Table of Contents

Motions

Meeting Called to Order

Licensee Discipline

Consent Agenda

Communication

Pre-filed Bills

Legislative Reception

Out-of-State Applicants – Notice

Teacher Librarian – First Reading
Letter of Reprimand Discussion

Bundling of Endorsements

Adjournment

Jacqueline Wellborn moved, with a second by Ying Ying Chen, that the Board go into closed session for the purposes of discussing whether to initiate licensee disciplinary proceedings and discussing the decision to be rendered in a contested case, pursuant to Iowa Code sections 21.5(1)(d) and 21.5(1)(f). MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Ying Ying Chen moved, with a second by Jacqueline Wellborn, that in case number 05-03, Norwalk Schools Board of Education v. Nicole Weber, the Board acknowledge the local settlement submitted by the parties and issue an Order imposing the sanction agreed upon by the Board. Roll call vote: Aboud – yes; Smith – yes; Wellborn – yes; Carter – yes; Robinson – yes; Seeland – yes; Chen – yes; Henderson – yes; Haigh – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Jacqueline Wellborn moved, with a second by William Haigh, that in case number 05-07, In the Matter of: Daniel K. Miller, the Board find probable cause to establish a violation of the following provisions of the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics: 282 IAC 25.3(6)(d), (e) and (m) and order this case set for hearing. Roll call vote: Haigh – yes; Henderson – yes; Chen – yes; Seeland – yes; Robinson – recuse; Carter – yes; Wellborn – yes; Smith– yes; Aboud – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED.

William Haigh moved, with a second by Ying Ying Chen, that in case number 05-08, In the Matter of John Richard Nees, the Board extend the 180-day deadline for issuance of the final decision, due to delay in investigation due to resignation of the Board’s investigator and subsequent budget cuts. Roll call vote: Aboud – yes; Smith – yes; Wellborn – yes; Carter – yes; Robinson – yes; Seeland – yes; Chen – yes; Henderson – yes; Haigh – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Ying Ying Chen moved, with a second by Jacqueline Wellborn, that in case number 05-13, In the Matter of: Michael D. Shannon, the Board extend the 180-day deadline for issuance of the final decision, due to delay in investigation due to resignation of the Board’s investigator and subsequent budget cuts. Roll call vote: Aboud – yes; Smith – yes; Wellborn – yes; Carter – yes; Robinson – yes; Seeland – yes; Chen – yes; Henderson – yes; Haigh – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Jacqueline Wellborn moved, with a second by William Haigh, that in case number 05-14, the Board extend the 180-day deadline for issuance of the final decision, due to delay in investigation due to resignation of the Board’s investigator and subsequent budget cuts. Roll call vote: Haigh – yes; Henderson – yes; Chen – yes; Seeland – yes; Robinson – yes; Carter – yes; Wellborn – yes; Smith– yes; Aboud – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

William Haigh moved, with a second by Ying Ying Chen, that in case number 05-15, In the Matter of Carol Lynn Walthart, the Board extend the 180-day deadline for issuance of the final decision, due to delay in investigation due to resignation of the Board’s investigator and subsequent budget cuts. Roll call vote: Aboud – yes; Smith – yes; Wellborn – yes; Carter – yes; Robinson – yes; Seeland – recuse; Chen – yes; Henderson – yes; Haigh – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED.

The September 15, 2005, minutes were APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY, as distributed, on a voice vote.
William Haigh moved, with a second by Brian Carter, to moved forward the pre-filed bill to change the Iowa law mandating resolution of a complaint within 180 days to investigation of complaints and determination of probable cause by the Board within 120 days. Roll call vote: Haigh – yes; Henderson – yes; Chen – yes; Seeland – yes; Robinson – yes; Carter – yes; Wellborn – yes; Smith– yes; Aboud – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

John Aboud moved, with a second by Greg Robinson, to move forward the pre-filed bill that would, effective July 1, 2006, increase to 90% the fees retained by the Board, with a 15% carryover available for expenditure for the purposes designated until the close of the succeeding fiscal year. Roll call vote: Haigh – yes; Henderson – yes; Chen – yes; Seeland – yes; Robinson – yes; Carter – yes; Wellborn – yes; Smith– yes; Aboud – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

John Aboud moved, with a second by Brian Carter, to file under Notice of Intended Action with noted word changes, the Chapter 14 rules that provide a means for out-of-state applicants to demonstrate an equivalent assessment similar to the multiple measures used by in-state teacher preparation programs. Roll call vote: Haigh – yes; Henderson – yes; Chen – yes; Seeland – yes; Robinson – yes; Carter – yes; Wellborn – yes; Smith– no; Aboud – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED.

