-ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS-

Settlement Report

General Instructions for attendance at Conferences, Conventions and Workshops

Travel / Mileage– Autos:

  1. Employees will not be reimbursed mileage for travel from their home to their primary work location.
  1. If you are traveling to multiple locations during the workday, you are eligible to be reimbursed for all miles traveled between your first stop and your last stop, prior to going home (as long as your last stop is not closer to home than your primary work location). If you start your day at a different building depending on the day of the week, your primary work location will change accordingly.
  1. If you are directed by your supervisor to leave your primary work location to go to another location, you are eligible for mileage reimbursement. This would include such things as district meetings, purchasing supplies and materials, delivery items to another building, etc.
  1. Employees are eligible for mileage reimbursement for inservice training that is approved by their supervisor. Mileage reimbursement may be different depending on when the inservice occurs during the day.
  1. If an employee has an activity outside of normal work hours that they must attend as part of the normal duties of their position (Parent/Teacher Conferences, Athletic Events, etc) or are approved to attend (Teacher summer conference, State Administrative Meeting, etc.) the employee is only eligible for mileage reimbursement for the length of travel to the event from their home or their primary work location, whichever is less.
  1. Employees are eligible for mileage reimbursement associated with all day and multi day conferences. The employee is only eligible for mileage reimbursement for the length of travel to the event from their home or their primary work location, whichever is less
  1. Mileage reimbursement requests for driving to out of state conferences cannot exceed the cost of a coach airline ticket.
  1. All mileage travel reimbursement requests must be direct route, unless pre-approved by your supervisor due to extenuating circumstances such as construction or heavy traffic that will cause drive to take longer if using direct route (the reimbursement for non-direct route must be noted on request as well as reason why).
  1. It is the employee’s responsibility to have proper documentation of the mileage that is being requested for reimbursement. Using tools such as MapQuest can be of great assistance (see and click on “directions”). Employees are encouraged to attach the mapquest driving directions that document total miles.
  1. The check request for mileage reimbursement must have the name and address of the employee to allow for verification of eligible mileage.
  1. In addition to supervisor/principal approval of all mileage reimbursements, there will be random auditing of requests to ensure regulations were followed. Violations of these regulations are subject to employee discipline. In addition, if the request is blatantly incorrect, the supervisor/principal may also be subject to disciplinary action.
  1. Mileage reimbursements are not allowed for district owned vehicles or car rentals.
  1. All Mileage reimbursement requests must include the per mile amount that was in place at the time of the travel. The mileage amount generally changes on January 1 of each year based on the IRS calculation.
  1. Mileage for sightseeing and other personal activities not required by the main activity of the travel cannot be reimbursed.
  1. Vehicle maintenance, towing, purchasing of gasoline, oil, etc., are not subject to reimbursement
  1. Reimbursement requests for mileage only should be made using the “Record of Travel Form” (or similar form customized to a department that has at least this minimum information). Reimbursement for mileage that are part of other travel reimbursements should be documented on the “Settlement Expense Report”.
  1. The following miles are from MapQuest. They can be used in lieu of tracking your odometer.

Adm / SLHS / CMS / MMS / Bart / Brum / Dol / Har / KL / Sal / Say / GOC / Pear / SLEHS
Oakland Schools / 30.0 / 30.9 / 32.4 / 32.1 / 34.1 / 33.6 / 26.7 / 25.5 / 29.0 / 34.8 / 29.9 / 30.2 / 29.5 / 25.7
Admin Bldg / 1.4 / 1.6 / 1.3 / 0.5 / 2.5 / 5.9 / 5.1 / 4.2 / 7.8 / 1.0 / 2.1 / 3.0 / 4.7
SLHS / 2.5 / 2.2 / 1.3 / 3.4 / 4.4 / 5.8 / 3.0 / 8.7 / 1.9 / 3.0 / 1.8 / 5.6
Centennial / 0.4 / 1.9 / 3.9 / 7.0 / 6.3 / 5.4 / 7.2 / 1.2 / 1.5 / 4.7 / 5.9
Millennium / 1.6 / 3.6 / 6.7 / 6.0 / 5.1 / 6.9 / 0.9 / 1.2 / 4.4 / 5.6
Bartlett / 2.5 / 5.9 / 5.2 / 4.2 / 8.1 / 1.3 / 2.4 / 3.0 / 4.9
Brummer / 7.1 / 7.2 / 5.1 / 10.1 / 3.3 / 4.4 / 5.1 / 6.9
Dolsen / 6.3 / 2.7 / 13.2 / 6.4 / 7.5 / 2.9 / 6.0
Hardy / 9.1 / 6.5 / 5.7 / 6.8 / 3.2 / 1.5
Kent Lake / 11.6 / 4.8 / 5.9 / 4.4 / 8.5
Salem / 7.4 / 5.8 / 7.1 / 6.2
Sayre / 1.7 / 3.5 / 5.2
GOC / 3.0 / 4.3
Pearson / 3.8
SLEHS

Travel – Airlines:

  1. Transportation reservations will be secured by the individual staff member using the least expensive travel agencies or on-line travel services and will be limited to single coach rate.
  1. Reservations shall be made within an appropriate time after you have confirmed your attendance to the conference. Employees that pay a premium for a coach ticket due to waiting too close to the conference may revoke future traveling privileges.
  1. If you want to drive your personal vehicle instead of going by common carrier and your supervisor has approved this, the maximum mileage reimbursement will not exceed the cost of the common carrier charges.
  1. Airline costs for non-business companions such as spouses and children are not reimbursable.

