In order to conservatively use funds and to provide an equal opportunity for staff to attend conferences, the following guidelines are established with respect to requests to be away from assigned duties in order to attend workshops and conferences:
- Requests will be submitted in sufficient time to the Superintendent/designee.
- The District will only pay membership registration fees, with nonmembers being reimbursed only for member fees.
- Normally, no more than two persons from each school will attend conferences, depending upon available funding.
- For major conferences held locally (reading, math, curriculum and instruction, etc.), normally only two (2) days of release time should be approved in order to permit attendance by as many teachers as possible.
- The equitable allocation of travel funds to schools and offices will be the responsibility of the Superintendent/designee.
- Conference requests need to have an invitation or pamphlet attached for verification of activity and a brief rationale for the request.
- Conference attendees will not be paid until verification of expenses, including receipt, is submitted.
- Request to attend professional conferences in order to sell items or man booths for professional organizations will not be approved.
- Employees must state on application whether or not the sponsoring organization is paying the conference attendee any "honorarium" or travel expenses. An employee receiving an honorarium must use a vacation or personal leave day. Otherwise, the honorarium must be remitted to the District.
Action
All administrators who process conference and workshop requests shall inform their personnel of these guidelines prior to making any recommendation and forwarding the request.
