3-11 Reimbursement for reading recovery travel
In many rural and some urban schools, a teacher (full or part-time) on the staff of one school travels during the school day to nearby schools to deliver a Reading Recovery programme. Where this arrangement is approved by the Ministry and is coordinated by the Reading Recovery tutors, it is known as a Reading Recovery cluster or network.
Boards of base schools in a Ministry-approved Reading Recovery cluster or network are allocated discretionary staffing from the Ministry.
Eligibility for reimbursement
The board of the base school of the Reading Recovery cluster is eligible to claim reimbursement from the Ministry for Reading Recovery related travel between schools. This reimbursement is claimed after the school has reimbursed the teacher for the travel.
Ineligibility for reimbursement
A teacher may be employed separately by two or more boards as a Reading Recovery teacher, rather than by the board of a base school in an approved cluster. In this case, the teacher holds two or more part-time teaching positions and is responsible for their own transport arrangements in getting to and from each school. They are not eligible for Reading Recovery related travel reimbursement.
Travel reimbursement policy
Travel is reimbursed at the "Expenses Incurred in Use of Private Vehicle" rate specified in the Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement.
As with all other teachers, Reading Recovery teachers are responsible for travel from home to the first place of teaching duties and from the last place of teaching duties to home, whether this is the base school or not.
Exception to policy
There may be circumstances where the Ministry may, at its discretion, approve limited reimbursement of travel expenses from a teacher’s home to the first place of teaching and / or from the last place of teaching to home. However, this will only be when the Reading Recovery teacher is required or scheduled to begin or end the day in a school other than their base school and there are compelling reasons why approval is given. Such reasons may be to best utilise a teacher’s teaching time or there are particular local approved circumstances.
In such cases the local office of the Ministry of Education must approve any arrangement before approval is sought from Resourcing Division.
Where a teacher is not required to return to the base school to teach at the end of the day, mileage back to the base school cannot be claimed.
Claims and payments procedure
The following table outlines the process for Reading Recovery cluster teachers to claim and receive reimbursement and for boards to receive reimbursement for travel payments.
| Stage |
Description |
| 1 |
Reading Recovery cluster teachers are required to keep a log of daily travel. |
| 2 |
At the end of each term the teacher completes a Claim for Reimbursement of Reading Recovery Travel Expenses Form.
These are available from the Reading Recovery tutor, or can be downloaded from the Resourcing Forms page. |
| 3 |
The teacher gives their completed form and a copy of their daily travel log to the Reading Recovery tutor for checking and initialling. |
| 4 |
The tutor confirms the claim as correct, and forwards the reimbursement form to the Reading Recovery coordinator at their Ministry local office for their provisional approval. |
| 5 |
It is then sent to the principal of the base school for approval and payment. |
| 6 |
Payment of the Reading Recovery cluster teacher’s travel expenses is made from the base school’s operational funding. |
| 7 |
The teacher signs the receipt portion of the claim form acknowledging payment. |
| 8 |
The principal of the base school may then submit a claim for the reimbursement of the travel payment made to the teacher as soon as the transaction is completed. |
| 9 |
This should then be sent to the Resourcing Division who will then reimburse the base school for this travel. |
Final date for claims
The final date for processing claims for each school term will be the end of the following term. This means for example, claims for travel during term 1, 2011 must be submitted to the Resourcing Division by the end of term 2. Please ensure your administration processes allow you to meet these deadlines.