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

Iowa’s AEAs Commit to Supporting Schools as They Prepare Students for the Future

Statewide AEA teams are currently meeting regularly to build equity in the areas of Future Ready, Well-Being and Efficiency. This piece on Future Ready is the first of a series of updates regarding that statewide AEA work. In the coming weeks, expect updates on two other AEA priority areas -- Well-being and Efficiency.   

In 2012, Iowa’s nine AEA’s began the formation of what today is known as the Iowa Association of AEAs (IAAEA). Our AEA system knew that we needed to build stronger continuity and create greater equity of services across the state. One of the first steps in undertaking that process was to identify and commit to common areas of emphasis across the AEA system. This resulted in the development of the AEA Compact, which was released to stakeholders in the fall of 2012. That document committed Iowa’s nine AEA’s to focusing on common student outcomes and core services in four areas. Those areas were: 

1. Literacy 
2. Numeracy 
3. Reducing the achievement gap for students with disabilities 
4. Post-secondary readiness   

Since the release of the Compact, Iowa’s AEAs have worked to stay current in meeting the needs of Iowa’s education stakeholders. Our AEA system continues to strive toward improved student outcomes in literacy and math and closing the achievement gap, but Iowa’s educational and political landscape has caused us to add a new area of focus on social-emotional learning and behavior and mental health (which we now refer to collectively as “well-being”). In addition to the area of well-being, the IAAEA has also redoubled its efforts in the area of post-secondary readiness, which we now call “Future Ready.” Over the past year, statewide teams have been working to develop and coordinate services in the areas of Well-being and Future Ready.   

What is Future Ready? 
I want to provide you with more information on the focus of the statewide Future Ready work team and give you an update on the progress they have made over the past year.    

Many of you may have already been exposed to some of the data describing the current status of Iowa’s graduating seniors as they enter their post-secondary experience. Iowa has long taken great pride in its high school graduation rate, most recently finishing first in the nation. But while nearly 80% of graduates say they intend to enroll in a post-secondary program, just 2/3 actually enroll and fewer than half finish a credential or degree within six years of graduation. The numbers are even more concerning when we look at the data disaggregated for sub-groups like English learners, ethnic minorities or students with disabilities.  

This data, combined with Iowa’s current and projected workforce shortage, has raised concerns about how well our schools are preparing graduates to navigate the post-secondary world. It has also caused many states, Iowa included, to use post-secondary attainment data as part of its accountability system in evaluating and reporting out on school district performance. No longer are school districts being scrutinized merely for student outcomes achieved during the school-age years. Now, in addition to reporting out on proficiency levels and standardized test performance, districts will also be evaluated in part by how well their graduates perform after leaving school.    

AEAs Focus on Five Future Ready Strategies 
The IAAEA Future Ready work team is focusing on five strategies to align and embed Future Ready initiatives across Iowa schools, with a particular focus on closing opportunity gaps for high-need, underserved students, including those with disabilities. Those strategies are: 

1. Data – Ensure that school leaders use future ready data sources to drive decisions.
 
2. Transition – Improve post-secondary transition support services for all students, particularly those who have IEPs.
 
3. Rigor – Improve instruction based on Iowa’s academic standards, SEL competencies and 21st century skills.
 
4. Partnerships – Create partnerships to expand authentic and work-based learning opportunities.
 
5. Relevance – Increase personalized, competency-based pathways to future readiness.
   

Not every AEA will support every strategy area in the same way, but all nine AEAs are committing to providing support in all five areas. Some strategies will be supported by AEA Learning Online, where a repository of authentic, work-based projects is already in place, and instructional designers are assisting schools and businesses in creating new projects as well. Some strategies will be supported through statewide networks like AEA PREP. Other strategy areas will be supported by initiatives that are already well underway in various AEAs, such as standards-based teaching and learning. The most important challenge for us as a state system is to make sure that every district, regardless of location and size, will have access to support in all five areas.

- Jon

Change in Regional Boundaries for Regions 1 & 3 Coming July 1, 2020

Effective July 1, 2020, the Interstate 35 school district will be reassigned from Region 1 to Region 3 in our agency service territory. This move is intended to enhance teaming opportunities for staff in Region 3 by placing I-35 in a service area with more districts since I-35 is in closer proximity to Region 3 districts.  

