Our Mission
To
provide services and leadership, in partnership with families, schools
and communities, that improve the learning outcomes and well-being of
all children and youth.
Our Goals
• Increase learning growth for students
• Decrease the gap in achievement
• Increase annual graduation rates
• Increase gateways to post-secondary success
Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise announced he is seeking input from Iowans on alternative ways to provide support to students in high-need schools under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which will replace the No Child Left Behind Act.
The Department is holding four public forums statewide to gather feedback. Iowans also can submit written feedback by sending an email to essa@iowa.gov.
The Iowa Technology Education Connection (ITEC) is hosting the Central Iowa Tech Fair for students on May 12, 2016 and is looking for a few good judges! The Tech Fair is a wonderful opportunity for students to showcase their technology-based projects and gain experience presenting to an adult. If you enjoy working with youth and have an interest in student-centered activities, consider being a volunteer judge.
If you’re interested in being a judge, fill out this online form by April 22. Once you sign up to judge more information about the Fair will be sent to you.
Do you have a student that loves technology? Someone who likes to talk about new products, security and encryption, driverless cars and reliable broadband in schools?
The Iowa Communications Network (ICN) has a wonderful opportunity for your technology savvy student!
The ICN is looking for 10th-12th grade students with powerful voices to share their perspectives on technology and broadband. Applications are now being accepted by April 11 for the Statewide Youth Broadband Advisory Council (SYBAC) for the 2016-2017 school year.
The SYBAC will be made up of 11 young leaders from across Iowa who will identify effective strategies to improve broadband connectivity and community environments, which could assist in advocacy efforts for rural Internet connectivity.
To apply for the Council, students can visit the SYBAC website or contact Lori Larsen.
Health & Dental Insurance, Flex Benefit Plan
Annual benefit enrollment will be open to all full-time and 96-day staff from Friday, April 1 through Saturday, April 30 at 4:00 p.m. for the 2016-17 plan year, which begins July 1. Full-time employees will be enrolling in health and dental insurance and the medical flex spending plan. Part-time employees (96-day) will be enrolling in the medical flex spending plan only. (This enrollment period is not for enrollment in the dependent care plan, which is done in November.)
You will need to make your enrollment selections even if you choose not to make any changes to your benefits for next year. Note that this is the time that you can add and/or drop family members to your health and dental plans without a life event or change of status.
HOW TO ENROLL: Enrollment will be done again this year through the Employee Online tab of your Employee Dashboard. See this instruction document if you need assistance in enrolling.
Health Insurance
Health insurance premiums have remained unchanged for 2016-17. (YAY!!) The monthly insurance premium rates for the $750 and $1,500 deductible health plans will be as follows:
$750 Deductible Plan
- Single - $617.57 (Paid in full by the Agency)
- Family - $1,543.94 (Agency pays 60% of the premium for Classified and Certified Union employees so you owe $308.79 per pay period)
- No HRA with the $750 deductible plan.
$1,500 Deductible Plan
- Single - $540.28 (Paid in full by the Agency) – Annual HRA is $681.96 ($170.49/quarter)
- Family - $1,350.71 (Agency pays 60% of the premium for Classified and Certified Union employees so you owe $270.14 per pay period).
- Annual HRA for Classified and Certified Union taking $1,500 family plan - $1,053.00 ($263.25/quarter)
- Annual HRA for Non-Union taking $1,500 family plan - $1,794.96 ($448.74/quarter)
Dental Insurance
Note that dental premium rates have increased.
- Single rate has increased to $34.54 monthly. (Paid in full by the Agency)
- Family rate has increased to $108.48 per month. (Agency pays single rate of $34.54 for
Classified and Certified Union employees towards the premium, so you owe $36.97 per pay
period)
Medical Flex Spending Plan
Each employee may choose to deduct from his/her paycheck a maximum of $2,550 ($106.25/pay period) regardless of how many family members you have or whether your spouse is able to contribute at his/her place of employment. As in the past, you may submit claims for eligible expenses for you, your spouse and your eligible children. For those couples where both husband and wife work at Heartland AEA, each spouse may elect up to $2,550 for the plan year. Reminder: If you enroll in medical flex spending plan, and you can’t get all of your money spent in your account, you will be able to rollover up to $500 from the 2015-16 plan into the 2016-17 plan.
Supplemental Life Insurance
Please note that this benefit is available only to full-time employees.
Annual enrollment is also the time that employees who didn't opt for additional life insurance through VOYA can enroll. During April, we will provide the enrollment form and Evidence of Insurability via The Connection. Existing employees who are enrolling for the first time will be required to fill out an Evidence of Insurability form. Existing employees who are already enrolled, but who want to increase their coverage, may also do this at this time. Any existing employee may increase his/her coverage, but if it is increased over $10,000, he/she will be required to fill out an Evidence of Insurability. Enrollment will be during April, but will be effective on July 1.
Benefit Specialist Office Visits Coming in April
Juliette Houseman, Benefits Specialist, will be making visits to regional offices during the month of April to answer questions about benefit enrollment, wellness or other Human Resources questions. Please email Juliette to set up an appointment if you are interested in meeting with her on the following days:
Ames - April 26
Adel - April 14
Newton - April 12 (Regional meeting)
Indianola – April 6
Guthrie Center/Carroll - April 21 (Regional meeting)
If you have any questions about any of the above information, contact Juliette Houseman, Benefits Specialist, at ext. 14315.
Each week during the Iowa legislative session, we will bring you an AEA Legislative Update from the AEA system’s lobbyists, Tom Lane, Matt Eide, John Pederson and Kate Walton.
Sharing documents via Google Drive is great! However, sometimes you don’t need to forever share a document with a peer, audience or the world. A recent Google update allows you to share a document, or documents, with individuals but provide a specific time period in which they can access it.
Watch this Google Gooru video to learn how.
If you have any questions, contact Mande Gamble, Technology Training Specialist, at ext. 14676.
