A: Addendum will be a tool your supervisors can use to address work that is of shorter duration, was unexpected, and/or we know is a special circumstance for which we could not plan otherwise.
Q: In the initial communication to certified staff, the phrase “planned transition process” was used. Can you clarify what that statement means?
A: Our intentions regarding transition are to use a process to make informed decisions to determine contract length. Once decisions are made, we will work closely with any staff member who is impacted by a change to ensure a smooth transition.
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