1. Need for travel defined. Travel expenses may be authorized only when the travel is required for one or more of the following reasons:
 

1. Academic travel, such as for academic and athletic competitions;
2. Employee recruitment;
3. Professional development, including professional development for purposes of renewing an educational or administrative certificate;
4. Professional or trade conferences, meetings, and seminars conducted by qualified agencies, individuals, or institutions;
5. Business, development, legal, management, and policy needs of the District, of the State of Florida, or of the government of the United States;
6. Leadership obligations within professional organizations and the requirements and/or expectations for maintaining such a leadership role when determined to be a benefit to the District; 
7. Receiving district or personal awards, commendations or citations;
8. Other reasons such as may be specifically approved by the Superintendent.

2. Alternatives must be considered. Supervisors should be aggressive in considering alternatives to travel, including but not limited to:

1. Use of conference calls, Web-based courses and seminars, study groups, and other distance learning and virtual meeting alternatives;
2. Scheduling on-site and local professional development events rather than authorizing out-of-county to travel to such events;
3. Cancelling or postponing participation in activities and events requiring travel.

1. Requirement for lodging. Costs for lodging will only be reimbursed if overnight travel is required, and only if such travel is outside the boundaries of contiguous counties (Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, and Hendry).

2. Qualified hotels. Employees will stay in official hotels as designated by the event sponsor, except when

1. no remaining non-smoking rooms are available;

2. the employee voluntarily requests other lodging or private accommodations available at a lower or cost; or

3. the official hotel fails to comply with the requirements of the Hotel & Motel Fire Safety Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-391) and the official hotel is not approved for federal travel by the U.S. Fire Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

3. Double occupancy strongly preferred. When appropriate, employees are strongly encouraged to voluntarily book rooms in double occupancy. Employees may reasonably request single occupancy on the basis of:

1. cultural, religious, or other strongly-held personal beliefs;

2. reasonable personal needs, such medical conditions, sleep needs, or work requirements.

Supervisors must be good stewards of their budgeted funds. Therefore, supervisors should consider occupancy preferences in determining how many and which employees may travel to a particular event.

4.  Length of stay limited. Hotel stays will be authorized for a number of nights equal to the number of days of the official event minus one. However, one additional night before the event and/or one additional night following the event may be authorized for travel purposes in cases when:

1. travel arrangements are not otherwise available except on the additional days;

2. travel arrangements are not otherwise available at a reasonable time of day;

3. official events begin before 10:00 a.m. and total travel time is more than 3 hours;

4. official events end after 5:00 p.m. and total travel time is more than 3 hours;

5. travel accommodations on the additional days will result in lower total cost.

Employees may extend their stays beyond this limitation, but only when the extended stay is covered by approved personal or vacation leave, and only when doing so presents no additional costs to the District, or when all additional costs are paid by the employee.
 

1. Two travelers per school or District department per event. Supervisors approving travel should consider the total cost and impact of employee travel on other District operations, including the availability of substitutes for critical positions. In particular, principals should be cautious of authorizing travel that results in a large number of teachers being absent on leave on student days. Travel to any single event that includes absence from any student day for more than two classroom teachers at any school should not be authorized. (See Part G: Waivers and Appeals if such travel is truly necessary).

2. Employees only. Travel costs should not be paid for employee spouses, children, or other companions. Employee spouses, children, and other companions may share rooms, but only when doing so presents no additional cost to the District, or when all additional costs are paid by the employee.

No District budgeted funds may be expended on lodging for non-employee students, parents, or chaperones. Such costs may be provided by internal accounts as approved by the principal.

Exceptions to this requirement are waived for approved grant programs or approved contracts which specifically provide for travel for non-employees.

3. Near-termination employees should not travel for professional development purposes. Travel for professional development purposes is not available to any employee who has signed a resignation or retirement commitment that will become effective within one year or less from the date of travel. Such employees may travel for other necessary purposes as approved by their supervisors.

