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
The ACA requires Heartland AEA to provide Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage, to all employees who were enrolled in the Agency’s health insurance plan at any time in 2018. This form provides information about the coverage offered to you, your spouse and dependents, if applicable, and the months of coverage. Your 2018 Form 1095-C has been mailed to your home address. You can also view your Form 1095-C through the Employee Online section of your Employee Dashboard. To access Employee Online, log in to the Employee Dashboard and find the Employee Online tab in the top navigation. Once in Employee Online, go to the left-hand navigation and click on “W2/ACA 1095C Info” then on “1095C 2018.” This will open a PDF copy of your 1095-C. If you have any questions, contact Steve Jordan, Senior Payroll Specialist, at ext. 14908.
Heed these tips from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) when you’re outside in our recent frigid temps! (Click image to enlarge.)
This week, Kurt Subra, Chief Financial Officer, and Renee McPhee of Perspective Consulting Partners, will address a common comment that many of you provided as feedback on the Insurance Survey. A sampling of the comments:
The flexibility of the family plans is somewhat limiting. Other places allow a plus one or have other levels in between and that would be beneficial.
I wish there was a better family option for those employees who only have a spouse. The premium seems very high when you don't have an entire family of children to also be covered but just 1 additional person.
I would change that you can add one child to a plan instead of having to add a whole family.
Would like the option of adding only 1 person to "family" coverage for less $ vs. adding entire family at a higher cost.
Heartland AEA offers medical insurance coverage with two options: single and family. Staff raised two common concerns in the Insurance Survey: 1) the family premium is too high and 2) staff would like additional coverage options, such as employee plus child or employee plus spouse. In setting medical plan premiums, the Agency has to ensure that the premiums cover medical claims and administration costs for our insurance plan. If family premiums are lowered, the single premiums will need to be increased to offset the reduction in total family premium collected. The Agency would also need to re-evaluate our contributions towards both single and family coverage. The Insurance Committee has previously evaluated offering employee + child and employee + spouse options, in addition to family coverage (a 4 tier premium structure). However, the family would have higher insurance premiums under an insurance plan with more coverage options, and Heartland AEA’s enrollment has a greater number of families enrolled than those with employee + child or employee + spouse. Because this 4-tier structure would negatively impact more Heartland AEA employees than benefit, the Committee determined the single/family premiums to be the most appropriate.
If you haven’t signed up yet for a biometric screening, a few dates are still available in Johnston and Adel. More information and a link to register can be found on the Wellness page on the Intranet.
If you weren’t able to attend these Wellness Lunch & Learn sessions, check out the video versions of them over lunch, on the treadmill or wherever works for you! Wellness Lunch & Learn: Eating Healthy On-the-Go Presented by: Ashley Danielson, R.D.N., L.D., Dietician, Hy-Vee Nov. 2018
Wellness Lunch & Learn: Get to Know Medicare Presented by: Joel LeLaCheur, Agent Manager, United Healthcare Kurt Randel, Independent Insurance Agent Nov. 2018
Instead of holding its own Education Career Fair this year, our Human Resources Department will be partnering with Iowa State University on its annual Teacher Education Career Fair. If you know college students in teacher preparation programs or others who may have been interested in attending our Career Fair, please encourage them to attend the ISU Fair. ISU Teacher Education Career Fair March 4, 2019 1 - 4 p.m. Iowa State Alumni Center More Information
In an effort to continue to enhance our staff’s ability to support students who present behavioral challenges in the schools our agency serves, the Saydel Community School District and Heartland AEA are partnering to bring Dr. Stuart Ablon to the area. Two of the greatest social-emotional challenges educators have voiced wanting to learn more about is how to work with children who are impacted by mental health needs and/or by aspects of trauma. Dr. Stuart Ablon is the Director of Think:Kids in the psychiatry department at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Ablon is also an associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ablon has developed an evidence-based process focused on working with students who exhibit challenging behaviors called “Collaborative Problem Solving.” Collaborative Problem Solving® (CPS) is an evidence-based