Matt Carver

Iowa school administrators, if you haven't heard, the Iowa Supreme Court reversed the Iowa Court of Appeals's decision in Teig. Educators may now go into closed session if the employee requests to do so for evaluations. No need to specific why the employee will be harmed.

IPERS ranks as having one of the top ten funding ratios amongst pension plans in the United States, and pays 88% of retirement benefits to retirees still living in our great state, which benefits communities in all 99 counties.

School attendance and child custody. Should be a great day!

Once confirmed after investigation, any public posting of comments or sharing of memes/photos that celebrate/encourage political violence is 100% just cause for termination of a Chapter 279 contract. Place the educator on leave, recommend termination, & turn over to the board.

Al and the rest of the SAI team are looking forward to seeing Iowa’s outstanding administrators the next couple of days at our annual conference! Take a group selfie with your friends by the ballroom entrance.

One may rightly critique and recommend significant changes to our athletic classification system in Iowa, which is antiquated, while simultaneously appreciating the thousands of Iowans who make IHSAA and IGHSAU events some of the best run that you will find in any part of the US!

@CorsonCole Cole, I agree that this is an indicator in most sports. I certainly am in favor of efforts to improve resources, especially training facilities and staff. FRL should continue to be a factor and it was a good first step to at least consider that in football. More needs to be done!

As playoffs start for girls and boys. A larger indicator for success is tied to access to resources etc and not enrollment. Have many years of data showing this. Over 90% of state titles in major sports won by schools who have a lower than state average FRL number.

If this means only moving down, instead of up based on success, or lack thereof, so be it. A smaller 5A would not hurt anyone for the playoffs/districts, and it would be just as much of an honor to make state or win state in that class.

Remember that schools may develop educational plans in which students are under "instructional guidance" when they are away from school, and may then be counted as present. Just ensure SIS is appropriately marked so first responders know students are not in the building.

I continue to receive calls regarding concerns that ICE will raid the school. I share again that ICE has NEVER raided a school in the United States, except to arrest individual students who had committed serious crimes, just like local police. No Mass Raids!

Reassure community members that ICE has NEVER "raided" a school in the US to detain a group of students. Recent federal changes put ICE on the same footing as local law enforcement. ICE may now arrest a criminal immigrant at a school just like police might make arrests.

Appreciate Fox and Tom Rinaldi and company on their work on this. Honored to have Dads story still told take a listen tomorrow

Iowa HF 2652, school safety bill, mentions that each attendance center must have a handheld OR console radio to communicate directly with first responders by July 1, 2025. I just referenced handheld at SAI conference. If the building has console, you are good to go!

Administrators SF2435 mentions "days OR hours" for absenteeism. The DE's coding guide quotes federal OCR guidance that students are not absent if they are at school 1/2 of the day. As such, Iowa schools are not required to count missed hours if a student is there half of the day.

Have a safe and enjoyable first day of school out there Iowa! Thanks for all you do to serve Iowa's students!

Iowa educators are encouraged to communicate thoughts, concerns, and observations to the DE regarding new student attendance/chronic absenteeism standards. A task force is meeting to discuss this topic. The DE is doing its best to interpret the new law, and is open to thoughts.

The open enrollment deadline DOES NOT apply to students open enrolling into an Iowa DE approved online school.

Congratulations and thank you to SAI’s Communications Director, Tracy Harms, for her 26 years of service to the organization! Enjoy your retirement Tracy! It is well deserved!

An unforgettable and impactful opening @SAI Thank you to family of Dan Marburger !!!!!