Meal Reimbursements:

  1. Meals shall be reimbursed for employees on conferences and other inservice activities based on the following table:

Travel commenced by: / Meal Allowed / Meal Reimbursement Time / Reimbursement Limit
7:01 a.m. / Breakfast / 5:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. / $17.78
11:01 a.m. / Lunch / 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. / $23.70
5:01 p.m. / Dinner / 3:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. / $41.48
  1. Travel from home or work must commence by the above times to be eligible for a specific meal reimbursement.
  1. For a specific meal reimbursement, the conference or inservice attendee must attend the activity a minimum of three (3) hours after the beginning of the meal allowance period.
  1. Reimbursement shall only occur with a DETAILED RECEIPT, which shows the specific items that were ordered. Credit card receipts with totals only will not be reimbursed.
  1. If there is a meal provided by the conference or inservice that was included with the registration cost, the employee is prohibited from requesting reimbursement if they choose to refuse this meal.
  1. There will be only one reimbursement for each period. An employee cannot have two separate meals in a given period for reimbursement, nor can they combine the allowances from two period for one meal.
  1. Reimbursement limits shall be adjusted annually, per Board Policy 1168, based on the annual CPI change through December 31 of each year. Requests for reimbursement shall follow the limits in place at the time of the expense.
  1. Tips can be included within the Reimbursement Limit, up to 20%.
  1. Reimbursements for alcoholic beverages are strictly prohibited.
  1. Reimbursement for meals for spouses or others are strictly prohibited unless the meal is a business meal.
  1. If a District credit card is used by the authorized employee, items that exceed these totals and/or are ineligible must be documented as a reimbursement to the District in the Settlement Expense Report.
  1. All receipts must have District account numbers on them, including the reason for the expense.

Meal Allowances:

  1. As an alternative to meal reimbursement via the previous regulations, employees can choose to receive a per diem allowance using the following table:

Travel commenced by: / Meal Allowed / Reimbursement Limit
7:01 a.m. / Breakfast / $11.00
11:01 a.m. / Lunch / $12.00
5:01 p.m. / Dinner / $23.00
  1. The Per Diem rates are based on the standard Federal Per Diem Rate under Publication 1542, which is revised annually. Requests for allowances shall follow the limits in place at the time of the expense. If an employee attends a conference in a city that allows a higher meal reimbursement allowance, they may use that allowance as long as they attend the proper documentation. For more information see and search on 1542.
  1. For a specific meal allowance, the conference or inservice attendee must attend the activity a minimum of three (3) hours after the beginning of the meal allowance period.
  1. Employees are also allowed a $5 allowance for incidentals for each entire day they are eligible for all meal allowances, for a total daily allowance of $51.
  1. No receipts are required to receive a meal allowance.
  1. When one or more meals are included as part of the conference, they must be deducted from the per diem allowance.
  1. All meal allowances are paid after the processing of the Settlement Expense Report.
  1. Employees MUST choose the Meal Allowance Option or the Meal Reimbursement Option for ALL the meals associated with a conference. Employees cannot pick and choose between the options.

Lodging:

  1. The cost of the room is not to exceed the lowest single room rate or conference group rate charged by the hotel. Extra lodging charges associated with an family member accompanying the employee are not reimbursable.
  1. The limits for lodging reimbursement are as follows:

Lodging Limits / Reimbursement Limit
Lodging- In Michigan / $154.05
Lodging – Out of State / $225.15
  1. Reimbursement limits shall be adjusted annually, per Board Policy 1168, based on the annual CPI change through December 31 of each year. Requests for reimbursement shall follow the limits in place at the time of the expense.
  1. Reimbursement limits may be exceeded for hotels that host the conference.
  1. Other personal incidentals such as in-room movies,must be paid by the employee and are not subject to reimbursement.
  1. Lodging will only be approved the night before a conference if an employee would otherwise be unable to attend the start of the conference if they commenced their drive (or airline flight if available) by 7:00 a.m. the day of the conference.
  1. Lodging will only be approved for the eveningthat a conference ends, if the employee cannot drive (or have an airline flight available) that would place them home later than 10:00 p.m.
  1. Lodging reimbursements must be documented on the Settlement Expense Report and have an itemized billing.

Miscellaneous Expense Items:

Taxicabs or other public transportation: Necessary taxicab fares from the terminal or station to the conference lodging and from the conference lodging to the terminal or station for the return trip home. Taxicab rides must be shared when more than one individual from the District attends the same conference.

Car rentals: The employee must be able to document that other forms of transportation available for a conference attendance (cabs, public transportation) exceed the cost of a car rental. Car rentals must receive prior approval from a supervisor and must not exceed the rate for an economy automobile.

Telephone: Charges for official business are allowable and must be documented on the hotel receipt.

Parking Fees: If personal car use is approved, reimbursement for parking will be made if validated by a receipt. Valet parking will generally not be permitted.

Registration Fees:

Enrollment or registration fees for approved conferences, conventions or organizations related to school activities are to be prepaid by the business office whenever possibleand must have prior approval of the employee’s supervisor. For administrators and supervisors with District credit cards, the card can be used to register for the activity, contingent upon pre-approval by immediate supervisor. Purchase Orders must be completed at least three weeks in advance of the due date for registration.

Expense Report Due Dates:

You are still strongly encouraged to turn in expense reports on a monthly basis. However, reimbursements can be made for up to six months of activity according to the following chart. Forms not approved and submitted to Accounts Payable by these dates will not be reimbursed.

Expenses Incurred Through / Expense Report Due Date
July1 –December 31 / February 28
January 1 –June 30 / July 31