iowa state board of education mbaea.pdf · 11/20/2019 · bureau of school improvement ....

Iowa State Board of Education Executive Summary

November 20, 2019 Agenda Item: Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency Accreditation Update State Board Priorities: All State Board Role/Authority: Iowa Code section 273 Presenter(s): Amy J. Williamson, Chief Bureau of School Improvement Attachment(s): One Recommendation: The Department recommends that the State Board review the

updates on Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency’s progress on the actions required in the area education agency’s conditional accreditation plan and, if necessary, take any action the board deems necessary to ensure all corrective actions are completed in a timely manner.

Background: At the March 2019 State Board meeting, the State Board voted

to conditionally accredit Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency. Updates on the area education agency’s progress toward meeting all conditions of their accreditation will be provided at every State Board meeting until their corrective action plan is complete or the area education agency is unaccredited.

MBAEA Corrective Actions Report November 20, 2019

1

# Item & Legal Citation Corrective Action Due Date for Completion

Priority November Status November Notes

1 State Board Directed

Iowa Code Ch. 273.10

The AEA Board Chair works with the Expert Mentor for the AEA Board to create board agendas and organize, structure, and facilitate Board meetings. This includes making sure the Board has optimal data to discuss issues before the board, make decisions, approve activities appropriately overseen by the Board, and engage in follow-up.

Ongoing with monthly updates for the duration of conditional accreditation

Immediate Working Tom Downs worked with board leadership and the Chief Administrator in planning the October meeting. The primary purpose of the meeting was a follow-up discussion with the board from the work of the August annual board retreat. The board establish 3 focus areas for attention and growth: agency finances, internal/external communications, and board engagement. Board members discussed their roles with respect to these focus areas and identified the types of "whole board learning" which will be needed to help the board in its governance role, help improve board members engagement, and help provide supports for administration and staff. The board also requested time on future agendas to review the mission and vision, as well as stated agency goals, beliefs, and behaviors.



The AEA Board and Expert Mentor for the AEA Board work together to support AEA Board members to:a. Understand relevant Iowa Code, specifically Iowa Code sections related to the duties and powers conferred to AEA boards;b. Understand AEA operations and finances;c. Understand the role of the AEA system; andd. Enact their role as members of an AEA board.


Immediate Working At the October MBAEA board meeting a preliminary discussion was held on Iowa Code chapter 273, which detail the requirements of AEA's. The board expressed a desire to focus additional time in learning more about these requirements and its authority under chapter 273. NOTE: Three of the existing board members will not seek re-election and plans are underway to begin the "on boarding" of the new members, following the scheduled MBAEA organizational meeting on Wednesday, December 11th.



The MBAEA Board must hold monthly face-to-face meetings reviewing progress toward meeting AEA financial corrective actions as determined by the State Board.

Monthly Immediate Working David King reviewed the October Board treasurers report for the month ended September 2019. It reflected MBAEA paid off the remaining FY19 outstanding warrant of $1million. The first State Aid payment of $ 2.2 million was received. Current FY20 outstanding warrants of $ 4.5 million is consistent with not receiving State Aid for July and August and not having any fund balance for cash flow.



The Chief Administrator of MBAEA must work with an expert mentor in finance until such time as MBAEA has a positive ending balance that supports a functional operation is able to sustain a positive balance for at least one year.

Ongoing with monthly updates until a positive balance has been sustained for one year

Immediate Working Forecast 5 has loaded 5 years of historical data which is being verified by MBAEA. Once that is complete MBAEA will be able to enter future budgetary plans and the software will project future ending balances. Varibles to be entered include enrlloments, supplemental state aid %'s, changes in FTE's by positions, salary increases, benefit increases, and expected changes in everyother budget areas.



The Chief Administrator and expert mentor will work together to provide the State Board with the following, all of which must be agreed upon by the Chief administrator and expert mentor prior to submission:

See below Immediate Working Ongoing

5a State Board Directed


Itemized budget cuts that will result in a positive general fund balance no later than SFY 2020. The itemized budget must be provided no later than the August 2019 meeting of the State Board.

1. August 2019 Immediate Complete NA

5b State Board Directed


A plan for the use of anticipatory warrants that includes how and when anticipatory warrants will be sought, what the money will be used for, and how the warrant will be paid off prior to approval.

