DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Television Iowa Capitol Bureau) – Iowa’s Area Education Agencies are racing to make changes before reforms passed by the legislature take effect on July 1.

Nothing will change with special education funding this year since AEAs will get to keep 100% of funds, but significant changes are coming with media services and education services this fall.

This upcoming school year will be a transition year for AEAs. In addition to special education, they provide resources like education services, such as literacy and math coaches, and media services to help with IT and technology. Beginning in July, districts will only be required to send 40% of their funds to AEAs for it.

Cindy Yelick is the chief administrator of the Heartland AEA in Central Iowa. Yelick says staff are leaving due to the overhaul. Heartland won’t fill roughly 50 open positions, which means parents may experience less flexibility with services. However, she says they’re working to preserve as much frontline staff as possible and parents shouldn’t be worried.

Dan Cox is the chief administrator with the Northwest AEA. He says about 10% of their staff, or roughly 30 employees are leaving. Cox says the departures have been spread across the AEA so impacts won’t be too severe. Cox too says there will be some noticeable changes to services. For example, That means parents may have access to six literacy coaches rather than eight.

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office maintains employees who leave are doing so for personal reasons and not due to the legislation.

Both AEA chiefs say making changes has been incredibly difficult.

“There’s grieving because people have really invested in that equity of services across the state for years and thinking about how you now move into a different model so there’s some sadness. I would also say that there’s part of it that is a challenge that is invigorating to people,” Yelick said.

“It’s just the unknown and then the volume of support from the public that said ‘hey, no, stop, slow this down’ and then to have that just kind of you know brushed aside and changes made anyway was really tough to take for a lot of our staff too so they’ve been through the emotional grinder,” Cox said.

Cox says parents should continue to ask teachers and their school superintendents about how changes to services will look at their school.

Both administrators say next year will be even tougher. That’s when school districts won’t be required to use AEAs for those media and education services if they don’t want to.

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.

An Iowa facility for people with intellectual disabilities is set to permanently close after federal investigators said patients’ rights were violated there.

The 28 residents at the state-run Glenwood Resource Center will be moved out by the end of June and 235 staff members have been notified that they will be laid off, according to reporting by the Des Moines Register. The facility had 152 patients and about 650 staff members when Gov. Kim Reynolds announced in 2022 that it would close.

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Scathing reports by the U.S. Department of Justice have condemned Iowa’s treatment of people with intellectual and development disabilities. The DOJ alleged that Iowa likely violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide services that integrate patients into their communities.

A report in December 2020 found that the Glenwood Resource Center likely violated the constitutional rights of residents by subjecting them to human experiments, including sexual arousal research, some of which were deemed dangerous by federal investigators.

Most of the residents have moved from the 380-acre campus about 115 miles southwest of Des Moines to community-based settings, such as residential facilities for those with intellectual disabilities or to host homes; nursing facilities or hospice care, said Alex Murphy, a spokesperson for Iowa’s health agency.

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Officials told the Register that some were transferred to Iowa’s other facility, the Woodward Resource Center, which has also in the past been cited as deficient.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – An Iowa City man is facing multiple charges after police say he tried to flee a traffic stop at high speed while under the influence of alcohol early Sunday morning.

In a criminal complaint, police said an officer pulled over a man, later identified as 21-year-old Alexander White, for an equipment violation.

Another vehicle that was not involved in the traffic stop also pulled over, so the officer told White to wait while he went to speak with the driver of the second vehicle.

That’s when White allegedly fled the scene.

The officer got back in his vehicle and a chase ensued, heading northbound on Highway 218 toward the I-380/I-80 interchange. Police said White turned his vehicle’s lights off during the chase.

White reportedly took the exit to I-80 eastbound. The officer said he was traveling at more than 120 mph and was not able to catch up with White’s vehicle.

When the vehicle took exit 240 on I-80, the officer said he saw it spin out of control and come to a stop at the bottom of the ramp.

Both White and a passenger were then arrested at around 3 a.m.

The officer said there was a strong smell of alcohol on White, and two baggies of marijuana were found in the vehicle. A preliminary breath test resulted in a .164% Brac.

White is charged with eluding, operating while under the influence, possession of a controlled substance, and driving while license denied.

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.