Refreshments Are Not Provided

/ To:Principals, Curriculum Directors, Business Managers, Bookkeepers, SCRED Office Staff
From:Kim Gibbons
Re:Payment of SCRED Sponsored Staff Development Expenses
Date:January 11, 2010 / N
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E / The Education District is involved with or provides a significant amount of staff training. These activities are supported by a variety of funds, some managed by districts with some managed by SCRED. In order to use funds in accordance with their intended purpose and provide clarity for participants and those responsible for handling reimbursement claims, the superintendents have approved the following procedures:
Every activity SCRED is involved with is classified into one of three types of activities:
College Courses
Staff Development
Workshops
The classification is important since it determines how reimbursement, if any, is handled.
Activities are advertised via e-mail and through other means.
College Courses
These are courses which are offered in partnership with a Minnesota higher education institution. The courses are offered after contract hours and in the summer. The following procedures apply:

Refreshments are not provided.
Participants are only accepted from SCRED member districts unless a non-member fee is paid.
Participants are not paid.
Instructors are paid by the University or College.
Teachers must follow their local district requirements for pre-approval and other lane change requirements.

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E / Workshops
These are professional development opportunities available to any staff member from SCRED member districts. The workshops are however sometimes offered on site to a particular faculty and so attendance may be limited. The following procedures apply:

Refreshments are not provided.
Participants are only accepted from SCRED member districts unless a non-member fee is paid.
Participants are not paid unless a district has determined that some or all of its district’s staff may be paid. In this case a district contact will be noted on the flier. It is the responsibility of the attendee to contact the person listed for their district and follow all district requirements.
Instructors are paid by Rush City at their approved rate.
Continuing Education Units will be sent to all attendees following the event. Attendees must complete the SCRED Meeting Record Form at the meeting.

Staff Development
Staff development activities are those which have been developed by SCRED staff and included in the SCRED budget. Staff development activities are offered to a specific group in order for staff to learn a specific skill needed to do their job. It is training at which participants are often required to attend. The following procedures apply:

Refreshments are not provided except when offered at the SCRED offices.
Participants are only accepted from SCRED member districts unless a non-member fee is paid.
Prior to the in-service/workshop, presenters (SCRED Staff) should obtain a SCRED Meeting Record Form and the necessary payroll and expense formsfrom the SCRED bookkeeper.
At the completion of the approved staff development activity, participants will complete both the SCRED Meeting Record Form and the payroll and expense forms for their contracting districts for non-contract time. These are to be submitted to the SCRED staff member responsible for the session. Staff should submit mileage forms directly to their contract district.

a.Payment for staff development time is solely for non-contract hours of participation. Payment is at the rate approved by the district of contract. There is no SCRED rate of pay.
b.Meal time is not paid unless the agenda calls for business during the meal.
c.Travel time is not reimbursed. Reimbursement for time spent driving to and from work is not reimbursed even when work is at a location different from normal.
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E / d.Reimbursement for travel is at the rate approved by the participant’s district of contract. The SCRED Mileage Chart (which has been approved by the participating districts) is to be used to determine the number of miles when submitting travel claims. Mileage is to and from the district of assignment unless the participant goes directly home without going through that district. This is not reimbursed by SCRED and payment remains the responsibility of the local district.
The secretary of the SCRED staff member responsible for staff development will check the form for completeness and compare the time claimed against the normal contract hours for each participant.
5.The SCRED staff member, or his/her secretary, responsible for staff development will approve the information on the SCRED Meeting Record Form and will forward this Record to the SCRED bookkeeper along with budget information.
6.Each month the SCRED bookkeeper will compile the staff development hours and expenses submitted and will send an authorization for payment to the participants’ contracting districts along with the payroll and expense claim forms submitted by the participants.
7.The districts of contract will issue payment for time and travel per local administrative procedures.

The districts of contract will bill SCRED for the time, travel and substitute costs each month.
Expenses for staff time at the August Unique Learner’s Conference are funded using state special education aid and local funds. The costs associated with these events are entered into EDRS. Local districts receive the state special education reimbursement per state policy but pay for the local share with general education funds. All other August staff development activities and activities throughout the school year are reimbursed by SCRED using federal revenue.

Reimbursement of Paraprofessional Staff

Twenty (20) hours are allocated each school year to every special education paraprofessional for consultation and/or training as related to their assigned duties. These 20 hours are to be applied to non-contract times aspre authorized by the school district (IEP manager, the SCRED collaborative planner and building principal). In all cases, the building principal will have final approval.

The twenty hours are a maximum amount of time that may be applied for paraprofessional consultation or training. Consultation or training needs may occur as “short-term” needs or “long-term” needs. The training is limited to special education specific topics or issues. Training that is provided to all district paraprofessional staff will not be considered for this reimbursement process.

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Short-term training/consultation needs at the district level

Includes the need for limited or short-term before or after school

meeting/training time involving the paraprofessional. An example may be that a paraprofessional needs training regarding a behavior intervention plan to be implemented with a student.

