Happy Holidays to You & Yours!

Click the image for a holiday greeting from Heartland AEA! Warm wishes to you and your families throughout the holidays and in the coming year.

Winter Break Hours and Van Delivery Schedule

Please note the following schedule as you plan to place orders through Creative Services and send and receive items through our van mail.

All Heartland AEA offices will be closed to the public Dec. 23 through Jan. 2, 2017.

• Regular Van Delivery: Dec. 19-22
• No Van Delivery: Dec. 23-Jan. 2
• Regular Van Delivery Resumes: Jan. 3

Wishing you a happy holiday season from Heartland AEA!

Registration is Open for the Secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) Initial Redesign Meeting

The initial planning meeting for the Heartland AEA Regional Career and Technical Education Partnership will be held on Jan. 6, 2017 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at the DMACC Ankeny Campus (Building 5, Rooms 1240 E,D,F,G). All superintendents (or designee) are strongly encouraged to attend. Register at this link.

The partnership is being formed as required by HF 2392 in the Iowa Code to assist school districts in providing an effective, efficient and economical means of delivering high-quality secondary career and technical education programs.

During the initial meeting, an interim partnership will establish by-laws governing the group (e.g., committees, how it makes decisions, how the work is done, fiscal agent, etc.). View the draft template for the regional partnership bylaws.

The longer-term purpose and function of the partnership includes the development of a multi-year plan. The plan is required to address:

• The processes and procedures by which all secondary CTE programs within the region will meet the state-developed program approval process
• The feasibility of developing centers within and across the regions to improve access to high-quality CTE and concurrent enrollment opportunities for all students
• Developing a budget for the state vocational dollars assigned to the regional partnership that is tied to the multi-year plan

Date: Jan. 6, 2017
Time: 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Location: Ankeny DMACC Campus, 2006 South Ankeny Boulevard, Ankeny
Building 5, DMACC Conference Center
Rooms 1240 E, D, F, G
Registration

ISFIS Budget Workshops Scheduled for 2017

Each year, ISFIS partners with Piper Jaffray and Iowa's Area Education Agencies to provide face-to-face budget workshops for business managers and superintendents. These hands-on workshops are an opportunity for leaders from each district to prepare their individual budgets in just one highly productive day. This year there will be an additional hour at the end of each session for districts who would like to stay and complete their 5-Year Financial Projection.

The ISFIS budget workshops at Heartland AEA are Jan. 23 and Feb. 15. Cost to attend is $250 per district. Register online.

Workshop participants will receive information about:

• Budget process, changes for the upcoming fiscal year, legislative update and other items of general budget interest.
• Unspent Authorized Budget portions reserved for categorical purposes and strategies to fully utilize categorical resources.
• Completed Certified Budget and strategies to set maximum certainty of property tax rate if SSA is not set by the publication deadline.
• Data and tools related to the budget process.
• Access to a district specific PowerPoint presentation based on the district’s certified budget file.
• District Specific 5-Year Financial Projection Plan including a Sample Working Line Item Budget Template.
• Unlimited phone and email support about the Certified Budget.
• Complimentary assistance if a district’s budget is appealed to the State Appeal Board.

For more information, contact Marissa Gaal at marissa@iowaschoolfinance.com or (515) 251-5970 ext. 4.

Sample ELPA21 Parent Letter Available in Numerous Languages

As previously shared, a sample parent ELPA21 letter has been developed for districts to use for communication to parents. While it’s not required that districts use the sample letter, it will serve as a good model for districts who desire to develop their own communication. For districts that wish to utilize the document, place on district letterhead and add additional information as deemed necessary and appropriate for your context.

In addition, the Title III Network has begun collaboration on translations for the sample ELPA21 parent letter so districts may communicate with family members in a language most easily understood. Several translations are currently available and have been posted on the English Language Learners Community Agora. Additional languages will be posted to this statewide site as they become available. Follow these steps to access the translations.

Announcing Two Contests for Students and Teachers in Iowa

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Call to Serve Contest
The Iowa Department of Human Rights and the State of Iowa MLK Day Planning Committee are hosting the 7th annual statewide MLK Call 2 Serve contest to promote the 2017 Martin Luther King Day of Service. Deadline for submission is Dec. 23, 2016. For more information, contact Kim Cheeks at kim.cheeks@iowa.gov or (515) 281-3274 or visit the Iowa Department of Human Rights’ Office on the Status of African Americans' website at: https://humanrights.iowa.gov/cas/saa/news.

Write Women Back Into History Video Contest
To celebrate Women’s History Month in March, the Iowa Department of Human Rights’ Office on the Status of Women (with financial support from the Friends of the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women) is hosting its 2nd annual Women’s History Month video contest to celebrate women’s history. Entries are open to students in grades 5-12 and schools/organizations that work with students in grades 5-12. Deadline for submission is March 1, 2017. For more information, contact Contact Kristen Corey at women@iowa.gov or (515) 281-4470/800-558-4427 or visit the Iowa Department of Human Rights’ Office on the Status of Women’s website at: https://humanrights.iowa.gov/cas/icsw.