DES MOINES — Seven new leadership positions with six-figure salaries in Iowa’s state education department, created by a new law that overhauled the operations and funding of the state’s Area Education Agencies that oversee special education, have been filled — with more to come.
The Iowa Department of Education this week announced the hires of two statewide officials and five regional special education directors, one of whom will hold titles that fall into both categories.
The positions are part of the Education Department’s new Division of Special Education, which was created this year in the new state law.
Iowa’s nine Area Education Agencies provide support and training to the state’s K-12 school districts. Statehouse Republicans and Gov. Kim Reynolds earlier this year approved legislation that shifted some funding from the AEAs to school districts and moved oversight of special education from the AEAs to the state.
The new law requires the Iowa Department of Education to fill 13 full-time equivalent positions in the department, based in Des Moines, to provide oversight of special education. The law also requires the department to hire no more than 40 full-time equivalent positions to ensure compliance with state and federal special education regulations. The hires must be made during the current state budget year, which ends June 30, 2025.
On Thursday, the Iowa Department of Education announced six hires in the new Division of Special Education.
Barbara Guy will serve as division administrator of State Accountability and Student Supports. She will oversee issues related to student instruction, special education accountability, data analysis, finance and early childhood special education, according to a news release.
Angelisa Fynaardt will serve as acting division administrator of Regional Continuous Improvement and Compliance. She will oversee and coordinate the work of the nine regional continuous improvement and compliance teams, the department said.
Fynaardt also will serve as regional special education director for the Great Prairie AEA.
The remaining hires announced also are regional special education directors: Amy Thoms-Starr, Central Rivers AEA; Ivan Gentry, Green Hills AEA; Lisa Glenn, Grant Wood AEA; Molly Elston, Prairie Lakes AEA; and Seth Piro, Northwest AEA.
“Each member of the Division’s distinguished executive team is a proven special education leader committed to strengthening our system to best serve Iowa’s more than 75,000 infants, toddlers, and students with disabilities and their families,” Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow said in a statement. “These dedicated leaders are partnering with families and educators across Iowa to ensure all learners with disabilities experience a world-class education that meets their needs, inspires them, and prepares them for bright futures.”
A state Education Department spokeswoman said the department will hire three more regional special education directors for a total of nine, matching the number of AEAs in the state.
The new Division of Special Education positions will not have a fiscal impact on the state because the staffing will be funded with what was previously staffing funds for the AEAs.
Five of the six regional directors have experience working at the AEAs they will oversee.
The exception is Glenn, who does not have experience at the Grant Wood AEA — which serves Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn and Washington counties.--- but has spent 17 years as director of special education in four urban school districts and worked at the Heartland AEA in Central Iowa as a special education consultant.
Guy and Fynaardt will be paid salaries in the state pay grade for Iowa Division Administrators, which ranges between $118,081.60 and $167,897.60 a year, according to the department spokeswoman.
The regional directors will be paid salaries in the pay grade for that job title, which features a range between $107,536.00 and $152,942.40 a year.
Statehouse Democrats were highly critical of the proposed changes to Iowa’s Area Education Agencies, and continue to be as the new law is implemented. They argued the previous AEA system was working and needed only minor tweaks rather than the overhaul passed by Republicans, and that the new law will create uncertainty that will harm AEAs and the services they provide.
“Iowans don’t want more bureaucrats in Des Moines playing politics for the governor. They want to make sure their kids can get the services they need in their local schools,” Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, a Democrat from Windsor Heights and her party’s leader in the Iowa House. “It’s more proof that the devastating AEA cuts the governor and GOP lawmakers forced through last session was just another power grab. Iowa kids — especially in rural areas — will pay the price. It’s time to put people over politics.”
Reynolds, who proposed AEA changes in her annual Condition of the State address in January, upon the measure’s signing said the new law will improve special education for students with disabilities and called the changes “meaningful and necessary reform.”
Debate over the legislation, House File 2612, was highly contentious and dominated this year’s session of the Iowa Legislature. The bill ultimately passed with only Republican support.
Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com
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