When an application is submitted, it will be awarded points based on the following criteria:

New Applicant to Article 20: 2 points

This is defined as an educator who has never submitted an application. 

An Applicant Who Has Applied and Not Received Article 20 in the last 2 years: 2 points

This is defined as an educator who has applied for funds and not been awarded Article 20 funds in the last two years.

An Applicant Who Submits A Plan for Sharing the Learning: 5 points

This is defined as an educator who has a plan to share their learning with a certain audience. This plan will include an intended audience, a deadline for this plan, and at least one proposed measured outcome. The format for this plan can include but is not limited to professional development facilitation, a committee meeting, a presentation, or an online class.

An Applicant Who Has A New Role or Leadership Opportunity: 3 points

This is defined as an educator who has taken on extra responsibilities beyond their contracted role and is applying for professional learning that is directly tied to this additional role, opportunity, or responsibility. 

An Applicant Who is Seeking Learning Not Provided in Aurora Public Schools: 4 points

This is defined as an educator who is seeking a learning opportunity that is specialized and extends beyond what is being offered. For example, a Special Service Provider is supporting a student with a rare condition. The educator is seeking professional learning to develop skills that would allow them to better support the student. 

Applicant and additional “weight” will be recorded using the generator linked here.

Applications will be accepted in the order of selection in the lottery as long as seventy-five percent of the allocation is reserved for regional (in-state) conferences;  twenty five percent is reserved for national conferences. Partial scholarships will also be awarded to ensure that all of the monies are bucketed appropriately.

For conferences taking place between September 1 and December 31, the deadline for applications is August 15. Awarded applications will be selected and contacted by August 30.

For conferences taking place between January 1 and June 30, the deadline for applications is November 1. Awarded applications will be selected and contacted by November 15.

• Yes.

• No.  At this time there are no provisions in the Master Agreement for Article 20 funds to attend summer conferences.  This would need to be negotiated through AEA / APS conversations.  Currently Article 20 Funds are only available for conferences that start no earlier than August 31st, and end before June 5th.

Checks are not issued.  All expenses for your professional development activity will need to be paid out-of-pocket and you will be reimbursed all normal, approved expenses reimbursed through the Article 20 process.

• No.  Any one person can only win one Article 20 Funds lottery in any given calendar school year.  Example: If you win the Article 20 Funds lottery in the Fall you are not eligible to enter and win the Spring Article 20 Funds lottery in the same calendar school year.  You will need to wait to enter again in the next calendar school year.

• Yes.  If you have entered and won the Spring Article 20 lottery for the previous school year you are eligible to enter and win the Fall Article 20 lottery for the following new school year.

Not having all required signatures, electronic or otherwise.

Not including a brochure/syllabus for the conference that will be attended that includes:  1. Name of the conference, 2. Name of the organization putting on the conference, 3. Cost of the conference, 4. Location of the conference.

If travel is involved, not having a per diem sheet included with the application.

Submit your application and all supporting documentation through PowerSchool.  Any questions or concerns can be answered by professionallearning@aurorak12.org  

"Per Diem" is the maximum amount that will be reimbursed to you for all meals and incidentals directly related to this conference.  Receipts for meals and incidentals are NOT required and you will NOT be reimbursed for any amounts exceeding the allowed amount.

Using this website, please provide the per diem rate for Meals and Incidentals based on the Primary Destination for your conference.  Find this rate under the column Meals & Incidentals Expense (M&IE) Total.  Multiply this amount by the number of conference days (excluding the first day and last day of Travel).  To this result add the amount found under the column First & Last Day of Travel.  The resulting amount is what you enter here as your "Total Per Diem Costs"

If a meal such as Breakfast or Lunch is covered as part of the conference fees then you will need to find the corresponding column for that meal and subtract the amount shown.

Please include an image, pdf, or screenshot of the per diem page to include in the upload of documentation to Performance Matters.

Example:  Your conference is 3 days (Tues - Thurs) in Boston which will require 3 nights in a hotel and you are traveling Monday to Boston and Thursday is travel back home after the conference ends at noon.  You look up Boston and see the M&IE rate is $71.  You will now take $71 and multiply by 2 (Tues and Wednesday) because Monday and Thursday are travel days.  The result is $142.  Now, because you get a partial M&IE on travel days you look for "First & Last Day of Travel" and find the amount of $53.25.  Add $142 and $53.25 and this ($195.25) is your Meal and Incidentals allowance for your 3-day conference in Boston.  But wait, breakfast is covered in conference fees or the hotel offers breakfast for Tuesday and Wednesday so we need to subtract $17 X 2 = $34, Now we take the original total of $195.25 and subtract $34 which equals our new M&IE total of $161.25 for the 3-day conference in Boston, MA.

Receipts for meals and incidentals are NOT required and you will NOT be reimbursed for any amounts exceeding the allowed amount. 

To get the correct mileage for using a personal vehicle to travel to and from your conference you first must determine whether your travel days are normal workdays or are they regular non-work days.

Example:

If you travel to your conference in your personal vehicle on a normal workday you must use the mileage from your site based work location to your conference main site location.

If you travel to your conference in your personal vehicle on a normal non-workday (such as a holiday, Saturday, or Sunday) you must use the mileage from your home to the conference main site location.

This same logic must be used on the return trip from the conference main site location to your main site based work location or home location depending on whether it is normal workday or non-workday.

Professional Learning Team @ professionallearning@aurorak12.org

• Each educator is responsible to register themselves for their conference.

• Recipients will not be given more funds if conference/travel costs exceed the allocation. (Article 20 money has been carefully budgeted and allocated). 

• There are no reimbursements for costs above what was submitted on your originating application.

• Article 20 does not cover membership fees; If you are charged for membership fees as part of the registration fee, that cost must be subtracted from the total before submitting your Article 20 application.