(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s Area Education Agencies are still making adjustments in how they operate, based on changes mandated during the last legislative session. Stan Rheingans is interim administrator for the Central Rivers A-E-A, based in Cedar Falls, and he’s also administrator of the Keystone A-E-A, based in Elkader. Under the old plan, Rheingans says schools that graduate 25 students a year would have access to the same resources as schools with 800 graduates per year.

“In the new model, the larger districts, because it’s funded on a per student basis, can purchase many of the services and materials that they would choose,” Rheingans says. “Smaller districts will have to really think through how to spend those resources, because it’s going to be based on their enrollment, and so they’ll have access to limited dollars for that.” He says the A-E-As are having to do more with fewer employees, saying their staffs have been cut by 20-percent.

“We are stretched thinner than we’ve ever been, so we’re working really hard to make sure that doesn’t impact students first,” Rheingans says. “We always want to be student-focused, making sure that as we spread out employees over that geography, that we always focus first on what’s best for kids.”

There are nine A-E-As in Iowa which provide special education services, teacher training and other services to Iowa school districts.