approach to understanding and helping children and adolescents with behavioral challenges. This introductory learning opportunity will provide a foundation for professionals to understand and help children and adolescents with behavioral challenges. The CPS model promotes the understanding that challenging kids lack the skill, not the will, to behave well—specifically skills related to problem-solving, flexibility and frustration tolerance. The philosophy behind the model is “kids do well if they can.” Collaborative Problem Solving® focuses on helping adults teach the skills these children lack while resolving the chronic problems that tend to precipitate challenging behavior. Through lecture, videos, case examples and role plays, this one-day training will introduce how to foster positive relationships with children and encourage growth in areas of self-regulation, communication and problem-solving. Dr. Ablon has been partnering with the Marshalltown Community Schools. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about their professional learning and implementation process. Collaborative Problem Solving with Dr. Stuart Ablon Feb. 11, 2019 8:30 - 11:30 a.m.: Large Group Learning with Dr. Ablon 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.: Lunch on your own 1 - 2:15 p.m.: Panel Discussion with Dr. Ablon and Marshalltown Schools Saydel High School Auditorium Registration Please discuss this opportunity with your regional director if you're interested in attending.
In an ongoing effort to keep our agency software up-to-date, an updated version of Symantec Anti-Virus software will be available this week to install on agency computers. As part of this process, we’re also enabling FileVault encryption on your computer if it’s not already enabled. Beginning Jan. 14, 2019, the update for Symantec Anti-Virus will be available via Self Service on all agency computers needing the update. You may install this update at your convenience during a 17-day window. If you haven’t performed the update by Jan. 31, the update will be applied to your computer automatically. It is important that you perform this update to ensure it’s not automatically applied at an inopportune time. To install this update, follow the instructions below:
Locate and open the Self Service app. You will find it in the Applications folder, or you may have a shortcut on your Dock.
Click the "Utilities" category on the left-hand side of Self Service and locate the Symantec Endpoint Protection 14.2.1031.0100 policy. If your computer needs to have FileVault enabled, you will see a policy called Symantec Endpoint Protection 14.2.1031.0100 & Enable FileVault.
Click the Install button and read the brief description. Then click the Install button to start the installation process.
A message will appear when Symantec Endpoint Protection 14.2.1031.0100 has been installed, reminding you your computer will need to be restarted. If your computer needs FileVault enabled, the message will mention FileVault was enabled. Your computer will restart 1 minute after you click the OK button. On startup, you may see the following message: “Your administrator requires that you enable FileVault.” Click the Enable Now button to proceed with the encryption.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact Mike Permann or Marquis Jones. Q & A Q: Why doesn't my Symantec Endpoint Protection policy include enabling FileVault? A: You will not get the enable FileVault encryption if you have an iMac or if your computer already has FileVault enabled. We are not currently encrypting the storage on iMacs, and some newer computers had FileVault enabled as part of the setup process. Q: I don't have an iMac and my Symantec Endpoint Protection policy doesn’t include enabling FileVault. What should I do? A: Your computer may already have FileVault encryption enabled. To check whether it's already enabled, go to the Apple Menu and choose System Preferences and click on Security & Privacy. Click the FileVault tab, and it should indicate whether FileVault is turned on. It should say "FileVault is turned on for the disk 'Macintosh HD.'" if it's enabled. If yours doesn't say that, contact the Internal Technology Department for assistance. Q: After enabling FileVault, I received a notification about my Time Machine backup drive not being encrypted when I did a backup. Is there anything I need to do about that? A: This notification is expected and should not alarm you. Just click the Close button to dismiss the notification. Q: While the encryption process is active, you will be unable to perform Time Machine backups. A: The encryption process requires your computer to be powered on and connected to power. Due to this requirement, the process can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days depending on your usage patterns and storage. The process will pause when disconnected from your charger and resume once connected again. It may be beneficial to allow your computer to remain powered on and plugged in overnight to aid this process.
