Travel

Prior Approval
Travel Reimbursement
Status of Travel Reimbursement
WCPSS School Board Policy 5430 - School Trips
Travel Reimbursement Form
Activity Bus Payments
Activity Bus Drivers
Yellow Bus Payments
Charter Buses
CTSO Trips

These procedures are adapted from the Travel section (PDF) of the WCPSS Finance Manual.

Prior Approval

All travel reimbursements must be proceeded by a Request for Prior Approval Form filed with the CTE Office at least 30 days prior top the date of the travel.

Travel Reimbursement

Activities are reimbursable at the state allowable rates.

See the list of CTE reimbursable activities to see which activities are reimbursable.

Transportation

Authorized transportation by privately owned automobile will be reimbursed at the rate of 50.5 cents per mile, as of January 1, 2008 (rate subject to change). Prior to this date the rate was 48.5 cents per mile.

Mileage for trips taken between WCPSS properties will be determined by using the WCPSS Mileage Calculator. (FYI - The Central Services building on Wake Forest Road is listed as "WF-ADMINISTRATION-BUILDING")

Mileage for trips that include a non-WCPSS location will be determined by using Yahoo! Maps. Attach the Yahoo! Maps printout for each location visited. Attach to your travel reimbursement the first page of the Yahoo! Maps directions for each location, the part that shows the two addresses and total mileage.

It is important to use one of these tools to calculate your mileage. Taking the long way to an event, taking side trips, or getting lost and having to drive around a while, are not valid excuses for having a mileage rate that is higher than the standard.

Reimbursement for other forms of transportation (bus, plane, taxi, etc.) will be made at the actual rate charged. Receipts are required.

Meals

Meals are reimbursed at the following rates. You do NOT need to collect receipts or even remember how much you spent.

For travel on or after July 1, 2007
Meals	In State	Out of State
Breakfast	$ 7.50	$ 7.50
Lunch	$ 9.75	$ 9.75
Dinner	$ 16.75	$ 19.00

If you leave Wake County after 6AM, then there will be no reimbursement for breakfast. If you arrive back in Wake County before 8PM, then there will be no reimbursement for dinner. If you do leave Wake County before 6AM or arrive back in Wake County after 8 PM, please note the departure and return time on the reimbursement form.

Meals that are included in your conference registration, or any meal provided by the conference or hotel at no extra charge, are not reimbursable. You will not get reimbursed for the free meal even if you choose to not accept it.

Meals consumed in Wake County are not reimbursable.

Meals are NOT reimbursable for School-to-Career field trips.

Lodging

The actual amount expended for a hotel/motel room related to authorized business travel will be reimbursed with the following per day limitation:

For travel on or after July 1, 2007
	In State	Out of State
Lodging (pre tax)	$ 63.75	$ 75.50

This is the pretax maximum reimbursement for lodging, therefore the actual reimbursement can be higher. The hotel receipt should show the pretax amount and show any taxes or room fees. A paid hotel/motel receipt, showing a zero balance owed, has to be attached to your Travel Reimbursement form.

Registration

Many workshops and conferences have a registration fee. Many field trips have an admission fee for the students and chaperones.

To pay for these in advance of the event, complete a Request For Direct Payment form (Excel 24K).

Get a written price quote.
Complete a Prior Approval Form indicating the per-person cost and the total cost for all participating.
Complete a Request For Direct Payment form (Excel 24K). Use separate lines if there is a different charge for students and adults.
Check with your bookkeeper to see if this business is established as a WCPSS vendor.
NOTE: If the vendor is not on the WCPSS list of approved vendors, a Vendor Information Form (PDF), (Word) must be completed and submitted with the requisition. The Vendor Information Form (PDF), (Word) can be e-mailed to the vendor for completion. The vendor should complete the form and e-mail it back to you. Print the completed form and submit it with the Request For Direct Payment form (Excel 24K).
At the bottom of the Request For Direct Payment form (Excel 24K), indicate how you would like the check distributed. You could:
- Have it sent to the business that needs the check
- Have the check sent to an address different from the vendor's address. Some conferences hire an outside registration service to handle the conference registration.
- Have the accounting department call you when the check is ready. You would then come to the Central Services building and pick up the check.
Sign to the right of "I certify that all of the above goods or services have been received."
Send the price quote, Prior Approval form, and the Direct Payment form to the CTE Director's Secretary.
If there is a registration form, or any other documentation that needs to be sent with the payment, then please enclose that as well. Make sure to clearly indicate what forms need to be sent with the check.
If the funding is approved, you will receive a signed Prior Approval form in the mail.