The Board of Educational Examiners held its monthly meeting on October 7, 2005. Board Vice-Chair Thomas Paulsen called the meeting to order at
9:33 a.m. Members attending were John Aboud, Brian Carter, Ying Ying Chen, William Haigh, Jeffrey Henderson, Thomas Paulsen, Greg Robinson, Jean Seeland, Beverly Smith and Jacqueline Wellborn. Also in attendance were Dr. George Maurer, Executive Director of the Board; Christie Scase, Assistant Attorney General and legal counsel to the Board; Barbara Hendrickson, Board Secretary; and other visitors. Assistant Attorney General and legal counsel to the Board Jeanie Vaudt arrived at 9:37 a.m. Board Chair Judy Jeffrey was unable to attend the meeting.

Jacqueline Wellborn moved, with a second by Ying Ying Chen, that the Board go into closed session for the purposes of discussing whether to initiate licensee disciplinary proceedings and discussing the decision to be rendered in a contested case, pursuant to Iowa Code sections 21.5(1)(d) and 21.5(1)(f). MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Board reconvened into open session at 10:02 a.m.

Ying Ying Chen moved, with a second by Jacqueline Wellborn, that in case number 05-03, Norwalk Schools Board of Education v. Nicole Weber, the Board acknowledge the local settlement submitted by the parties and issue an Order imposing the sanction agreed upon by the Board. Roll call vote: Aboud – yes; Smith – yes; Wellborn – yes; Carter – yes; Robinson – yes; Seeland – yes;
Chen – yes; Henderson – yes; Haigh – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Jacqueline Wellborn moved, with a second by William Haigh, that in case number 05-07, In the Matter of: Daniel K. Miller, the Board find probable cause to establish a violation of the following provisions of the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics: 282 IAC 25.3(6)(d), (e) and (m) and order this case set for hearing. Roll call vote: Haigh – yes; Henderson – yes; Chen – yes; Seeland – yes; Robinson – recuse; Carter – yes; Wellborn – yes; Smith– yes; Aboud – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED.

William Haigh moved, with a second by Ying Ying Chen, that in case number 05-08, In the Matter of John Richard Nees, the Board extend the 180-day deadline for issuance of the final decision, due to delay in investigation due to resignation of the Board’s investigator and subsequent budget cuts. Roll call vote: Aboud – yes; Smith – yes; Wellborn – yes; Carter – yes; Robinson – yes; Seeland – yes; Chen – yes; Henderson – yes; Haigh – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Ying Ying Chen moved, with a second by Jacqueline Wellborn, that in case number 05-13, In the Matter of: Michael D. Shannon, the Board extend the 180-day deadline for issuance of the final decision, due to delay in investigation due to resignation of the Board’s investigator and subsequent budget cuts. Roll call vote: Aboud – yes; Smith – yes; Wellborn – yes; Carter – yes; Robinson – yes; Seeland – yes; Chen – yes; Henderson – yes; Haigh – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Jacqueline Wellborn moved, with a second by William Haigh, that in case number 05-14, the Board extend the 180-day deadline for issuance of the final decision, due to delay in investigation due to resignation of the Board’s investigator and subsequent budget cuts. Roll call vote: Haigh – yes; Henderson – yes; Chen – yes; Seeland – yes; Robinson – yes; Carter – yes; Wellborn – yes; Smith– yes; Aboud – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

William Haigh moved, with a second by Ying Ying Chen, that in case number 05-15, In the Matter of Carol Lynn Walthart, the Board extend the 180-day deadline for issuance of the final decision, due to delay in investigation due to resignation of the Board’s investigator and subsequent budget cuts. Roll call vote: Aboud – yes; Smith – yes; Wellborn – yes; Carter – yes; Robinson – yes; Seeland – recuse; Chen – yes; Henderson – yes; Haigh – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED.

The September 15, 2005, minutes were APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY, as distributed, on a voice vote.

At the time of Board Reports, Jeffrey Henderson, who is working on his Ed.S. degree through the University of Iowa, related something from his personnel management class the evening before. He mentioned to class attendees, almost all of whom are practicing administrators, the requirement of reporting to the Board, ethics violations that led to requested resignations of licensees over matters having nothing to do with their ability in the classroom. The other class members were unaware of the rule, which indicated a continuing need to disseminate information about the regulation through a number of venues.

