PERSONNEL
401.8 - EMPLOYEE TRAVEL COMPENSATION
Employees traveling on behalf of the school district and performing approved school district business will be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses. Actual and necessary travel expenses will include, but not be limited to, transportation and/or mileage costs, lodging expenses, meal expenses and registration costs.
School Vehicles
Use of school vehicles is limited to employees or volunteers for the purpose of school business. An employee will submit a vehicle request form to the superintendent's office to receive authorization for the use of the vehicle. Following the trip, the employee will submit a written log of the miles driven, the destination, and the purpose of the trip. The superintendent will develop such procedures and forms as are necessary to implement this policy.
Travel Outside the School District
Travel outside of the school district must be pre-approved. Pre-approval will include an evaluation of the necessity of the travel, the reason for the travel and an estimate of the cost of the travel to qualify as approved school district business. Travel outside the school district by employees, other than the superintendent, will be approved by the superintendent or immediate supervisor. It is the responsibility of the board to review the travel outside the school district by the superintendent through the board's audit and approval process. Travel outside the district by the superintendent will be approved by the board president.
Reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses will be allowed for travel outside the school district if the employee received pre-approval for the travel. Prior to reimbursement of actual and necessary expenses, the employee must provide the school district with a detailed receipt, other than a credit card receipt, indicating the date, purpose and nature of the expense for each claim item. In exceptional circumstances, the superintendent may allow a claim without proper receipt. Written documentation explaining the exceptional circumstances will be maintained as part of the school district's record of the claim. If a school vehicle is not available for the employee's use, reimbursement for use of a personal vehicle for out of district travel will be at 26.5 cents per mile.
Failure to have a detailed, itemized receipt will make the expense a personal expense. Personal expenses, including mileage, in excess of that required for the trip are reimbursed by the employee to the school district no later than 10 working days following the date of the expense.
Reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses for travel outside the school district will be limited to the pre-approved expenses. Such expenses will be appropriate for the purpose of the travel. Pre-approved expenses for registration will be limited to the actual cost of the registration.
Pre-approved expenses for transportation within three-hundred miles of the school district administrative office will be by automobile. If a school district vehicle is not available, the employee will be reimbursed mileage at 26.5 cents per mile. Travel to/from home and work is never a reimbursable travel expense. Travel costs for a spouse or anyone other than the district employee shall be a personal expense not reimbursed by the district.
Travel Within the School District
Employees required to travel in their personal vehicle between school district buildings to carry out the duties of their position may be reimbursed at 26.5 cents per mile. Employees will be reimbursed for any travel from the building in which they begin their day of service to another building in the district. Employees will not be reimbursed for travel from their home to the building where they begin their day of service or from the building where they end their day of service to their home. It will be the responsibility of the superintendent or building principal to approve travel within the school district by employees. No mileage will be added in connection with duties covered by the extra duty schedule. It is the responsibility of the board to review the travel within the school district by the superintendent through the board's audit and approval process.
Travel allowances within the district will be provided only after board approval. Employees who are allowed a within district travel allowance will have the amount of the allowance actually received during each calendar year included on the employee's W-2 form as taxable income according to the Internal Revenue Code.
The superintendent will be responsible for developing administrative regulations regarding actual and necessary expenses, in-school district travel allowances and assignment of school district vehicles. The administrative regulations will include the appropriate forms to be filed for reimbursement to the employee from the school district and the procedures for obtaining approval for travel outside of and within the school district.
Legal Reference: Iowa Constitution, Art. III, § 31. Iowa Code §§ 70A.9-.11 (2001). 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. 512.
Cross Reference: 216.3 Board of Directors' Member Compensation and Expenses
401.6 Transporting of Students by Employees
401.10 Credit Cards
904.1 Transporting Students in Private Vehicles
Approved: 6/18/98
Reviewed: 4/15/19
Revised: 3/18/2024