About 500 Iowa AEA workers are leaving. How Area Education Agencies are adjusting to new law

Nearly 500 employees of Iowa's Area Education Agencies have retired, resigned or made plans to leave since the start of the year, as the agencies adjust to a new law signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds overhauling their funding and responsibilities.

The law, which Reynolds signed on March 27, transfers the responsibility for oversight of special education services from the AEAs to the Iowa Department of Education.

And in the 2025-26 school year, it gives school districts full control of a pool of money for media and general education services — worth about $68 million — requiring the AEAs to adjust how they offer those services to schools.

All nine AEAs are in conversation with school districts to discuss which of their services are most in demand for the coming school year. And several AEAs have made arrangements to share certain staff positions with each other as they adjust to the departures and a more uncertain budget outlook.

All but one AEA seeing highest staff turnover in past five years

All but one of the AEAs report that their 2023-24 turnover is the highest in the past five years. Every AEA has seen at least 10% of its staff leave, and two AEAs — Green Hills and Prairie Lakes — have seen 20% or more of their staff go.

At least 478 AEA employees have voluntarily left their jobs between Jan. 1 and mid-May, either through retirement or resignation, according to data the state's nine AEAs provided to the Des Moines Register. Some AEAs have seen more employees leave since then.

That's an increase from the 341 employees who had announced plans to leave as of mid-April.

The AEAs employed more than 3,400 full-time and part-time staff as of the beginning of this year, according to a summary of personnel compiled by the agencies.

"The almost 500 employees we’ve lost, that leaves a hole," said Stan Rheingans, chief administrator of Keystone AEA in northeast Iowa.

Rheingans is also serving as the interim chief administrator of the neighboring Central Rivers AEA, taking over from departing administrator Joel Pedersen. It's one of several positions the two AEAs are planning to share next year as they figure out their budgets.

"We will do everything we can to make sure our kids have what they deserve to have," Rheingans said. "But it will have to look different because you can’t do the work that we do with that much smaller of a staff."

Reynolds said she believes the AEAs' transition to adapt to the new law will result in a better system to meet students' needs.

"Yes, it’s been right-sized, but I do believe that we have turned a corner," Reynolds told reporters May 17. "Everybody is beginning to work together; they’re focused on the system. They’re focused on the kids. They’re focused on special education, and that’s really where they should be focused."

The 478 employees who are voluntarily leaving the AEAs include:

• Central Rivers AEA: 75 employees.

• Green Hills AEA: 36.

• Great Prairie AEA: 43.

• Grant Wood AEA: 89.

• Heartland AEA: 86.

• Keystone AEA: 27.

• Mississippi Bend AEA: 39.

• Northwest AEA: 34.

• Prairie Lakes AEA: 49.

Another 42 AEA employees across the state have been laid off or had their positions eliminated.

Heartland AEA anticipating 50 fewer staffers for the coming school year

Heartland AEA in central Iowa has seen the second highest number of departures, at 86. Chief Administrator Cindy Yelick said there are about 50 positions the agency won't fill next year.

"We are doing everything we can to not have it impact service," Yelick said of the staff turnover. "There’s a reality. I have 50 fewer staff members than I had last year. Next year I’ll have 50 fewer staffers across divisions, across employee groups, than Heartland had this year."

"We know given constraints that we will have to adjust some things," she added.

Yelick said she's prioritizing filling positions that deal with special education and provide direct services to kids. For everything else, particularly jobs in media and education services, she and her staff are looking to determine whether the position is "mission critical" for next year.

"And some of them we made decisions that we were not going to fill," she said.

One question mark for Iowa AEAs: How much will school districts spend with them?

Yelick said all nine AEAs are having conversations with the school districts they serve to determine how much money the districts will spend with the AEAs on media and education services, and which services the AEAs will be able to provide for districts with reduced staffing.

"We’re really focused now into leaning into those conversations with districts, knowing we’re going to have to prioritize, because we don’t have the same staffing that we’ve had; we don’t have the same resources we’ve had," she said. "So what are their priorities and how can we meet those in our efforts to still do the best that we can do for kids?"

For the coming school year, districts will receive 60% of the media and general education services funding, and AEAs will receive 40%. In the 2025-26 school year, districts will receive 100% of that funding.

They can decide to use the money to continue contracting for services with the AEAs under a "fee for service" model, but the law also allows them to spend the money on any general fund purpose.

The 2025-26 school year will also see districts gain control of 10% of the state funding for special education that currently goes to the AEAs, while the agencies will retain 90%.

For Keystone, Rheingans said many of the small and medium-size school districts have already said they'll spend their full allocation of media and education service dollars on AEA services. But some larger districts are still deciding, because there are larger dollar amounts at stake for them.

The situation will also be different for districts that might be experiencing tight budgets because of loss of enrollment or another reason, he said.

"They have to have some hard conversations about can they afford to flow their dollars through the AEA system or do they have to look at these new general fund resources to spend on bigger budgetary needs?" he said.

Reynolds said the law keeps the same amount of money in Iowa's education system, even though school districts will have direct control of some funds, rather than the AEAs.

"The good news is not one dime comes out of the system," she said. "So it’s going to go into the classrooms, it’s going to go into services for the kids. And that’s what I’m excited about."

Some Iowa AEAs are sharing certain positions, although they aren't talking about merging

When Pedersen, the Central Rivers AEA administrator, decided to leave the AEA this summer to take a job as president of North Iowa Area Community College, he said it made sense to find someone like Rheingans who could step into leading the agency right away.

"It seemed logical also because it would be someone that’s been going through this the past year instead of maybe someone new coming in trying to learn what’s happened," Pedersen said.

It's not just administrators the AEAs are sharing. It may be a speech language pathologist or another position that works directly with students.

"We’re trying to look at it systemically too to say where can we help and support each other. But we will be down positions, there’s no doubt," Rheingans said.

Both Rheingans and Pedersen said the shared positions aren't necessarily permanent, and they aren't a precursor to merging the AEAs. They said the goal is to maintain the distinct identities that each of the AEAs have, while saving on costs and ensuring that both AEAs will have experienced leadership teams in place to handle the upcoming transition.

"It’s a one-year decision," Rheingans said. "But it may take many different avenues going forward. We may go back to the old model. The shared positions may become more permanent. We may look at sharing some positions and not others. So I think it’s, again as we evolve as a system it’s an opportunity for us to learn some things."

Rheingans praised the staff at the AEAs for being committed to providing positive outcomes for kids.

"I think while there’s a lot of uncertainty and probably anxiety in different areas from time to time, people are leaning pretty heavily into their belief system that we’re here for a reason and that’s to make sure that kids have opportunities to maximize their educational opportunities," he said.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa AEAs see nearly 500 workers retire or resign in wake of new law