Our Mission
To
improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children and youth
by providing services and leadership in partnership with families,
schools and communities.
Our Goals
• Increase learning growth for students
• Decrease the gap in achievement
• Increase annual graduation rates
• Increase gateways to post-secondary success
As you know, the Heartland AEA Board of Directors has begun the process to recruit and select a new chief administrator for our agency. Your involvement in our process is important, and we appreciate that 195 of you responded to a survey that asked what attributes and skills were most important to you in a chief administrator.
The results of this survey fall into a few priority themes, which the Board would like to build upon to design potential questions that could be posed to chief administrator candidates. Here’s what you said:
When asked to rank order a list of attributes and skills, you most hoped to find a chief administrator who:
- Has the ability to promote and sustain an environment of mutual trust and openness with the Board, staff and member districts.
- Understands the special needs of students and the array of services required to support those needs.
- Is fair, ethical and possesses unquestionable integrity.
- Is an excellent communicator and understands that listening is an essential component of communicating.
When asked for open-ended comments, you most often mentioned that you hoped to find a chief administrator who:
- Understands and values the role of the AEA, with an appreciation for the unique work of AEA staff. (This theme was mentioned nearly twice as often as any other.)
- Understands public education in Iowa.
- Is supportive with good communication skills.
We will use the Agency’s planning council structure to generate potential questions. Here’s how you can be involved:
- First, review the themes above.
- Next, think about what questions these themes raise for you.
- Now, contribute your ideas for questions to your department supervisor or regional planning council representative by Feb. 27 -- a week from today.
- Our leadership team will work with their respective planning councils in March to formulate 2-3 questions based on your input about these themes.
Thank you for your interest and involvement in our process. Through the survey and the design of these questions, your collective voice is helping our Board of Directors make this important hiring decision for our agency. We will continue to keep you informed of our progress and any additional opportunity for involvement. As always, your ongoing work to improve the outcomes for those we serve is greatly appreciated.
- John Kinley, Board President
Over the past several years our country has seen an increase in school and workplace violence. As our agency learns more from the experts who have studied these events, the Agency’s Emergency Response & Safety Team (new name of the Crisis Committee) has made several recommendations that have been enacted across the Agency to help keep us safe in the case of an emergency. Examples include:
• Emergency Procedures Flip Charts in conference rooms and common areas
• Increased signage in agency-owned buildings
• ALICE Training offered to agency leaders and crisis responders
• ALICE PechaKucha at All-Staff Meeting
As our agency continues to make improvements in our agency’s safety and security, we are taking the step to offer ALICE online training to all staff. By the end of the 2017 calendar year, all Heartland AEA staff members are asked to take the hour-long online training to become familiar with the ALICE program and the techniques it teaches in response to an armed intruder event. Even if you completed the in-person training, you are asked to complete the online training, as there are a few items of new learning not included in the live training.
ALICE Overview
ALICE stands for:
- Alert: Get the word out! “Armed Intruder in building” instead of “Code Red,” or “Bring the purple folder to the office.” Use clear, concise language to convey the type and location of the event.
- Lockdown: Good starting point. We will continue to lockdown in secure areas.
- Inform: Communication keeps the intruder off balance and allows for good decision-making.
- Counter: Apply skills to distract, confuse and gain control.
- Evacuate: Reduce the number of potential targets for the intruder and reduce chances of victims resulting from friendly fire when help arrives.
In short, using the ALICE method, we will give you more tools to use in the event of an armed intruder/active shooter. We want to provide you with the knowledge that if faced with a life or death situation there are methods that can be applied to greatly enhance your chance of survival.
Again, you are asked to complete the ALICE online training by the end of the 2017 calendar year. To access the training:
- Visit the AEA PD Online Moodle site.
- Login with your Google username and password by clicking on the Google logo if you’ve never been to the site before.
- If you've taken an online course from AEA PD Online in the past two years, login with the username and password you created to take the course.
- Once in the site, find the banner named "Individual AEAs and Partners" and look for the Heartland AEA logo. Click on the logo, and you'll be taken to a page where the ALICE logo is shown.
- Click on the ALICE logo to be taken to a screen where you can then click the "Enroll me" button to be enrolled in the training.
- If you need any assistance with accessing the site, contact Shelley Christensen, Registrar/Licensure Assistant, at ext. 14668.
If you have any questions about the training or the ALICE program in general, contact Dustin Gean, Operations Manager, Emergency Response & Safety Team Lead and Certified ALICE Trainer.
The GWAEA Summer Leadership Symposium: The Leader as a Deep Change Agent, planned June 27, 2017, at the Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, Coralville, will provide educational leaders with an opportunity to participate in engaging learning sessions with national experts. Sessions will focus on how to lead school-wide efforts that are cohesive and collaborative resulting in educational equity and increased student learning. Sessions will be hosted by nationally known experts including Doug Reeves, Andy Hargreaves, Ken Williams, John Almarode, Kristin Anderson, Trudy Arriaga and George Couros.