September 12 Immediate Complete NA

5c State Board Directed


A process by which any land or building purchases will be agreed upon by the Chief Administrator and expert mentor prior to being taken to the AEA board for approval.

October 31 Immediate Complete NA

5d State Board Directed


A process by which expenditures for building improvements and maintenance over $10,000 will be agreed upon by the Chief Administrator and expert mentor prior to being taken to the AEA board for approval.

October 31 Immediate Complete NA

5e State Board Directed


A listing of all building and land with market values possessed by the AEA. September 12 Immediate Complete NA

5f State Board Directed


A plan agreed upon by the Chief Administrator and expert mentor for how MBAEA will address increasing amounts of outstanding long-term debt, particularly the net pension liability.

September 12 Immediate Complete NA

MBAEA Corrective Actions Report November 20, 2019

2

# Item & Legal Citation Corrective Action Due Date for Completion

Priority November Status November Notes

5g State Board Directed


A plan agreed upon by the Chief Administrator and expert mentor regarding the viability of MBAEA’s self-insurance program. This plan shall include two sets of analyses:(1) Analysis of the current self-insurance program with five-years of financial projections and(2) Analysis of the cost to terminate the self-insurance program.

February 2020 Immediate Working MBAEA has been contacted to provide the last five years of claims history, expected claims for each year, the suggested rates to cover expected claims and the actual rates utilzed for each year. In addition the independent insurance consultants for MBAEA have been contacted to provide a five year financial projection of the current program and an analysis of the future cost to provide a fully insured program. To complete this the expert coach needs the assistance of the insurance company.

5i State Board Directed


Monthly updates to State Board regarding the progress of the MBAEA toward achieving financial solvency.

Monthly for the duration of conditional accreditation

Immediate Working Expert mentors will be available to State Board Members to provide information and answer questions.



MBAEA administrators and the expert mentors assigned to MBAEA will work with the Department to conduct an audit of the services they are providing and evaluate the alignment of those services with the requirements of Iowa Code, including alignment with evidence-based practice. It may be possible for the AEA to reduce or eliminate services that are not required by Iowa Code and/or are not using evidence-based practices.

January 2020 Immediate Working Tim Grieves met with MBAEA leadership four times to develop, edit and review the start of the Program Audit. This will be a comprehensive document that will be advantageous to the agency once it is complete. We will present it to the State Board during the January State Board Meeting. The Program Audit will be categorized in the following areas: Special Education; Media Services; Educational Services; Board of Directors; Management Services (Business & Finance); Student Programs & Activities; Federal Programs. Each program will be identified within the Iowa Code and/or aligned to evidence-based practice. This is a large project and will be beneficial to MBAEA schools in the future as a frequent question of AEAs is "What services do you provide?"



The Expert Mentor for Leadership will work with the Chief Administrators and MBAEA administrators to engage in work around the AEA Assessment of Infrastructure for MTSS Implementation6 (AAIMI) by:a. Facilitating—or supporting the facilitation of—the AAIMI, including Specially Designed Instruction conversations (agenda development, data analysis, communication, follow-up);b. Supporting the development and implementation of an action plan based on the AAIMI; andc. Supporting the communication of progress internally at MBAEA and to the State Board.


Immediate Working Tim Grieves met with the MBAEA Superintendent group during their September, October, and November meetings. He also sent the group a letter explaining his role as a mentor and invited the superintendents to contact him. The letter is in your packet. The MBAEA Staff Climate and Culture Survey took place on opening day for the agency. This was a large project and had a participation rate of 93% of the staff. Tim received the results with the staff and the board and worked with HumanEx (the survey provider) throughout the process. In your handout you will find a timeline and next steps for the survey, an email from Bill Decker on October 15th explaining to staff how employees will review the results and work on goals to improve their individual work group, and an email from Bill Decker on September 19th informing staff the survey results were in with a summary of the results. Also, there is a power point summary of the results provided by HumanEx staff. Kim Hoffman, MBAEA Special Education Director and inside facilitator of the survey, will be at the State Board Meeting to share the results. The results of the survey were very positive, as MBAEA was above the average for a school system with their results. Tim Grieves also met with the Employee PSO Association which bargains for the professional employees. A summary of this discussion can be found in your handouts. The conversation with the Association leadership reinforced the results from the climate and culture survey. Tim has also met three times with the MBAEA AAIMI/SAMI Leadership Team as they set their goals for the year.



