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Understanding Article XII, Professional Development and Grants 12.1, Course Payment

“The full cost of tuition, application fees, books and related materials incurred in connection with any courses, workshops, seminars, conferences, in-service training sessions and other such sessions required by the Administration shall not diminish the funds available to teachers for self-selected courses and workshops as set forth in this article.”

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What does Point A Mean for ACSD

If ACSD is hosting or requiring attendance at a course, workshop, seminar, conference, or in-service training, we will not reduce the Master Agreement available funds for staff to attend the course.

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Understanding Article XII, Professional Development and Grants 12.1, Course Payment Cont.

B. “The Board shall pay, within the constraints described below, the tuition for course work subject to the approval of the superintendent. Teachers may seek approval for up to 18 credits of a five (5) year period, with a maximum of nine (9) credits per individual contract year. Financial support for approved coursework shall not exceed the UVM graduate course credit rate established for the school year at issue.”

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What does Point B Mean for ACSD

1. For the Master Agreement to cover the cost of the course it must be approved by the formal process established by the Professional Development Request (see slide ___ for how to submit a request).

2. You have access to a maximum of 18 credits over the course of a 5 year cycle.

3. ACSD established the 5 year cycle to begin upon the first request for access to the Master Agreement funds.

4. 5 Year cycles will begin July 1 of the school year requested and end June 30 five years later. *First request made 3/12/2025 will have a 5 year cycle of July 1, 2024-June 30, 2029

5. Access to 9 credits per contract year means you could use all your 5 year cycle in 2 years.

6. UVM graduate course credit established for SY24-25 is $700.00/credit or $2100.00 for 3 credits.

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Understanding Article XII, Professional Development and Grants 12.1, Course Payment Cont.

C. “A teacher shall submit evidence of satisfactory completion of an approved course. In cases where the district has advanced funds for approved coursework the teacher shall submit evidence of satisfactory completion to the Superintendent or designee not later than four (4) weeks following the completion of the course. This timeline may be extended at the sole discretion of the Superintendent or designee if extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of the teacher are the cause of the delay.

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What does Point C Mean for ACSD

For a credit bearing course, ACSD requires an official transcript reflecting number of credits, the university logo and header, and your student information.
Transcripts must be uploaded to your approved Professional Development Request no later than 4 weeks following the completion of the course.

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Understanding Article XII, Professional Development and Grants 12.1, Course Payment Cont.

D. “All requests for the payment of tuition credits or for salary schedule movement must be approved by the Superintendent prior to enrollment.”

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What does Point D Mean for ACSD

You must submit a Professional Development Request prior to enrollment for a course that will access your master agreement funds.
Professional Development Requests can take up to 2 weeks to work through the process. So submit as early as possible to receive a PO to enroll in the course.
Without prior approval, there is no guarantee that a course will be approved for salary column movement (whether MA funds are used or not).

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Understanding Article XII, Professional Development and Grants 12.1, Course Payment Cont.

E. “No course reimbursement will be awarded to a teacher in the summer following the teacher’s resignation or dismissal from the school district.”

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What does Point E Mean for ACSD

After receiving notification of departure, termination, or leave of absence, ACSD will not fund any summer courses, workshops, seminars, or conferences for the employee.

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Understanding Article XII, Professional Development and Grants 12.1, Course Payment Cont.

H. “Teachers are responsible for any costs incurred for books, transportation and lodging associated with courses in which they enroll, except as specified in Sections 12.1a and 12.2”

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Understanding Article XII, Professional Development and Grants 12.1, Course Payment Cont.

F. “The Superintendent or designee may deny approval for attendance at a course, workshop, or conference, which presents scheduling conflicts with the teacher’s work schedule.”

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What does Point F Mean for ACSD

Denial of a Professional Development Request/attendance of a workshop, course, conference, seminar may occur if there are expected shortages, etc. Denial will be at the discretion of the Superintendent or designee.

For SY 24-25

Requests that relate to approval to present job embedded practices, or which involve scholarship awards received before August 30th, will likely be approved. �
Requests that relate to an immediate need to improve skills or knowledge related to current responsibilities will likely be approved.

Requests to work collaboratively with District grade alike colleagues or advance work that will measurably impact ACSD’s strategic plan implementation will likely be approved.

Requests to attend regional or statewide networking or professional development events MAY be approved pending other demands for substitutes. Where more than one employee would benefit from attending the event, the District may invite a representative to attend on behalf of ACSD. We would be happy to assist with ways in which professional development materials with others interested in the content. �
Requests to attend professional development that meets criteria in #1, #2, or #3 during school hours if it can also be accessed outside of school hours will likely NOT be approved unless it meets an immediate need for students.