As a result of this reassignment, the following regional director assignments will be modified: 

• Susie Bentley will be the regional director for I-35. 
• Dave Wood will be the regional director for Pleasantville. 
• Tinna Walberg will be the regional director for Winterset. 
• The time Amy Wichman has spent supporting Winterset and I-35 will be reallocated centrally to support agency work in curriculum, instruction and assessment. 

We anticipate reassigning I-35 will have minimal impact on staff assignments. In the next few weeks, regional directors will be reaching out to districts and staff who serve those districts, and RDs will work on transitions in the spring. If you have any questions, contact your regional director.

Important: Changes Are Here in How Federal Income Tax Withholding is Calculated

In December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law. In general, the impact of this legislation was to reduce the amount of federal income tax withholding from your paycheck beginning in January 2018. Other elements of this law were to increase the standard deduction, limit the deduction for state and local income and property taxes and eliminate personal exemptions. 

For over 30 years, employees have provided employers with Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate, that has directed employers to withhold federal income tax from paychecks based on marital (filing) status and the number of personal exemptions. Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, Form W-4 has been redesigned to remove personal exemptions and align the withholding process more closely to the Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040. 

If you are having the right amount of federal income tax withheld from your paycheck based on the now old marital (filing) status/number of personal exemptions, you don’t need to do anything. Your withholding will continue based on your previously submitted Form W-4—based on marital (filing) status/number of personal exemptions. If you want to make a change to your federal income tax withholding from this point forward, the number of personal exemptions will no longer be part of the withholding calculation. 

Here at Heartland AEA, you make changes to your federal (and state) income tax withholding via Employee Dashboard > Employee Online > Tax Information (in the left-hand navigation section). This application has been changed to mirror the new Form W-4. You can link to the paper Form W-4 and its instructions for the Tax Information application. 

Before making a federal income tax withholding change, click on the Federal W-4 Form link and carefully read the instructions. The intent of the redesigned W-4 is to increase the accuracy of your withholding. Depending on your current marital (filing) status/number of personal exemptions, your withholding change may produce unexpected results if you don’t read the instructions carefully. On the online withholding application, you must complete Step 1. Although Steps 2 through 4 are optional, completing them will help ensure that your federal income tax withholding will more accurately match your tax liability. Step 2 is for households with multiple jobs, Step 3 is used to claim tax credits for dependents, Step 4 is for other adjustments (e.g., additional income such as interest and dividends, itemized deductions that exceed the standard deduction and extra tax you might want to be withheld). You can change your withholding as often as you want/need through the Employee Online > Tax Information application. 

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) highly recommends employees do a paycheck checkup via their Tax Withholding Estimator. This process will require your most recent pay stub and most recent tax return. This link to the IRS FAQs may also be helpful as you contemplate a federal income tax withholding change. If you have specific questions about your personal tax situation, contact your tax advisor. 

State Income Tax Withholding 
The state of Iowa continues to base state income tax withholding on marital (filing) status and the number of exemptions. There has been no change to the Iowa state income withholding calculation. However, the state has updated the withholding tax tables for 2020. This will generally mean a slight decrease in the amount of state income tax withholding from paychecks beginning Jan. 1, 2020. Likewise, the federal income tax withholding tables have been adjusted for inflation, resulting in a slight decrease in federal income tax withholding. 

The “What If” calculator on our Employee Online application has been removed as our software provider has not yet made changes to this tool based on the new federal Form W-4. We don’t know when, or if this functionality will return. We’ll let you know if it becomes available again in the future. 

If you have any questions about this information, contact Steve Jordan, Senior Payroll Specialist, at ext. 14908.

Say Hooray – W-2s are on Their Way!

Your 2019 W-2 will be mailed to your home address this week. A help document of tips to better understand your W-2 can be found on the Intranet > Business Office > Payroll Forms & Information. This help document provides an explanation of certain boxes on your W-2. 

Your 2019 W-2 will also be available online this week. Login to your Employee Dashboard and select the Employee Online tab at the top of the page. Once in Employee Online, go to the left-hand navigation and click on “W2/ACA 1095C Info” then on the “W2 2019” link. This will open a PDF copy of your W-2 that you can print. 