All expert mentors must coordinate their services among one another and with the Department.


Immediate Working The expert mentors meet with one another and with Department staff regularly. Between the August and September board meetings all expert mentors met with Department staff in person at least once and via conference call at least once.

September 9, 2019 Dear MBAEA Superintendents, It was a pleasure meeting with you all on Thursday, September 4th, for your first Superintendent’s meeting at the AEA offices. As Bill said during the meeting, my name is Tim Grieves. I have been assigned to Mississippi Bend AEA as a Leadership Mentor while they are on Conditional Accreditation. My background includes 40 years as an educator, with the last 32 years serving as an administrator in Iowa. I have been a Principal, Special Education Director, Associate Superintendent, a Superintendent, and for the last 11 years of my career the Chief Administrator at Northwest AEA. I am now retired. My role is to support MBAEA and work with your Superintendent group, the MBAEA Cabinet, the MBAEA SAMI Leadership Team, and the MBAEA Board of Directors as the agency works through the State Board requirements. Feel free to contact me at any time to share any kudos or concerns you have with MBAEA. My contact information is: [email protected], and I can be reached at 712-251-5350. Also assigned as mentors with MBAEA are Tom Downs (formerly a superintendent and formerly Executive Director of IASB) as the Board Relations Mentor [email protected] , and Dave King (a former 35-year CFO at Heartland AEA) as a Finance Mentor [email protected] . All of us are here to help MBAEA and will be willing to hear from you. I look forward to seeing you all at your next meeting. I will be attending the Superintendent meetings at least through December. Thanks, Tim Grieves Cc: Bill Decker

mailto:[email protected]



Culture/Climate Next Steps

Activity Date Participants

Conference Call Monday, Sept 9 - 11:30 Shane, Bill, Tim, Kim

Admin Zoom Tuesday 8:00 Cabinet

Board Meeting Wednesday, Sept 11- 5:00 HumanEx presentation

PSO Leadership Sept 10 Ardie, Sam

AEA Leadership Team Sept 16 AEA Leadership Team members

Advocacy Advisory Council October 2 Staff/Admin

Feedback Sessions October 21 Staff

Implementation of Staff Recommendations on Culture

November forward All Agency

Analysis of agency wide data October 29 Cabinet

Leadership Team Meeting Update November 4 Leadership Team

Initial Culture/Climate Team meeting November 11 Culture/Climate Team

Board Meeting November 13 Culture/Climate Team

State Board meeting November 20 Kim, Shane, Tim

11/8/2019 State of Iowa Mail - Fwd: Information and Agenda for October 21 All Staff

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1?ik=2b1fa4dd59&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1649504560211150184&simpl=msg-f%3A1649504560211150184 1/5

Williamson, Amy <[email protected]>

Fwd: Information and Agenda for October 21 All Staff1 message

Tim Grieves <[email protected]> Wed, Nov 6, 2019 at 7:28 PMTo: "Williamson, Amy [ED]" <[email protected]>

---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Bill Decker <[email protected]>Date: Tue, Oct 15, 2019 at 1:16 AMSubject: Information and Agenda for October 21 All StaffTo: All Users <[email protected]>

To All MBAEA Staff Below is the agenda for the Monday, October 21 ALL STAFF Climate/Culture Meeting. The goal of this meeting is to determine recommendations for next steps in making MBAEA climate and culture improvements.

As a reminder, this meeting is REQUIRED for all staff members.

The process is extremely important to determine how we can work together to make the agency an even better place. As an agency, we are all looking forward to implementing as many recommendations as possible, but we will not improve to the greatest extent possible unless all voices are contributing to the development of recommendations. For ease of recalling the background information, I have also copied the September 19 email on this topic below the agenda.

Please note, due to HumanEx requirements, the time of the All Staff has changed since the Sept. email was sent out. The correct starting time for All Staff is now 12:30 p.m. The process on Monday will again be facilitated by HumanEx's Svetlana Popovic, who introduced the survey at our August All Staff. The meeting will follow the format HumanEx commonly uses with staff members to bring out great ideas.

