Full Guideline for Conference Travel Expenditure

The State of New Jersey recently enacted the School District Accountability Act (A-5) which impacts school board travel and training costs. Travel expenditures are defined as those costs paid by the district whether paid directly by the district or by district reimbursement to an employee for costs associated with travel to the following four types of events:

  1. Training and seminars
  2. Conventions or conferences
  3. Regular school district business
  4. Retreats

All requests for travel to events defined above, whether it is paid directly by a district
purchase order or through reimbursement, must have prior written approval from the
appropriate supervisory administrator, the Superintendent and the Board of Education.
Written requests for travel (see form) must be submitted to the business office
by Wednesday of the week preceding a board meeting. The entire form must be
completed, including all expenses related to that event and all supervisors' approvals
before it is submitted to the business office. You cannot register for any of these types of
events until you receive the form back indicating that it was approved by the Board of
Education.

Within one month of the completion of the event, employees shall provide a brief report
that includes a description of the primary purpose of the travel, and the key issues that
were addressed and their relevance to improving instruction or the operation of the school
district.

All employees shall adhere to the following requirements to be considered for
reimbursement:

  • Reimbursement may not exceed the Federal OMB guidelines for hotel rates and daily reimbursement breakdown for meals and incidentals. To determine the maximum rates go to:
    • www.gsa.gov
    • Click on per diem rates
    • Enter your location and date details.
    • Print the page which shows the per diem rate for your event location and
      attach it to the conference and travel form. Please note that you will only
      receive 75% of the per diem rate for the first and last day of travel.
  • Lodging expenses may exceed the federal per diem rates if the hotel is the site of
    the conference, convention, seminar or meeting and the going rate of the hotel is
    in excess of the federal per diem rates.
  • Receipts must be provided for all expenses.
  • A requisition must be prepared electronically on the Edu-met system and
    submitted to Accounts Payable with original receipts and a copy of the approved
    form attached to the requisition. The date of Board approval must also be
    included on the requisition.
  • Non-reimbursable expenses include but are not limited to car rentals, limousine
    services, chauffeuring costs, all spouse, domestic partner or civil union partner
    expenses, alcoholic beverages, entertainment not included as a regular part of the
    conference, extra expenses, TV and movies.

Under the new law, persons authorizing travel in violation of these rules shall be required
to reimburse the school district in an amount equal to three times the cost associated with
attending the event.

An employee who violates these rules shall be required to reimburse the school district in
the amount equal to three times the cost incurred by the district associated with attending
the event.

See Board of Education policies P-4133 and P-4233 for additional guidance on this topic.
Payments will not be made for any expenses related to conference and travel that do not
adhere to the state law and board policies. If you have any questions or need assistance,
please call the business office before registering for any of the events mentioned above.

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