View this flyer for more information and link to register.
Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise announced last week members of a new team that will develop recommended statewide standards in fine arts. The Fine Arts Standards Adoption Team will meet for the first time on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
The team’s mission is to create a series of concepts and skills designed to foster creativity and critical thinking in fine arts, which include visual art, general music, instrumental music, vocal music, theater, dance and media arts.
“Iowa is committed to ensuring our students have access to a quality learning experience in all subjects, and that includes fine arts,” Wise said. “Standards are a key component of high-quality instruction. The development of statewide standards marks a major step forward in further strengthening arts education in Iowa.”
The team was created in response to public support for offering standards that go beyond the mandatory subject areas of English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies and 21st century skills. The team will seek public feedback and eventually will offer recommended standards to the State Board of Education for consideration. If adopted, the fine arts standards would be optional for school districts. Learn more at the Iowa Department of Education’s website.
As a full-time staff member with Wellmark insurance, you have access to the following services as part of your health benefits through Wellmark:
- Credit monitoring: Monitors activity that may affect a member’s credit record.
- Cyber monitoring: Monitoring the web 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to make sure member information has not been stolen.
- Fraud detection: Alerts members when activity has been identified and protects them from all types of identity theft.
- Complete identity recovery: Concierge-style services to help members recover their identity if it has been compromised.
- Reimbursement insurance: $1 million of identity-theft recovery insurance.
See the “Identity Theft Assistance” page on the Intranet for more information.
Heartland AEA health plan members can enroll in identity protection services through their myWellmark account or over the phone by calling 866-486-4812. Members will need their Wellmark ID card and the enrollment code: 4170999624 — also found on members’ myWellmark account — when they sign up for services.
We are pleased to announce the Heartland AEA Board of Directors has approved terms and conditions of employment for the Heartland Education Association (HEA) and Teamster Union employment groups for multiple years. The compensation philosophy developed by the Board is to pay all categories of employees at competitive levels established by relevant labor markets and available resources, and which are consistent with job competencies, responsibilities and requirements, considering salary and benefits as a total compensation package.
The transparent and interest-based approach of union representatives and management in monthly collaboration meetings has resulted in successfully addressing several issues over the course of the year. Below is a summary of key points of bargaining agreements for each employment group.
Heartland Education Association – Certified Union
- The settlement is for two years.
- The combined total package for 2017-18 is 2.9% including Teacher Salary Supplement (TSS).
- The combined total package for 2018-19 is 3.0% including Teacher Salary Supplement (TSS).
- Beginning 2018-19, employees will contribute 3% toward a single health insurance policy. There will be no employee contribution toward dental.
- Article 10: Transfer Procedures has been updated to include language regarding the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities when transferring, as well as the expectation that staff will stay in their assignment for at least two years.
Teamsters Local #238 – Classified Union
- The settlement is for three years.
- The combined total package for 2017-18 is 2.75%.
- The combined total package for 2018-19 is 3.0%.
- The combined total package for 2019-20 is 3.0%.
- Beginning 2018-19, employees will contribute 3% toward a single health insurance policy. There will be no employee contribution toward dental.
- Article 5: Transfer Procedures has been updated to include language regarding the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities when transferring.
- Article 9: Holidays has been updated to reflect the winter break holiday schedule.
The Negotiated Agreements will be posted under the Human Resources link on the Intranet. If you have any questions about this information, contact Tony Chiaramonte, Human Resources Manager, at ext. 14534.
Heartland AEA is pleased to announce that it will hold its third annual Education Career Fair in March!
March 8, 2017
2:00-5:30 p.m.
Heartland Area Education Agency
Johnston Regional Education Center
The
job fair will be an opportunity for teachers and other education
professionals to meet with central Iowa school districts at one location
to apply for jobs for the next school year.
- School districts recruiting on-site
- Interviewing, job searching, technology and career fair success classes
- Participants can have their resume critiqued before the event at Goodwill Career Connections Center – find them on Facebook
- Free gift!
Visit the Career Fair page on the agency’s website for all the info! Pre-registration is encouraged, but the fair is again free of charge.
Promotional Flyer
What does having a successful retirement mean to you? You may hope to stop working and travel, enjoy hobbies, volunteer or spend time with grandchildren. Maybe you plan on getting a part-time job or starting a second career after you retire. Or perhaps you've had to postpone your retirement plans due to a change in your financial circumstances. Whatever your idea of an ideal retirement, you can't start planning too soon. People who plan ahead report happier and more successful retirements. Planning ahead gives you time to explore your options and to make choices that best meet your needs now and well into the future. Check out the “Planning a Successful Retirement” article on the LifeWorks website.
Website: heartlandaea.lifeworks.com
Username: heartlandaea
Password: lifeworks
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 and John Pederson.