Mr. Henderson, Jean Seeland and Beverly Smith said that they were aware of middle school practitioners concerned that they would incur a fee for teaching outside their endorsement area, in an assignment to which they had agreed in the spring, before being aware of the new rule effective in September; some practitioners have had questions about the middle school endorsement proper. Executive Director Dr. George Maurer invited board members to alert him to such issues that need addressing, as they arise, so that he may focus attention on the matters through one or more of the paths available for broadcasting the information that is needed.
Ying Ying Chen gave an update on the Iowa Leadership Academy. It is somewhat parallel to the Teacher Quality Bill, but the standards are for administrative leaders in Iowa. There are several components to the visionary plan, e.g., principal center (already realized), superintendent center, board member center and future center (looking into the leadership necessary for the future school). Designed as a growth process to help these professionals to meet the standards throughout their careers, participants from around the state will have the same curriculum. Four area education agencies (AEAs) have systems in progress; more are planned. It is an exciting concept for preparing Iowa’s future school administrative leaders.

Board Vice-Chair Thomas Paulsen asked if there were any public comments. There were none.

Executive Director Dr. George Maurer reported on a number of issues:
1) He referred briefly to a condensed version of the three goals approved by the Board at the previous meeting. Steps will be taken on them in the coming months. Shortages in the content areas will be indicated on the chart.
2) He next reviewed figures on the September monthly financial report.
3) He met with School Improvement Consultant Anita Westerhaus and Professional Development Consultant Sue Swartz from Heartland AEA 11, who had given a PowerPoint presentation on ethics at the September board meeting, and they discussed changes to the program. The plan is to make the piece available for download from the Board’s website with guidance for instruction of participants, possibly within a month. They considered a few other potential options for production of the ethics materials in the future.

Board Member John Aboud expressed significant concern about getting the information on ethics rules directly to each practitioner, utilizing avenues over and above the more generally recognized ones such as websites, AEAs, mentorship program, etc. Dr. Maurer emphasized the necessity of training leaders in order to ensure consistency in delivery of the message of the program. The most important and initial step right now is making the program available. Kathy Collins of School Administrators of Iowa (SAI) interposed that experience has shown her that it takes about five years for some types of new information to trickle down, beginning with the more sophisticated recipients who pass on information in a timely fashion and ending with those who, having waited for whatever reason, finally address a matter and act on it. Board members reiterated some ideas proposed at previous board meetings and agreed that new ideas for dissemination of the ethics material would continue to be welcomed.
4) New computers have been ordered for all staff members, replacing the seven-year-old machines currently in use. The new models should all be in place by the end of December.
5) Staff presented at a recommending officials workshop the previous week.
6) Dr. Maurer attended a regional meeting of NASDTEC in Kansas City the previous week. The national meeting will be in Minneapolis in June.

The Board reviewed two proposed pre-filed bills to recommend to the legislature. The end of November is the deadline for submission. William Haigh moved, with a second by Brian Carter, to moved forward the pre-filed bill to change the Iowa law mandating resolution of a complaint within 180 days to investigation of complaints and determination of probable cause by the Board within 120 days. Roll call vote: Haigh – yes; Henderson – yes; Chen – yes; Seeland – yes; Robinson – yes; Carter – yes; Wellborn – yes; Smith– yes; Aboud – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

The second proposed bill concerns the Board’s budget formula. Effective
July 1, 2004, the Board has no legislative appropriation. Following the legislative session in 2005, the Board will retain 73% of its fees with a 10% carryover. John Aboud moved, with a second by Greg Robinson, to move forward the pre-filed bill that would, effective July 1, 2006, increase to 90% the fees retained by the Board, with a 15% carryover available for expenditure for the purposes designated until the close of the succeeding fiscal year. Roll call vote: Haigh – yes; Henderson – yes; Chen – yes; Seeland – yes; Robinson – yes; Carter – yes; Wellborn – yes; Smith– yes; Aboud – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Board plans to hold a legislative reception on February 1, 2006, the day before its regular monthly meeting. Members discussed such items as invitees, time, refreshments and handouts with a few talking points. The latter might include the Board’s goals; who members are, where they are from, and what they do; and Board accomplishments. Personal contact with each member’s own district representative prior to the reception was also encouraged. The Board agreed that dinner following the reception was an excellent opportunity for building community among its members. Assistant Attorney General and legal counsel to the Board Christie Scase once again clarified the distinction between speaking with members of the legislature on behalf of certain issues as an individual citizen and speaking with them from a position as a member of the Board. For purposes of follow-up with legislators on Board issues, specific guidance can be provided. Some instruction on what board members can do may be an agenda item for the November or December board meeting. Plans will continue to be refined over the course of meetings prior to the reception.