4. Limitations on out-of-county travel for professional development. Travel for professional development purposes should be restricted whenever possible, especially when less costly alternatives are available that do not require travel. Supervisors should also limit eligibility for travel for professional development purposes so that:

1. No employee should travel for professional development purposes more than once per school year, unless required by applicable law or regulation;
2. Employees identified for professional development travel should be those employees who will most benefit from such travel, based on their experience and assignment;
3. Supervisors should establish an equitable system of identifying employees eligible for travel (e.g., a rotation process.)
4. Supervisors should consider the total return on investment from such travel when making decisions about eligibility for travel.

5. Professional travel of employees in leadership positions. Supervisors should be sensitive to needs of employees holding leadership positions in professional organizations, and should support such travel when benefit to the District can be demonstrated and is related to the travelers’ current job assignment. Documentation shall be required to support continued participation identifying the organization’s requirements for serving a leadership role. Election or appointment to positions of leadership in professional organizations after July 1, 2008 shall require confirming approval of the Division head or School Principal as appropriate.
 

1. Least costly alternatives should be used. Supervisors should ensure that all travelers consider all reasonable alternatives to reduce total costs when traveling, including but not limited to:

1. Car pooling;
2. Use of taxicabs and public transportation when less costly than rental vehicles;
3. Use of District vehicles when less costly than private vehicles or rental vehicles

2. Advance booking required. Many travel costs, such as airline tickets, lodging, and registration fees, become more costly as the date of event approaches. Travel should be booked as early as possible to minimize costs.

Supervisors must avoid approving additional costs of travel simply because timely arrangements were not made. Whenever possible, airline tickets should be booked at least 21 days in advance of the travel date. Tickets booked less than 7 days from the date of travel must be approved by the Superintendent’s designee. Consideration for approval should include the earliest date that the traveler or supervisor could have reasonably anticipated attendance at the event. This consideration should include past attendance, dissemination of conference planning literature, and availability of booking information.
 

1. This budget restriction order does not supersede any other law, policy, rule, or regulation. All applicable laws, policies, rules, and regulations regarding travel are still fully in effect, including but not limited to 34 CFR 80, OMB Circular A-87, and School Board Policy 6.01.

2. Domestic travel only. No District funds, including grant funds, should be used for travel costs outside of the United States, or its territories or possessions. Exceptions can only be approved well in advance (thirty days or more) of any proposed travel and only by the Superintendent’s designee.

3. In-state travel preferred. Some events requiring travel are scheduled in multiple cities and multiple states. In such cases, travel should only be approved to the nearest in-state city.

Supervisors should ensure that travel is booked by properly-trained staff members so that all in-state benefits are applied, including tax exemptions when applicable.

4. Total cost of travel to be considered. Travel arrangements should be carefully analyzed to consider full total cost of the travel, taking into account all related costs that will be incurred by any and all District accounts.

Supervisors are responsible for seeking ways to minimize total travel costs, and for enforcing this budget restriction order.
 

1. Budget restrictions in effect. Budget amounts for out-of-county travel and related expenses may be restricted or reduced. In some cases, budget authority may be reassigned to the Superintendent’s designee.

2. Supplanting of funds prohibited. This budget order is intended to reduce travel expenses from all District budgeted funds, including grants funds. All funds from all sources are to be used appropriately. In no case may federal funds be used to unlawfully supplant state or local funds.
 

1. The Department of Grants & Program Development will develop and administer such forms, process documents, and other documents as may be necessary to implement this budget restriction order.

2. The Department of Financial Accounting & Property Records retains all previous authority, including jurisdiction over grant-related travel arrangements, use of funds, and reimbursements.

3. The Department of Procurement Services retains all previous authority, including bidding, purchasing, and use of purchasing cards.
 

1. Waivers. Any waiver to these guidelines must be approved in writing and in advance. For this budget restriction order, the Superintendent has designated the Director of Grants & Program Development to review wavier requests.

The Superintendent of Schools and all division heads will be notified of any decisions made through the waiver review process.

2. Appeals. Appeals of travel decisions should be submitted in writing to the Superintendent of Schools. Decisions on appeals are final.