Status of Travel Reimbursement

After submitting your paperwork for travel reimbursement, you can check on the status of your reimbursement by calling Becky Jones in the Accounting Department (919/850-1768).

WCPSS School Board Policy 5430 - School Trips

Be sure to read and follow the latest School Board Policy about field trips. Also read the implementation of the board policy contained in the Regulations and Procedures (R&P) document.

Board Policy: 5430 School Trips

Board R&P: 5430 School Trips

Travel Reimbursement Form

Instructions for completing the Travel Reimbursement Form (Excel 30 KB), which is officially called the "Request For Reimbursement Of Travel And Other Expenses Incurred In The Discharge Of Official Duty Including Per Diem form."

See the list of CTE reimbursable activities to see which activities are reimbursable.

Use a separate Travel Reimbursement form for local travel (within Wake County) and out-of-district travel (conferences, etc.).

These sample travel reimbursement forms may contain outdated (incorrect) reimbursement rates or other information. They are provided here to assist you in completing your own travel reimbursement form.

sample travel reimbursement for CTE Summer Conference(Excel 30 KB) when staying in the hotel.
sample travel reimbursement for CTE Summer Conference(Excel 30 KB) when driving to the conference each day.
sample travel reimbursement for CDC activities(Excel 30 KB)
sample travel reimbursement for out of state conference(Excel 30 KB)

Do NOT put anything in the Total Request box near the top of the form.

Enter your name. (Last name, First name, Middle initial)
Enter your title (CTE Teacher, CDC, etc.) in the Title box.
Enter your school and department (CTE).
Enter your WCPSS employee number.
Enter the start date in the "Period Covered From" box. (first day of the month)
Enter the end date in the "Period Covered To" box. (last day of the month)
NOTE: Do NOT put anything in any of the six boxes under the School/Department box (Code 1, Code 2, Amount, Amount, Amount of Advance, Total Request).
In the chart, enter the day of each travel under the Day column.
Enter the starting location (your school) in the From column.
Enter the destination in the To column.
All destinations that are not WCPSS property must have a street address, and city if other than Raleigh.
Enter the mileage for the use of your car in the Daily Private Car Mileage column in the "P" row. This should be number of miles from the starting location to the destination.
You may list a round trip on a single row by adding "(round trip)" in the From column, and including the round trip mileage in the Daily Private Car Mileage column.
Use the WCPSS Mileage Calculator to find the official distance between two WCPSS locations. (Central Services on Wake Forest Road is listed as "WF Administration Building")
Use Yahoo! Maps to find distances between other locations. Enter your address and the destination address. Yahoo! Maps will indicate the mileage between the two locations. It is important to use the WCPSS mileage finder or Yahoo! Maps to calculate your mileages. Taking the long way to an event, taking side trips, or getting lost and having to drive around a while are not valid excuses for having a mileage rate that is higher than the standard. You must include a Yahoo! Maps printout with your reimbursement request for each trip to a non-WCPSS location if you did not include them with your Prior Approval form.
- For round trips, enter the roundtrip mileage in the Daily Private Car Mileage column and add the phrase "(round trip)" to the From column.
Other forms of travel. Receipts must be attached.
- Air travel expense goes in the Amount column on the "A" row.
- Rental car/van expense goes in the Amount column on the "R" row.
- Other (parking, tolls, taxi, bus, boat, train, etc.) travel expense goes in the Amount column on the "O" row.
Meals are listed in the Amount Column under Subsistence. Receipts for meals are not needed. Do NOT include meals that were included in your registration cost, or any meals that you did not have to pay for.
- Enter the reimbursable amount for breakfast on the "B" row
- Enter the reimbursable amount for lunch on the "L" row
- Enter the reimbursable amount for dinner/supper on the "D" row
Hotel expense is listed on the "H" row under Subsistence. A receipt from the hotel, showing a zero balance owed, must be attached.
List an explanation for each expense. The explanation goes in the far right column (Other Expenses) for each row.
Other expenses (not transportation or subsistence) such as conference/workshop registration fees goes in the Other Expenses column. You may need to manually add the expenses in this column and enter it in the Total Other Exp. box at the bottom of the page.
Use as many rows as needed to document the expenses. Use extra rows if needed to clearly communicate the purpose for each expense.
Print the form. The form contains three pages. Print only the pages that you have used.
Sign and date your name on the Claimant line. Your principal does NOT sign this form.
Attach receipts for hotels, tolls, parking fees, and registration fees. Invoices for air, railroad, and bus travel (when paid by the employee) must also be attached. Canceled checks and credit card receipts are not acceptable as documentation. Even when sharing hotel expenses, a separate form must be submitted for each person requesting travel reimbursement.
Send the completed form (must be the paper that the employee actually signed, not a copy) to Lin Webber at CTE Central Services.
Form Deadlines (Important new changes for 2007-08)
- For regular travel that occurs in Wake County, the properly completed Travel Reimbursement Request must be turned in by the third business day of the month following the travel. Forms received after this date will be refused.
  - NOTE: May travel needs to be turned in before the end of May. Check each year for the official date. For 2007, the due date was May 25, 2007. Travel incurred after the May cut-off date can be put on your June travel reimbursement.
  - Do not hold expenses over. You can get reimbursed only for expenses from the previous month. This means that at the end of November, you can get reimbursed only for travel done in November. You cannot at that time get reimbursed for September travel. It will be too late!
- For out-of-county travel, the Travel Reimbursement Form must turned in within ten business days following the end of the out-of-county travel. Forms received after this date will be refused.

