AEAs across the state are seeing fewer employees after Governor Reynolds signed legislation giving schools more control over funding for AEA services.
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa — Iowa's Area Education Agency (AEA) is preparing for the next school year with reforms now signed into law.
Central Rivers AEA serves schools in northern and central Iowa, from Cedar Falls to Marshalltown. The agency told Local 5 that its biggest challenge right now is getting people to apply to work at AEA.
Under the law, school districts would control most of the funds used for AEA services, which creates uncertainty for AEA.
“It's very difficult to rebuild a 50-year-old system within a few months and then turn it around and maybe even have less funding the next year,” said Joel Pedersen, chief administrator of the Central Rivers AEA. said.
Central Rivers says the biggest challenge it sees from the law is that people are resigning because of the uncertainty, leaving open positions open and people unable to apply.
“I think it was really hard leading that and just watching people. You know, there were tears, there was stress, there was illness, all of those things together.” Pedersen said.
Central Rivers has no intention of downsizing and has adjusted its management by sharing various ministerial positions with Keystone AEA and eliminating four regional positions. Their overall goal is to save money from an administrative standpoint and continue to provide services closest to the children.
The biggest question and concern for local schools is how much money larger schools will put into AEA.
“If these schools opt out, there's no way it won't impact rural schools, because in some of these rural schools, we're talking about a very small amount of money that is part of that flow. body,” Pedersen said. “What we were able to give them in the old system was really access to everything. If we have less money, we're limited.”
Central Rivers is poised for success in the first year, but says the law could impact daily life in Iowans in the second year.
“The timeline can be longer. For example, if we are contacted by a new student transferring to a high-needs district, we will arrive within 24 hours, but depending on what we have and the resources we have, it could take up to 4 hours to arrive. It could take a day. Get out there,” Pedersen said.
AEA agencies remain optimistic.
“We haven't heard anything in Central Rivers, but we really want to work with you guys. We want to give you some time to understand this and move forward,” Pedersen said. .