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Understanding Article XII, Professional Development and Grants 12.1, Course Payment Cont.

G. “The Superintendent or designee may deny approval for any ‘online’ course offered by an institution of higher education which is not accredited by a recognized sanctioning body, or from any institution of higher learning if the credit hours or units offered in its online program would not be accepted as graduate level credit hours by the issuing institution.

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What does Point G Mean for ACSD

Denial of an online course may occur if the course is from a non-accredited institution of higher education.

Denial of an online course may also occur if the hours from an accredited institution of higher education are not transferable to a graduate level credit.

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What does Point H Mean for ACSD

You are responsible for any costs incurred for books, transportation, and lodging when it applies to a graduate level course. Workshops, conferences, and seminars are eligible to use Master Agreement workshop funds to cover books, transportation, and lodging.

If ACSD is requiring attendance at a workshop, conference or seminar, ACSD will cover the expenses of books, transportation and lodging. (See 12.1 A)

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Understanding Article XII, Professional Development and Grants 12.1, Course Payment Cont.

“The District will pre-pay the cost of approved courses, workshops or conferences. The teacher will sign an agreement with the Superintendent so that in the event the teacher fails to successfully complete the course (grade of ‘B’ or better, or ‘P’ if the course is taken on a pass-fail basis), workshop or other educational training s/he will have the amount of prepayment paid by the district withheld from his/her paychecks over the remainder of the school year, unless a different repayment schedule is mutually agreed to between the teacher and the Superintendent.”

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What does Point I Mean for ACSD

While completing the Professional Development Request you will be asked to check a box saying you agree to reimburse the district for the request should the course or workshop not be satisfactorily completed as stipulated in the master agreement.

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Understanding Article XII, Professional Development and Grants 12.1, Course Payment Cont.

J. “At the Superintendent’s sole discretion, teachers may accrue salary schedule credit for certain district-sponsored or other designated workshops at a rate of 20 hours of attendance equals one (1) salary schedule credit, up to a maximum of three (3) such credits in a single school year.

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What does Point J Mean for ACSD

The Superintendent may choose to allow for workshop hours that have been preapproved for salary credit movement to convert to credits at a rate of 30 hours equals 1 credit with up to 3 credits available per school year.

Typically, this provision would be applied if there is no graduate-level professional development associated with a role (e.g. Driver Education) or if the workshop is requested by administration.

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Understanding Article XII, Professional Development and Grants 12.1, Course Payment Cont.

K. “At the discretion of the Superintendent of Schools and subject to the availability of funds, additional funding may be made available for special area teachers to attend workshops and/or take courses that may be farther away and more expensive than most typical courses.”

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What does Point K Mean for ACSD

Additional funding for district-advised professional development (for example: recommended conferences, workshops, seminars) may be made available at the discretion of the Superintendent.

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Understanding Article XII, Professional Development and Grants 12.1, Course Payment Cont.

L. “Any teacher whom the Administration places on a focused assistance plan and/or probation in accordance with the ACSD Supervision/Evaluation process may be required to use up to three (3) credits annually from the allowed tuition reimbursement allocation to pay for courses required by the Administration.”

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What does Point L Mean for ACSD

If placed on a focused assistance plan and/or probation in accordance with ACSD Supervision/Evaluation you may be required to use 3 credits from your Master Agreement to cover the cost of courses required by the Administration.

If you have 18 credits and are placed on a focused assistance program and required to take a course, you may have to use 3 credits to cover the allowable tuition allocation to pay for the course decreasing your available credits to 15.

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Understanding Article XII, Professional Development and Grants 12.2, Funds for Workshops, Conference

“In any one contract year, in lieu of graduate course reimbursement, a teacher may elect to utilize up to 50% of the cost of the three-credit UVM winter course rate for pre-approved expenses associated with attendance at conference, workshops, and seminars approved by the principal. Subject to approval of the Superintendent and funding availability, an amount in excess of the 50% rate may be reimbursed for approved professional development activities.”

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What does Funds for Workshops, Conference

Mean for ACSD

During any 1 contract year of your 5-year cycle, you can convert 3 credits at 50% to workshop funds to cover costs associated with attending a non credit bearing conference, workshop, or seminar. The session must be preapproved if using Master Agreement funds.

