HCEA Negotiated Agreement - Harford County Public Schools

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
(F)
(G)
(H)
(I)
The employee must be seeking initial certification. Payments will not be
made to an employee who has allowed his or her professional certificate to
lapse.
Funds appropriated for the line item(s) for tuition reimbursement are
available and have not been expended.
Coursework eligible for tuition reimbursement must be applicable toward
obtaining a professional certificate.
Graduate coursework will be reimbursed for the actual cost of tuition up to
a maximum of $300 per semester hour of credit.
Undergraduate coursework, when applicable toward certification, will be
reimbursed for the actual cost of tuition up to a maximum of $75 per
semester hour of credit.
No employee will be reimbursed for more than twelve (12) credits per fiscal
year.
A grade of “C” or better must be achieved.
In order to be reimbursed, the employee must return for the subsequent full
semester of professional experience. If the employee does not return for the
subsequent semester, deductions will be withheld from accrued salary if
available. Otherwise, the employee will be responsible for returning any
reimbursed funds.
Certificated employees receiving scholarships, grants, etc., will be eligible
for reimbursement if the tuition cost exceeds the scholarship. In such cases,
the Board will reimburse the difference between the scholarship and the
amount that would have otherwise been reimbursed.
Note: “Actual cost of tuition” is defined as actual out-of-pocket expenses for tuition
that have been paid by the eligible employee. The actual cost of tuition to be
reimbursed, up to the applicable maximum, is the employee’s net expenses after all
financial assistance such as scholarships, grants, and VA benefits, have been
deducted. This Article requires fiscal support and will be subject to the decisions of
the Fiscal Authorities and the Board of Education’s final actions on the operating
budgets for the school system.
17.3 Any tenured classroom teacher who is assigned by the Human Resources Department
for the convenience of the Board to a teaching field requiring a certificate other than
the one he or she holds, will be reimbursed 100 percent of the tuition costs for
certification in the new field.
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