Long-term training/consultation needs at the district or SCRED level

Includes regularly scheduled training times, more extensive non-contract time

training such as after school classes or training. An example may be that

SCRED is sponsoring an after school workshop series on the Boy’s Town model

or that regularly scheduled training is required over the course of the school

year.

May include the following:

Non-contract time (i.e. before or after the school day) for the paraprofessional to meet with the IEP manager or others for purposes of training with regard to general or specific issues.

Other SCRED sponsored training.

Does not include the following:

Work that is taken home.

Annual paraprofessional conference held in August.

Paying for a sub paraprofessional while the regular paraprofessional is at training/consultation.

IEP meeting attendance unless prior approval from the collaborative planner.

Paraprofessional staff will be reimbursed at a rate set by their district but only for non-contract hours, during the regularly scheduled school year, for activities described in the Staff Development Plan or as described above. With the approval of their principal, staff may attend other staff development activities; however, these activities will not be reimbursed by the Education District unless they are described in the Staff Development Plan. The following payment procedures will be used:

1.All paraprofessional training activities conducted outside the contract day must be pre-approved by completing the Special Education Paraprofessional Activity AuthorizationForm.

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2.At the completion of the staff development or training activity, participants will complete the SCRED Meeting Record Form and the Payroll and Expense Forms for their contracting districts for non-contract time. Requests for reimbursement for travel will be submitted by the paraprofessional directly to their district’s business office. Travel is not reimbursed by SCRED. The paraprofessional will provide the training leader with their completed forms at the end of the training session. Paraprofessionals will not indicate the training time on their time cards. The staff member responsible for the staff development activity will provide these forms. The SCRED Meeting Record Form, local district Payroll and Expense Form, and the Special Education Paraprofessional Authorization Form will be submitted by the staff member responsible for the training activity to the SCRED collaborative planner responsible for paraprofessional staff development.

The collaborative planner will approve each claim with their signature and will route the district claim form to the Director of Special Education secretary. The collaborative planner will keep the Special Education Paraprofessional Authorization Form and the SCRED Meeting Record Form for each paraprofessional. At the end of the school year or as requested by the paraprofessional, a compilation is made of all training activities attended is provided to the participant. The secretary will document the hours spent in training for each paraprofessional submitting a claim form. The secretary will route the claim forms to the Education District bookkeeper.

4. Each month the Education District bookkeeper will compile the staff development hours and expenses submitted and will send an authorization for payment to the participants’ contracting districts along with the payroll and expense claim forms submitted by the participants.
5. The districts of contract will issue payment for time and travel per local administrative procedures. SCRED will pay for training time, while the local districts pay for mileage.
6. The district of contract will bill SCRED for the costs of payments (training time) to staff each month.
Attachments: SCRED Meeting Record Form
Special Education Paraprofessional Activity Authorization
/ ST. CROIX RIVER EDUCATION
DISTRICT
TRAINING/MEETING RECORD / PLEASE SUBMIT FOR TRAINING CREDIT

Event:Date:

Facilitator: Scheduled Beginning & Ending Time:

Place:If All Day, Indicate Lunch Time:

PRINT Name / Signature / Dist / Meeting took place during (check one) / Building
and
Contract Hours / If arriving
Late or leaving early, need time: / Ap
proved Hrs
Cont
Ract
Hrs / Non
Cont
Hrs / Both
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Special Education Paraprofessional Activity Authorization

Twenty (20) hours are allocated each school year for consultation and/or training of program or individual student special education paraprofessionals as related to their assigned duties. These 20 hours are applied to non-contract times during the regularly scheduled school year as pre-authorized by the school district (IEP manager, the SCRED collaborative planner, and building principal).

Name of Paraprofessional
Disability Area
Date(s) Requested for Consultation/Training / ___/___/___ / ___/___/___ / ___/___/___ / ___/___/___
Total Time Requested / _____ Hours _____ Minutes
Description of Activity:
(be specific)

*SCRED Collaborative Planners

NameDisability Area(s)NameDisability Area(s)

Kerry Bollman SLDLara CappelenEBD

Karen BeckstromECSEMarleen Zak (secondary) DCDM, DCDS, DHH, OHD, PI, TBI, SMI, VI

Stu HarderASDAnn McCormick (elementary) DCDM, DCDS, DHH, OHD, PI, TBI, SMI, VI

-SCRED Office Use Only-

Staff person providing training, please route this form to the appropriate collaborative planner.

Collaborative planner will retain this form & use to approve claim form. Staple this form to the district claim form. Contact SCRED’s Unique Learners Manager secretary (320-358-1218) to determine number of hours the para has remaining for the school year. Once approved, forward claim form to SCRED’s Unique Learners Manager secretary.

SCRED’s Unique Learners Manager secretary will record training time on database for each paraprofessional & forward to SCRED’s bookkeeper.

January 2010

DB: AP #7Payment of SCRED Sponsored Staff Development ExpensesPage 1

Revised Jan 6, 2005; July 28, 2009; Jan 11, 2010