Current rate for 3 UVM Grad Credits: $2100.00�50% of the cost of 3 UVM Grad Credits: $1050.00

For Example: Workshop costs $100.00. No credits are available for the workshop. 3 credits would be converted to $1050.00 we would remove the cost of the workshop at $100.00 leaving a remaining $950.00 in workshop funds to use in the future.

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Submitting a Professional Development Request

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Step 1:

To request funds for a professional development training, log into PowerSchool Professional Learning. From here, navigate to “Professional Development Request,” click “New Request,” then select “Professional Development and Release Request.”

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Step 2:

Fill out the form, giving as much information as you can. If you have any questions about the form, please contact thuestis@acsdvt.org or oprescott@acsdvt.org.

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Step 2.5

When selecting the funding source, you have several options. If you are unsure which option to choose, refer to these descriptions or reach out to thuestis@acsdvt.org or oprescott@acsdvt.org.

Course - master agreement allowance - Select this if you are taking a graduate course (for grad credits) and would like to use your personal master agreement allowance to pay for it.
Workshop - master agreement allowance - Select this if you are attending a workshop or conference (NOT for grad credits) and would like to use your personal master agreement allowance to pay for it.
Administrator professional learning allowance - Select this if you are an administrator using your administrator fund.
District-wide professional development funds - Select this if you are required by the district to take this program (if you are unsure, talk with your supervisor).
School-based professional development funds - Select this if you are required by your school administrator to take this program (if you are unsure, talk with your supervisor).
Federal funds (Title I, Title IIA, IDEA B, ESSER, etc.) - Select this if you are taking this course as part of a grant-funded event (typically organized by the district).
Other - Select this if you are using some alternative method to pay for the program (or if you are not requesting any money at all).

Note: While there may be specific instances where more than one option applies, you'll generally only select one funding source for a program.

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Step 3:

At the end of the form, you’ll be prompted to “Select Approver(s) for Pre-Approver 2.” Click “Submit for Pre-Approval” when done.

After this, a team within the Central Office will review your request, then your supervisor (whom you selected in this step) will give it final Pre-Approval.

Note: This process takes up to two weeks.

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Step 4:

Once your request has been Pre-Approved (you’ll get an email notification, see Note 1), you’ll be able to take the course/workshop/training. If you need funds to attend the program, please reach out to the financial department. They’ll help you register for the program.

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Step 5:

Once you have completed the course/workshop/training, you need to upload a certificate of completion or official transcript. To do this, click on the request (see Note 2), scroll down to the bottom, and upload the certificate/transcript here.

After this, a team within the Central Office will review the document you shared (to make sure it meets our standards) before giving it final Credit Approval.

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Note 1:

When your request has been pre-approved, you will receive an email that looks like this (the exact wording is subject to change). If you are requesting funds to attend a training, you will need to forward the email to the ACSD financial team to request a purchase order.

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Note 2:

You can check the status of your requests by navigating to “Professional Development Request” and clicking “Pending/Denied Requests.”

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Note 3:

These symbols correspond to the status of your request. If you see a – symbol, that means the request has either not been submitted or you have not uploaded a certificate/ transcript. If you see the three dots or the hourglass, you don’t need to do anything.

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Note 4:

If you would like to see how many credits you have remaining in your Master Agreement allotment, click on your profile in the top-left corner. Scroll down to the bottom to see how much you have in your allotment.

Note: These are sample amounts. The exact amount available will vary from person to person.

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When to Submit a Professional Development Request

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When do I submit a Professional Development Request (PDR)?

Are you requesting the use of Master Agreement Funds to pay for the course/workshop?

Yes

Submit a PDR

Is the school and/or district offering the course/workshop and paying for it using school/district funds *approved/offered by supervisor

Yes

Submit a PDR

Will you be requesting a salary schedule movement/column change with credits from this course?

Yes

Submit a PDR

Am I missing work hours/days because of this session?

Yes

Submit a PDR

No PDR Needed

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What Happens After Submitting a Professional Development Request

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What Happens Once My Professional Development Request (PDR) is Submitted?

Staff Member Submits Professional Development Request

District Office Admin Assistant reviews PDR funding source and adds Account Number

Designee reviews for missed work days, program info, funding source

Superintendent reviews for missed work days and program info

If Approved: Supervisor will review and complete final approval

Email sent to submitter with approval from a no reply email.

If funding is needed: Submitter will forward approval email to Melissa Harrison to issue a Purchase Order

Melissa Harrison returns purchase order to submitter and submitter can register for the course/workshop/seminar/conference.