NOTE: Incomplete forms, incorrect forms, or forms with missing attachments will be returned for correction. Returned forms could put you past the deadline and result in a non-payment of your travel reimbursement request.

If the mileage reimbursement rate changes, go to cell C49 and type in the new amount (in cents). Excel will automatically calculate the proper reimbursement.

Activity Bus Payments (Important new changes for 2007-08)

CTE and STC funds can be used to pay for the use of a school-owned activity bus for approved CTE and STC activities.

An Activity Bus is a bus that is owned by a school. An activity bus is not a regular yellow school bus.

If your school does not charge you to use the school's activity bus, then you do not need to follow this procedure requesting funds.

At least thirty days prior to the event, complete a Request for Prior Approval Form.

Get an estimate of bus charges from the transportation person at your school. Put this amount on the Prior Approval form.

After the event you should receive a bill/invoice from your school for the use of the activity bus. Download a Request For Direct Payment form (Excel 24K) and complete it.

Put your name on the ATTENTION line at the top right on the form. This name should match the name on the Prior Approval form that was submitted before the event.
Put the number of miles in the QTY column
Put a description in the DESCRIPTION column (example: Activity Bus to WakeMed open house on 11/3/2007)
Put the cost per mile in the UNIT PRICE column (this is usually $2.50, but will vary by school)
Calculate the total cost and put that in the Amount column. This amount should match the total amount on the bill/invoice from your school.
Skip a few rows and then in the DESCRIPTION column put "Transfer to Account xx.xxxx.xxx.xxx.xxxx.xxxx.xxx" (insert your school activity bus budget code in place of the Xs).
Do NOT put your school budget code in any of the four Budget Code boxes near the top of the form. Those boxes are for where the funds are coming from, not to where the funds are going.
Sign the line above "I certify that all of the above goods or services have been received."
Make a copy of the Request For Direct Payment form to keep for your records.
Send the completed Request For Direct Payment form and the bill/invoice (activity bus report) from the school to the CTE Director's Secretary. The bill/invoice must show the total charges.

Activity Bus Drivers

CTE and STC funds can NOT be used to pay for a WCPSS Transportation Department bus driver (yellow bus driver) to drive your school's activity bus.

If your bus driver is a teacher, and the bus trip occurs during school hours, CTE and STC funds can be used to pay for a substitute teacher for the bus driver. Follow the Request for Leave process.

CTE and STC funds can NOT be used to pay for a bus driver other than to provide a substitute teacher for the driver.

Yellow Bus Payments (Important new changes for 2007-08)

Yellow buses and yellow bus drivers will no longer be funded by CTE or STC.

Yellow buses and yellow bus drivers that are paid for by the school can NOT be reimbursed by CTE or STC.

Charter Buses

For bus trips longer than an hour each direction, you may want to use a charter bus. WCPSS maintains a list of WCPSS approved charter bus companies (PDF 15 KB) that meet the specifications of the school system. (J&R Charter Services, Inc was on the approved list, but is no longer approved.) This list is updated every year.

Service contracts are not needed for charter buses that are on the approved list.

Bus companies typically want to get paid before the trip. Some require payment in full several days before the trip.

Get a price quote from the bus company.
Complete a Prior Approval Form that indicates the total cost for the bus.
If the total amount for the charter bus service is less than $2500, then use a Request For Direct Payment form (Excel 24K). If the total amount is greater than $2500, then use a Purchase Order Request form (Excel 168K).
Send the price quote, Prior Approval form, and the Direct Payment or Purchase Order form to the CTE Director's Secretary.
If the funding is approved, you will receive a signed Prior Approval form in the mail.

CTSO Trips

Detailed procedures about spending CTSO funds on CTSO activities can be found on the CTSO Fund page.

This page was last updated on January 4, 2008