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.
We'll have the opportunity to hear from Chief Administrator Jon Sheldahl and special guest speaker Lyndsey Fennelly. Make sure you check “YES!” in your agency calendar invite (Zoom link included), and we’ll see you tomorrow!
Before returning to an office or other workspace either full- or part-time or as needed, it is required that Heartland AEA staff take the AEA Learning Online module called R2L (Return to Learn): Health and Safety for Teachers and Staff. This module was developed by the Iowa Department of Education to provide districts and staff with information on creating a culture for health and safety. The training should take about 30 minutes to complete and needs to be completed only once.
FY 2020 Expense Reimbursement
Aug. 31 is the last date the Business Office will accept and process any claims for expenses occurring on or before June 30, 2020. Do not submit expense claims with dates crossing the new fiscal year. Use a separate expense claim if you still have reimbursable expenses that occurred prior to July 1. Please check your ‘Rejected Expenses’ link to see if you have any expense claims requiring your attention and resubmit after appropriate changes are complete.
As was shared earlier this summer, there are a number of professional learning sessions being designed through statewide collaborative efforts, which will be required for practitioners working in special education across the state.
This policy becomes active on the 3rd Friday of each month at 8:00 a.m. It automatically installs any macOS updates starting at 9:00 a.m. on the 4th Friday of each month. The policy is automatically disabled on the last day of the month at 11:59 p.m. If any of the updates installed require a restart, you will be notified with a message. A video of the process can be seen here.
You can check for and install macOS updates any time by going to the Apple Menu, choosing System Preferences and clicking on Software Update. If there are updates needed, they will be listed there, and you can install them from there. A video of the process can be seen here.
It’s important that you don’t interrupt the update process by pressing and holding the power button. Once the process starts you need to let it complete on its own. Sometimes these updates require special firmware updates that will cause the computer to turn off for a minute or more. You should not press the power button when this happens. All updates require the computer to access the Internet, so you don’t want to disable Airport or disconnect from ethernet during the installation.
Q: How do I avoid having Casper automatically install macOS updates when it’s not convenient for me?
A: Start by selecting the longest deferral time when you see the notification about updates. Then you can install any available updates by going to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Software Update sometime before the 4th Friday of the month and install them when it’s convenient for you. Usually, Apple releases updates on a Tuesday, so the best days to check are typically Wednesday or Thursday of the 4th week of the month.
Q: I’m worried something unexpected will happen, and I will lose data if I perform a macOS update. What can I do to prevent that?
A: The best way to eliminate the possibility of something unexpected happening is to initiate the updates yourself from the Software Update System Preference pane and not wait until Casper does the installation on the 4th Friday. By doing that, in conjunction with the things below, you will greatly improve the chances for a smooth update.
If you do happen to get in a situation when Casper is installing the updates for you, we would recommend connecting your power adapter to your computer before you do the restart, if possible.
