Purpose

Tuition Reimbursement is provided to assist eligible employees in pursuing their educational objectives in order to enhance or develop their work-related skills within the Rochester City School District.
 

Eligibility

All ASAR Certificated employees are eligible for tuition reimbursements except for acting Unit members from other bargaining units.   

ASAR Certificated employees must enroll or be enrolled in an academic program recognized by an accredited college or university that will lead to a Master’s degree by a projected date.  The degree to be obtained must be in education administration or related to a Unit member’s area of responsibility.  Alternatively, the Unit member must enroll or be enrolled in an academic program that will lead to a certificate of completion by a projected completion date for certain programs related to the Unit member’s area of responsibility.

ASAR Certificated employees may apply for tuition reimbursement to pursue doctoral studies that are offered at universities and developed in partnership with the District.  Such doctoral study programs will focus on developing leadership skills.  Applications for doctoral study will be subject to approval by the Superintendent or designee.

Policy

ASAR Certificated employees seeking tuition reimbursement must obtain the prior approval of the Superintendent or his/her designee for the academic program and the degree or certificate.  The rate of reimbursement shall be at the discretion of the Superintendent, but shall not be less than the lowest rate for comparable course offerings at an area college or university.

For each course completed, the Unit member shall be reimbursed within 30 calendar days after the Unit member submits to the District a certificated and official transcript verifying that a grade of at least a “B” has been earned.

(Reference: ASAR July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2009 Contract Article 14.5 p 41-42)

Procedure

The Tuition Reimbursement form is available on the RCSD website at http://www.rcsdk12.org/district/HR/tra.htm on the P: drive in the Tuition Reimbursement folder, or in the Human Resources department.  

The employee must submit a completed Tuition Reimbursement Application  and the Deduction Authorization form to Human Resources for approval 30 days prior to the first day of class.  

The application should be signed by the employee’s direct supervisor and list the courses to be taken, credits to be obtained and cost per credit hour. 

It is the supervisor’s responsibility to determine what courses are job-related and to approve the employee’s application. 

Tuition cost will not be reimbursed for classes that have not been previously approved. 

Following successful completion of the course, the employee must submit to Human Resources proof of payment and successful completion of the course within 60 days.   

Reimbursement is subject to appropriate taxation[1]. Every effort will be made to reimburse employee as soon practicably possible.

[1] In some cases, tuition reimbursement may be subject to income tax withholdings if the course you are taking is required to meet minimum requirements for your job or will qualify you for a new trade or business. If the course maintains or improves your current job skills, it will not be taxable. Therefore, it is very important that you relate each course to the improvement of skills in your current job. This is the criterion for determining if coursework is taxable or not. If the coursework is considered to be taxable, the reimbursement payment will be included in your payroll check and taxed at your withholding status.” (RCSD Business Services Policy manual.)