Thank you for your willingness to work toward continuous improvement. Another great day to make a difference! Bill

Climate and Culture All Staff AgendaOctober 21, 2019





Mississippi Bend AEA - Bettendorf Learning Center 12:30 - 1:15 All Agency Data review

HumanEx will lead a review of agency-wide results of the Climate and Culture Survey with all MBAEA staff members

1:15-1:30 Transition to Department Meetings

1:30-3:00 Feedback Sessions with Staff Meeting by DepartmentFacilitated, using goal setting protocol LRE (Leverage Readiness Endurance)Rooms for Dept. meetings will be posted Oct. 21

3:00-3:15 Transition to Learning Center to Share Department Discussions

3:15-4:15 All Agency Sharing in MBAEA Learning Center

Previous Email sent on September 19, provided here to give easy access to background information:

Staff,

The purpose of this email is to provide each of you with updates and next steps regarding the culture survey. There is a great deal of information included, so PLEASE take time to read through the entire message.

On Monday, September 9, the Agency received the results of the culture/climate survey, InsighteX. All staff were provided an opportunity to engage in the survey during the August 15 All Staff. The Agency had a phenomenal 92% participation rate in the survey! This high participation rate provides the Agency comprehensive data regarding how individuals are feeling about their work here at the Agency. Since receiving the results, summary data were shared with our Leadership Mentor, Tim Grieves, and with the MBAEA Board during the September 11 board meeting. Additional events at which the summary data were shared are listed in the table at the end of this message. To this point, no data other than aggregate data have been shared. Three of those summary slides appear in this email.

We are excited to get the data into your hands! The next step in the process is for the folks at HumanEx to hold feedback sessions with all of you at which a summary and department-specific data will be shared. Based on their availability, agency-wide sharing of results and department feedback sessions will be held October 21 from 10:00-4:00 in Bettendorf. (Note: This has now been changed to 12:30 - 4:15 p.m.) We recognize many of you already have commitments and that the addition of this all-staff event will disrupt schedules. Given how important working together to improve our internal culture is, we are asking you to adjust your schedule to attend. If this is not possible, please communicate with your supervisor.

The three images below display Agency-wide survey results. The first visualization shows a plot with Engagement on the horizontal axis and Satisfaction on the vertical axis. The next two tables,



respectively, display the top five items and the bottom five items by average score. HumanEx folks will provide additional information and context about the data on October 21.



Hopefully, you made it this far in reading the email, because we need your help! Volunteers are needed to lead the Culture/Climate work. We are looking for a representative from each department/discipline to:

Attend culture/climate team meetings (frequency will be determined by the team)Provide voice for your department in relation to climate/culture progress Promote culture/climate work within your departmentAssist facilitation of department data analysis and planning on October 21Please send an email to [email protected] noting your interest

A table of both past and future events appears below.

Activity Date Participants

Conference Call Monday, Sept 9 -

11:30

Shane, Bill, Tim, Kim

Admin Zoom Tuesday 8:00 Cabinet

Board Meeting Wednesday, Sept

11- 5:00

HumanEx presentation

PSO Leadership Sept 10 Ardie, Sam

AEA Leadership

Team

Sept 16 AEA Leadership Team

members

Advocacy Advisory

Council

October 2 Staff/Admin




Feedback

Sessions

October 21 Staff

Implementation of

Staff

Recommendations

on Culture

November forward All Agency

-- William J. DeckerChief AdministratorMississippi Bend Area Education AgencyOffice: (563) 344-6401Mobile: (563) 506-8569

Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency"Improving teaching & learning"www.mbaea.org

http://mbaea.org/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mississippi-Bend-Area-Education-Agency/221538914629235

https://twitter.com/MBAEA

MISSISSIPPI BEND AREA EDUCATION AGENCYFull Organization

INSIGHTeX FeedbackAugust 2019

© 2019 Humanex Ventures

The WHY…Climate Culture


The WHY…Climate Culture

CLIMATE is more of the system structure, feel, buildings & grounds,

welcoming component, feel of the school and people as

a whole. Things like cleanliness and décor,

organization and appearance.

