The Teacher’s School Supplies Reimbursement Program (created by SB 133 in the 2015 legislative session) has been continued by the 2017 legislative session and signed into law on June 5, 2017. The legislation requires the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) to annually apportion money in the Account among school districts and charter schools based upon the number of teachers employed by each. The process will remain essentially the same at Washoe County School District.
Below is a summary of the criteria of the program used to determine eligibility:
Employee should be a “teacher” as defined by the legislation
Definition of a Teacher…
“teacher” means a licensed employee of a school district who devotes the majority of his or her working time to the rendering of direct educational service to pupils, except that the term does not include a substitute teacher.
Teacher Eligibility and Criteria:
· Teachers meeting the above definition are eligible if hired as of August 24, 2017. Teachers hired after this date are not eligible, as the funding available to WCSD was determined based on our application which was due by this day.
· Sales tax is not included. Only the purchase price of goods are reimbursable costs.
· The maximum amount of reimbursement for each eligible teacher cannot exceed $250 each fiscal year.
· The actual amount of funding available per eligible teacher may be less than $250 if sufficient state funding is not provided to reimburse the entire amounts for all participating teachers. If state funding is not sufficient to reimburse all reimbursement requests in full, the amounts will be pro-rated by the District Office to ensure all funds are disbursed and each eligible teacher receives the maximum amount of state funded reimbursement possible.
· To ensure the maximum amount of reimbursement is received, eligible teachers should submit receipts totaling $250 or greater, as it would be very difficult for the eligible purchases to total exactly $250 and if a lesser amount is turned in, the reimbursement must be based on that lesser amount. So $250 in eligible receipts should be considered the threshold to be crossed to ensure maximum reimbursement.
Detailed procedures for reimbursement will be sent to your site Principals and Secretaries. Below is a brief synopsis:
1. Teachers will save original receipts for the school supplies purchased they wish to claim as reimbursable school supplies.
a. Amounts over the maximum per teacher limit of $250 will not be reimbursed.
2. For the school year, SY 17-18, the purchase dates on each receipt must be from July 1, 2017 to January 31, 2018.
3. For purposes of this program, a “supply” would be anything that is considered to be needed by teachers for them to carry out their instructional day.
a. Examples: Pens, pencils, markers, paper, bulletin board materials, posters, display borders, plants for a science project, etc.
4. By the end of the month of February 2018, each teacher seeking reimbursement is to turn in all eligible receipts at once to the school office.
a. Teachers must turn in all receipts to the school office at once to keep the administrative burden in the school office at a minimum.
b. Each school principal has discretion over whether to allow teachers to turn in their one request earlier than February, whenever the individual teacher has met the maximum amount of reimbursement; or to direct all of your school’s teachers to hold all receipts until February.
5. After all reimbursement requests have been collected, the District Office will calculate whether each eligible teacher can be reimbursed in full up to $250 or if the amounts must be pro-rated due to insufficient state funds to cover all reimbursement requests.
6. The district office will issue payment to each eligible teacher by June 30, 2018. Payment will be processed by direct deposit to the financial institution where each teacher receives their regular monthly payroll.
In accordance with Internal Revenue Service Publication 15, the reimbursement provided each employee will not be included in their taxable wages because this program is managed under an accountable plan, as outlined in the procedures in this memo. All questions about this programs should be directed to the attention of Kimberly Lynch, Grant Accountant in the Grants Department, 348-0333.