The Board considered proposed amendments to administrative rules that would meet the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements for out-of-state applicants. As a result, the rules would also disallow out-of-state applicants, who cannot achieve the cut score on a standardized test in the state of their teacher preparation, from obtaining an Iowa license without a standardized test requirement and then acquiring another state’s license based on their Iowa teaching license. On the other hand, students from Iowa taking teacher preparation in another state, who had originally planned to return to Iowa to teach, would need to spend time and money on a standardized test not required for licensure from an Iowa institution. This might impact teacher recruitment for Iowa. Board members want to continue conversation about this unresolved situation. At previous meetings, the Board had deferred votes to notice the rules on out-of-state applicants due to significant issues raised in discussion by board members. A couple of minor changes were now made with respect to word choice. John Aboud moved, with a second by Brian Carter, to file under Notice of Intended Action with noted word changes, the Chapter 14 rules that provide a means for out-of-state applicants to demonstrate an equivalent assessment similar to the multiple measures used by in-state teacher preparation programs. Roll call vote: Haigh – yes; Henderson – yes; Chen – yes; Seeland – yes; Robinson – yes; Carter – yes; Wellborn – yes; Smith– no; Aboud – yes; and Paulsen – yes. MOTION CARRIED.

State Librarian Mary Wegner spoke briefly about proposed amendments to Chapter 14 rules on the media specialist endorsement to reflect the current terminology and practice in school libraries. The revisions are supported by the executive boards of the Iowa Library Association and the Iowa Association of School Librarians, and the heads of the respective programs at the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa. Reviewing the rules as a First Reading, the Board will see them in Notice form in November.

The Board recessed for lunch at 11:43 a.m. and reconvened at 12:32 p.m.

Assistant Attorney General and legal counsel to the Board Christie Scase shared with the Board input about record retention of a Letter of Reprimand (LOR), which she had obtained from office colleagues that deal with other licensing boards. She also advised that if removal of an LOR was not stipulated in the original order, the LOR remains a public document that cannot now be removed from the file, although the Board has flexibility in how that information is made available. The Board might choose to include a date for expiration or expungement of the LOR, but that would require a rule change. Ms. Scase also reviewed the potential of having an informal resolution, prior to hearing, that might include the option of a private Letter of Warning (not a public record), a practice common with many licensing boards. That would serve as a non-public resolution for less-than-major inappropriate behavior, while, nevertheless, maintaining a confidential record of the issue in the Board’s files. A rule change would be required here too.
The current database viewing system is incapable of displaying any information regarding the suspension of a license once the practitioner has returned to active status without a change in programming, and such a change would incur an attendant cost. In discussion Board members agreed to the importance of access to knowledge of the suspension of a license at any point in time; an older LOR, however, is less significant. When database programming funding is made available, the system will be retooled to make permanent record of suspensions and LORs with the date of the event. It was recommended that a First Reading of rule language, which would establish a process for a practitioner to petition the Board for removal of an LOR after five years, be brought to the next board meeting. There was no Board consensus to revise rules to allow for a private Letter of Warning prior to probable cause, but there are circumstances in which the Board would not mind seeing a negotiated settlement that would result in a warning rather than a formal reprimand, and the record of such action would be a public document.

The Board looked at information on content areas that lend themselves to a bundling of endorsements. Board Member Jean Seeland was agreeable to accommodation as long as facilitation was effected while upholding standards. Greg Robinson expressed the desire to make accommodation just to be able to fill the need. The high needs areas are math, science, and special education. Rethinking early childhood and vocational education was also recommended. The suggestion was made to make the issue an agenda item once again next month and to solicit input from the teacher preparation institutions. Board Vice-Chair Thomas Paulsen reminded the Board that at the June telephonic board meeting he had mentioned that he wanted to review the rules on career and technical endorsements in Chapter 16. Considering the bundling of endorsements in Chapter 14 presents an opportunity to review the Chapter 16 rules as well.

Before adjournment, some board members briefly discussed whether the investigator should include some indication of a witness’s credibility or statement of judgment in the investigative reports—something beyond mere facts of the case. Vice-Chair Thomas Paulsen advised board members to think about that for the next board meeting.

There being no further business, Board Vice-Chair Thomas Paulsen adjourned the meeting at 1:35 p.m.