According to Fullan (2007)school CULTURE can be defined as the guiding

beliefs and values evident in the way a school

operates. ‘School culture’ can be used to encompass

all the attitudes, expected behaviors and values that

impact how the school operates.


AGENDA

1. Overview of survey 2. Review Dimensions3. Review Culture Snapshot (3x3)4. Review Top 5 Dimensions

• Vote one item to sustain and set goals5. Review Bottom 5 Dimensions

• Vote two items to brainstorm continuous improvement plans


HOW DO WE MEASURE CULTURE?

• Online Assessment

• Confidential & Anonymous

• 88 Statements

• 15 Dimensions

• Four Areas Assessed:o Youo Team/Departmento Administrator or Supervisoro Whole Organization


Full Organization n=273/294 {30 new}

DIMENSIONS RANK ORDERED CURRENT MEAN

Engage-Inspire 4.35

Pride 4.18

Continuous Improvement 4.16

Quality 4.15

Innovation 4.09

Satisfaction 4.07

Talent/Fit 4.02

Training & Development 3.87

Career Development 3.83

Relationships 3.81

Support-Equip 3.75

Communication 3.75

Performance Planning 3.74

Mission Conscious 3.73

Recognition 3.68

(n=273)

33% At or Above 4.0 Mean



HUMANEX VENTURES CULTURAL ASSESSMENT INDEXTM

Satisfaction/Engagement 3x3

(n=273)

63.97%

Low High

Low

High

Engagement

Satis

fact

ion

4.04%0.00%

14.34%9.93%0.37%

0.74%4.78%1.84%

Top 5 Predictors:

1. Pride2. Talent/Fit3. Relationships4. Continuous

Improvement5. Career

Development



(n=273)

TOP ITEMS RANK ORDERED DIMENSION MEAN

4. I feel great pride in the work I do. (na=1) Pride 4.58

53. I am committed to the success of our organization. (na=2) Engage-Inspire 4.55

1. In my role I have the opportunity to do things that I both do well and enjoy. (na=2) Talent/Fit 4.53

2. I am fully engaged in the work that I do. (na=1) Engage-Inspire 4.53

5. I have at least one close friend at work. (na=4) Relationships 4.44



(n=273/294/30)

BOTTOM ITEMS RANK ORDERED DIMENSION MEAN

65. I feel "in on things" that are happening at our organization. (na=5) Communication 2.97

9. I have received meaningful recognition in the past 10 days. (na=23) Recognition 3.12

31. I am provided personal coaching from my supervisor. (na=14) Relationships 3.28

28. I am provided the opportunity to spend quality time with my supervisor. (na= 11) Support-Equip 3.33

40. In the past three months, my supervisor has discussed my successes and progress with me. (na=24)

Performance Planning 3.41


WHAT DOES THE DATA TELL US• 1/4 of the 29 At or Above 4.0 mean relate to ORGANIZATION

• 1/4 of the 29 At or Above 4.0 mean relate to TEAM

• 1/2 of the 29 At or Above 4.0 mean relate to (I) SELF

I feel great pride in the work I do. 4.58 Pride

In my role I have the opportunity to do things that I both do well and enjoy. 4.53 Talent/Fit

I would like to work at our organization long term. 4.21 Career Development

I strive to find a better way every day. 4.21 Continuous Improvement

Based on relationships demonstrated on our team, I would recommend someone to join our team. 4.13 Relationships


