One of the most watched proposals in the Iowa Legislature has taken another step this week, so now members of the House and Senate will attempt to negotiate out differences in bills that could change the functioning of the regional Area Education Agencies system.
Governor Kim Reynolds on Monday praised passage of an Iowa Senate bill on the AEA issue she proposed in January. However, the content of the bill is different from the House bill, so negotiations will now take place by controlling Republicans.
Democrats continue to assert that the AEA system has been a longstanding success, so they fear changes could undercut the delivery of specialty services to individual school districts.
Under the Senate proposal, just 10 percent of state funding for special education services would go directly to the AEAs. Local school districts would control the rest. They could use it to contract with their AEAs, but they could also choose to fund their own programs or hire an outside company.
Republican Senator Lynn Evans, of Aurelia, said school districts should have that option.
Additionally, Sioux City’s Inclusion Liaison Semehar Ghebrekidan has been on administrative leave for several weeks.
Many supporters spoke up for her at the Sioux City Council meeting on Monday. City leaders would not comment on the reasons for Ghebrekidian’s leave, saying she has retained an attorney, so they don’t want to impact any future proceedings regarding confidential personnel matters.
Ghebrekidan is not commenting publicly on her job, which was a new position created in 2021 by city leaders.
Jim Jung is the vice chair of the Inclusive Sioux City Advisory Committee. He listed some of Ghebrekidan’s accomplishments in community events like the Sounds of West Seventh Street and a multicultural talent show.
Ghebrekidan’s husband, Logan Arguello, said city officials don’t want her to call out instances of social injustice, and to stay away from “uncomfortable” topics.
Ghebrekidan’s administrative leave reaches the 30-day mark on Thursday, and the city has not addressed what will happen next.
In other news, a Plymouth County school district is working to change extracurricular policies after a sports team hazing controversy.
The Hinton School Board on Monday officially accepted the resignation of head wrestling coach Casey Crawford, who will retain his position as a math teacher. Crawford was initially placed on leave, then decided to resign.
That came after the Coralville Police Department launched an investigation after players said older teammates tasered them at a hotel during the state wrestling tournament in February. A video on social media showed a freshman being shocked with a stun gun.
In the meeting, more than 75 people observed the Hinton School Board members say they will look into providing more training for coaches and strengthening oversight of student activities.
Additionally, opponents of Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed CO2 pipeline are supporting a bill in the Iowa House, which they say would challenge the use of eminent domain to build the project.
Under the House bill, a landowner or developer could ask a Polk County judge to rule whether a proposed utility project meets the standard of serving a public purpose.
Wally Taylor is an attorney for the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter. Taylor told lawmakers he supports the bill to strengthen the hand of landowners opposing the Summit pipeline.
The bill had unanimous support in the House Ways and Means committee.
Summit’s permit application for its carbon capture pipeline is still pending with the Iowa Utilities Board.
