Course Approval
To be eligible for tuition reimbursement, the teacher must obtain the Superintendent’s approval for the course prior to starting the course. Teachers shall apply for course approval in writing on a form supplied by the Superintendent in advance of the start of the course. A teacher requesting approval for a course shall submit the completed form to the Office of the Superintendent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld. A copy of the form will be returned to shared with the teacher with a decision regarding approval, including the date and time it was submitted to the Office of the Superintendent.
Tuition Reimbursement
Only graduate courses of up to and including four (4) credits shall be eligible for reimbursement. Teachers shall be eligible for reimbursement for tuition, but not lab or material fees, supplies, expenses, books, etc. subject to satisfying the requirements in this Article. Additionally, teachers shall be eligible for reimbursement for both tuition and non-discretionary fees at Massachusetts State Universities.
1. Procedure:
A teacher whose course has been approved by the Superintendent will be notified via email as to whether or not the request was approved for reimbursement or waitlisted.
Within two (2) weeks of the start of the course, the teacher will submit the tuition bill and proof of payment to the Office of the Superintendent. Failure to submit the tuition bill and proof of payment can result in forfeiture of the reimbursement and the next teacher on the waitlist will be moved forward for reimbursement.
2. Reimbursement:
The teacher shall pay the entire cost of the approved course and will be reimbursed in accordance with this Article and subject to the following terms and conditions:
The teacher must obtain a grade of B or better and present a copy of their final grade to the Office of the Superintendent within one month of the course end date. To receive reimbursement, the final grade unofficial transcript must include the teacher’s name, course title and the grade earned by the teacher.
A teacher will be reimbursed for approved graduate courses up to a maximum of $800 per educator per year (subject to the one course per educator per round limit below).
Reimbursement will be based on a “first come, first served basis” based on the date and time the educator submitted the request for approval to the Office of the Superintendent and will be dependent on fund availability in the Round for which the teacher’s reimbursement is applied. The course end date determines the specific reimbursement round.
Round 1: July 1- August 31
Round 2: September 1- December 31
Round 3: January 1- June 30
Funds will be reserved for reimbursement based upon the date and time of teacher submission of course approval forms. Should the total amount of requested reimbursements exceed the Aggregate Amount of Reimbursement Available in the Specific Round, a waiting list will be maintained. In the event that a teacher does not complete the requirements for reimbursement, the next teacher(s) on the waiting list will be reimbursed in the Specific Round until the Aggregate Amount of Reimbursement available for the specific round is exhausted.
Educators may receive reimbursement for one course per round. If an educator seeks reimbursement for more than one course in a given round, the following shall apply:
Subject to this Article, the educator shall be reimbursed for one course (up to the total course cap of $800).
Should all eligible educators who sought reimbursement for a course, receive reimbursement during a given round, and there are remaining funds, the educator may have a second course reimbursed (up to the total course cap of $800).
Should all eligible educators who sought reimbursement for course(s), receive reimbursement during a given round, and there are remaining funds, the educator may have a third course reimbursed (up to the total course cap of $800).
Full-time Paraeducators shall be eligible for tuition reimbursement as hereinafter provided, subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter provided:
The course is pre-approved by the Superintendent or their designee.
The course must be directly work related.
The employee must receive a grade of B or better.
The course must be taken at an approved college or university and must be a three-credit course.
Not more than one course per employee per year (July 1 - June 30) will be reimbursed.
Paraeducators who do not have a degree may request approval of undergraduate courses.
The Paraeducator must have completed at least two (2) consecutive years of service in Ipswich from and after the Paraeducator’s date of hire.
Specifically, budgeted funding must be available. In the event such funding is available, reimbursement shall be granted in the order of application until such funds are exhausted.
Effective August 24, 2022, in the event such funding is available, the maximum amount of reimbursement per employee shall be the lesser of the following:
(i) eight hundred dollars ($800) or
(ii) 75% of the tuition for the course.
Workshop Reimbursement : A full-time Paraeducator may be reimbursed the cost of tuition of a professional workshop, subject to the following terms and conditions:
A request for such reimbursement is made in writing by the Paraeducator to their Principal prior to commencement of the workshop.
The Paraeducator’s Principal and the Superintendent approve the request for such reimbursement in writing prior to completion of the workshop.
A written or oral report may be required by the Superintendent or Principal following attendance by the Paraeducator at the workshop. In such a case, timely submission of such a report shall be a condition of such tuition reimbursement.
Course work taken by Administrators which is applicable to that Administrator´s position and approved in advance in writing by the Superintendent shall be reimbursed based on the following:
Administrators under contract signed before July 1, 2023 are eligible to have all course work that is pre-approved by the Superintendent reimbursed.
For administrators under contract signed after July 1, 2023, up to 9 credits per year will be reimbursed for coursework leading to a terminal degree provided it is relevant to the Administrator´s position and the grade earned is a B or above. For each 9 credits reimbursed, the School Committee expects a one year commitment from the administrator unless mutually agreed upon. If the administrator chooses to leave the district before the one year commitment is complete, the administrator will reimburse the district for credits earned the previous year.