Full Organization

TOP DIMENSION MEAN VOTE/GOAL

1. What has been going well? 2. What will we do to improve?


NEXT STEPS

1. Post the action items

2. Revisit the plans and implement• Choose people to champion efforts• Accountability

3. Contact Humanex for support

PSO Conversation at MBAEA September 16, 2019 Participants: Tim Grieves, Sam Sierer – Association President, Ardie Miller – Chief Negotiator Summary: The following is a summary of the conversation with Tim Grieves, mentor, and two PSO leaders – Samantha Sierer and Ardie Miller. Tim asked the questions and the responses are from Sam and Ardie. Both Sam and Ardie reviewed and approved these notes. What do you know about the Accreditation Report? – We are aware of it. It is like the Mueller Report. We have been operating at a deficit. We are now back on track. Part of the problem has been the state funds being slashed. The Paradox is the state keeps underfunding us and then expects us to provide the same services for students or more. What do you see as the strengths of MBAEA? – Shane and Kim are more open to hearing how employees are feeling. They make it a positive place to work. Bill is accessible. We have been using Solution Focused Bargaining: we talk through ideas. Bill has been more active lately. Talk to me about Communication in the agency: Internal: We have been working with departments to be more efficient. We have encouraged SLPs (Speech/Language) to organize and try to solve some of their own problems. They developed a matrix to weight students so their staffing load is fair. Kim understands staffing needs. She does not hire just to hire. External: The relations with schools and homes are good. Social media can be an issue and has an effect. Parents post some false things. We have good relationships with our families. The transition from Part C to Part B can be hard (the early childhood transition of 3-year old students going from home care by the AEA to school care in special education). K-12 staff from the AEA used to have teams of 3 individuals that visited schools together – that is gone now – and we function as single service providers. Some of the staff miss this team approach. We now pair a special education consultant with an educational services consultant. Davenport was an issue last year and all hands-on deck was needed. We had to do re-evaluations for 2,400 students. This has re-set collaboration with Davenport schools. There is still room for improvement there. Some MBAEA staff felt some Davenport staff did not treat AEA staff well. We communicate well with smaller districts. We focus on target schools, the schools that need the most help. We have expertise to help them. How is staffing at the agency? This is a major concern. When I started here, we had more staff in special education. The administration did communicate why the cuts were needed. We have the highest salaries in the state compared to other AEAs. This made for fewer employees. We made the reductions through attrition, so no one lost their job. What is your understanding of the finance issues for MBAEA? Reductions were made because of budget shortfalls. The number of days we worked compared to the number of days other AEAs worked was a big issue. Staffing was varied by position. School Psychologists had 200 days so we wanted everyone to have 200 days. We also wanted everyone to have good benefits. The days were reduced. The administration involved us in the reduction discussions.

We hired staff with one-time money when the Stimulus dollars came, which hurt us in the long run. The business office had issues before we hired a CPA. All we knew was that there was fiscal mismanagement. The reduction of days for every employee was the biggest issue because salaries went down. We support efficiency. Holding on to inefficiency is not good. Are you aware of the Mission and Vision for the Agency? Yes, they are known by all. Are the resources of the agency aligned to the Mission/Vision? School improvement staff are good. Some folks have to change and don’t want to. We need to be efficient with Child Find – we need to know our systems. Are there programs that don’t follow the Mission/Vision? We don’t hear that from our members. The vocal complainers are a minority. We are doing what we need to do. We are supporting ESSA and school improvement. We are moving away from individuals thinking they can be a private contractor. This has been a problem. There are no programs out of line – some folks are spread pretty thin. Direct service providers (speech, hearing, vision, early childhood, occupational therapists, physical therapists) have a different role than others because they serve students directly. How are your relationships with the Board and Administration? We don’t go to the board meetings, unless there is a major issue. They are open to communication. We are headed in the right direction. We need to continue to work collaboratively with Special Education staff and Educational Services staff. We work well with Shane and Kim and they are the ones we talk to the most. Are you aware of the Staff Climate and Culture Survey? Yes, we have seen it. It is very positive. This is a positive first step. There was a change from the past administration to this administration for the good. It changed from a fear culture to a collaboration culture. This administration collaborates with us well, especially since the Chapter 20 cuts. The administration is very transparent and has a positive mind set. The funding issues have made us look at the agency as a whole. There are not as many naysayers now, but the critics say untruths. The critics are very vocal – they overshadow the general satisfaction and culture. We now have active vigorous discourse without retribution. The past administration was not like that. We are now consulted and they ask our opinion. They have reduced the number of administrators, so we have fewer evaluators. Some staff have complained because their current evaluator might not have their same expertise. The administrators have met face-to-face with each of our members. Shane responds to any and all concerns. They did a good job with contract language. They were very sensitive to change language from the contract to the manual. This administration is the best relationship for accessibility. Some members in our group wanted an adversarial relationship especially with the Chapter 20 changes. In our meetings with administrators we ask about the rumors we hear from members and they answer them right away. We communicate well with administration for rumor control. We are truly operating from a growth mindset now.

iowa state board of education mbaea.pdf · 11/20/2019 · bureau of school improvement ....

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