If you have any questions, contact Steve Jordan, Senior Payroll Specialist, at ext. 14908.

Reminder: Iowa’s AEAs Seek Nominations for Fourth Annual Awards Recognition

Do you know someone who has made outstanding contributions to education and Iowa’s AEAs? Please take a few minutes to nominate this person for recognition! 

Iowa’s AEAs bestow three awards annually to outstanding candidates for their contributions to education and the work of Iowa’s AEAs. To submit a nomination, complete this application by Feb. 14, 2020. Anyone is welcome to submit a nomination. 

Awards will be presented during the annual Iowa’s AEAs Boards of Directors’ Conference, and the ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. on March 26, 2020, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Johnston. 

The three awards and criteria can be found below. Each nomination should include examples of why your nominee should receive the award. 

Friend of the AEA Award
Acknowledges contributions by policymakers, citizens, board members, school district partners, businesses and organizations who have been great partners and demonstrate strong support for furthering the mission of Iowa’s AEAs. Open to all policymakers, citizens, board members, school district partners, businesses and organizations. 

E. Robert Stephens Award 
Dr. E. Robert Stephens, better known as “Dr. Bob” and the father of Iowa’s AEAs, acknowledges contributions in the area of innovation and support to local districts, AEAs, the Department of Education and other partners/organizations. There should be evidence of outstanding contributions to the well-being of the educational community including: 

• Benefits of this individual’s leadership; 
• Creative leadership in inspiring and motivating others to achieve and contribute; 
• Strong commitment to the profession by active participation in professional activities; and 
• Evidence that the individual is respected by his/her colleagues and the community.   

Open to AEA staff who serve in an administrative role and AEA board members. 

Innovative Creator Award
Celebrates amazingly innovative and creative thinking and actions to get results for students, educators, Iowa’s AEAs, school districts and other partners. Open to all AEA staff, board members, educators, policymakers, students...we are all creators! 

For more information, contact Connie Johnson, Iowa’s AEAs Communications Director.

Jan. 2020 Board of Directors Meeting Agenda Available

The agenda for the Jan. 14, 2020 Heartland AEA Board of Directors meeting is available.

SEBMH Learning Opportunity: Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Lecture Series

Staff who serve young children may be interested in a learning opportunity about how to support infant and early childhood mental health. You can choose to attend at the days and times the learning is offered, or you can access the recorded sessions later. You can pick and choose which sessions to attend/view or complete the whole series. 

Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Series

Began Jan. 9, 2020 
Sponsored by Polk County Health Services 
Informational Flyer  

Follow these instructions to access the sessions:

• Visit the event webpage 
• Choose “Guest Participation”
• Under Host Agency enter “PCHS”
• Click Save and Continue

If you have any questions, contact Amy Hanken, Special Education Supervisor: Early ACCESS, Early Childhood and Related Services, or Jadie Boens, Director of Special Programs.

Web IEP System Update: IEP Archiving Errors, More Staff Hired to Improve System

Many staff members have reported continued slowness, login problems, error messages and other issues associated with the Web IEP system. Most recently we have been made aware of IEP archiving errors. Due to this, LEA/AEA staff may find an IEP that has not archived as a complete document. 

We have received information from the Central Processing Center stating they are actively seeking to correct these issues. We have been informed that archiving errors should be corrected in the near future. Also, additional programmers have been hired to improve the functioning of the current system. We recognize your frustrations and appreciate your continued patience while work is done to address these statewide concerns.

Two iCASE Special Education Webinars Still Coming on Jan. 21 & April 14

As we let you know this fall, the Iowa Council of Administrators of Special Education (iCASE) is presenting three great learning opportunities for district and AEA staff who are looking for more information about special education issues. 



The iCASE Webinar Series will be held from Nov. 2019 - April 2020 and provides information about school finance, advocacy, legal issues, mediation and more. Any Heartland AEA staff member can view the webinar series if the topic is of interest to them. You don't have to attend all three either -- you can choose the ones that are relevant to your work. 



Sessions will be hosted at each Heartland AEA office. No registration needed to attend! 


You may view the informational flyer here.



Overall questions about the series can be sent to Kristi Upah, Chief Student Services Officer. If you have any questions about attendance, contact your regional director.