001This webinar offers guidance on fee reimbursement for national board certified teachers and district leaders. This webinar is for districts who employ a national board certified teacher who is certified or renewed in the 2526 school year. It will also benefit NBCT seeking reimbursement for their national board fees. In this deck, we've linked resources from both TEA and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Our objectives for this session are to review the National Board components of TIA, to understand the process for requesting National Board Fee Reimbursement, and using sample scenarios to determine the next steps for NBCTS and districts. What is national board certification? National board certification is a rigorous process that takes most candidates two to three years. It is based on research and practitioner expertise of what accomplished educators should know and be able
002to do. Candidates complete four components which are peer-reviewed and scored. Three components are portfolio-based and one is a computer-based content area assessment. Board certification is available for 16 different subject areas and four developmental levels. National board standards are pedagogical in nature and Texas teachers teach their regular TESS-based curriculum throughout the certification process. There are two ways that TIA can benefit NBCTs. First, NBCTS can earn an automatic recognized designation and if eligible generate an annual allotment. The second benefit is fee reimbursement. National board certification can cost up to $1,900. Districts may request reimbursement of eligible fees paid for certification for NBCTs who certified or renewed after the passage of House Bill 3. There are NBCTs all across our state. More than 450 teachers have earned a recognized designation due to their national board certification. These teachers
003have generated over $2 million for their districts. More than $270,000 in national board fees have been reimbursed through TIA. National board fee reimbursement benefits NBCTs and their districts. These teachers have heavily invested in their process. This is a way for teachers and their districts to recapture costs paid. National board fee reimbursement is funded through FSP as a separate line item. It is independent of aotment funding generated by teacher designations. There is no statute of limitations to request reimbursement and fee reimbursement does not require a local designation system or spending plan. There are three ways teacher incentive aotment and NBCTs can benefit. The first is fee reimbursement. The only restrictions for fee reimbursement eligibility is that the NBCT certified or renewed in 2019 or later. To earn a recognized designation, the NBCT must have an active
004national board certificate and their NBCT directory listing reflects Texas residency or employment. Once the designation is earned, NBCTs who work a credable year of service as a teacher coded 087 in PES will generate an annual allotment. Designations for NBCTS expire the July following the expiration of the National Board Certificate. We will now take a look at the mechanics of fee reimbursement. We'll look at the request form, supporting documentation, and how to submit your request form. National board fee reimbursement does have some provisions and limitations. NBCTS may not request reimbursement directly. Districts may request reimbursement through TIA if the NBCT certified or reertified in 2019 or later. If the fees were paid by the NBCT and he or she was reimbursed by the district prior to submitting the request form, and if the fees were not
005previously reimbursed or paid by a grant or outside entity. Our limitations involve reimbursement maximums per NBCT. We will reimburse 1,900 for initial certification which is $475 per component for four components. We will reimburse $495 for maintenance of certification and we do not reimburse fees for registration or retakes. Let's take a look at the reimbursement process and the required documentation. If the NBCT paid fees out of pocket, the NBCT first petitions the district for re fee reimbursement and shares financial documents. Next, the district will need to verify which fees are eligible for reimbursement. After this verification, the district reimburses the NBCT. Finally, the district submits a reimbursement request form to TIA with attached documentation. The process is only slightly different if the district is a third-party payer. First, the district requests a report for fees paid
006on behalf of NBCTS via a third-party payer web form, which is linked on this slide. Next, the district verifies which fees are eligible for reimbursement. For the last step, the district submits a reimbursement request form to TIA with attached documentation. Before the NBCT is ready to reach out, they need to get a financial statement. If it was paid by another party or check that would be listed on the financial statement. This slide shows a PDF record from the NBCT's NBPTS account. It includes their name, their candidate ID, and their year of certification, as well as itemized charges for each component. It shows the date, the method of payment, and the amount paid. If the NPCT cannot locate documentation in their NBPTS account, TIA will accept a variety of PDF documentation in place of financial statements.
007These documents must include dates of payment and payment method. This slide shows a screenshot which will take you to a sample reimbursement request form which we will look at shortly. Along with a completed request form, districts are required to complete and submit asurances with the superintendent signature. This assures statutory compliance and that districts have attested that all documentation submitted is accurate. In addition to the asurances and completed request form, districts must submit supporting documentation, which is either the NBCT's financial statement or their third party payer report. The district will zip all files and submit via Qualrix by March 31st. Once TEA receives the reimbursement request form along with records from the national board, TEA will verify the NBCT's identity and year of certification, fees paid, the method of payment, and statutory compliance. We will not
008verify NBCT's current position or employer or NBCT's TIA designation status. Here are the next steps for Texas NBCTS. You'll first want to check eligibility criteria for fee reimbursement. If you certified in 2019 or later or renewed in 2019 or later, your fees are eligible. You'll also want to check and see if you are eligible to earn a designation. If you are, you'll generate an aotment this school year. You can visit www.tia tiatex.org for resources which include a template email to send to your district and the fee reimbursement request form. You'll want to save a PDF of your national board financial records. Next, determine total eligible fees and finally contact your district administration. Let's review district next steps. First, consult with CFO and human resources to plan for receipt of TIA funds. We encourage all districts
009to reach out to possible NBCTs and candidates that they employ. For districts that paid as a third party or are seeking reimbursement for fees on behalf of an NBCT, collect all necessary documentation. Verify which fees are eligible. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at tia.t texas.org. You'll reimburse your NBCTS if applicable. And finally, complete and submit the reimbursement request form. Let's take a moment to practice determining which fees are eligible for reimbursement with a sample scenario. Rose Herman is an NBCT who certified in 2019. She's employed by Harrison ISD as a special education teacher. Harrison ISD is cohort G does and does not track NBCTS. Rose paid $1,975 out of pocket. $75 were for her registration fees. 475 each for three components. A second component was covered by a grant and
010Rose paid a retake fee of $475. Let's look at which of Rose's fees are eligible and ineligible for reimbursement when Harrison ISD submits their fee reimbursement request form. Note that each payment does not have a date. TEA will only verify the final year of certification. We will not verify the year or date of fees paid, just the final year of certification. Rose paid a $75 registration fee. TIA does not reimburse registration fees, so that would not be eligible. Component one was paid by Rose and it is eligible for reimbursement. Component two was paid by a grant that will not be eligible. TIA does not reimburse fees that were paid by entities other than the NBCT or the district. Components three and four were paid by Rose and are eligible for reimbursement. Rose's retake fee of
011$475 is not eligible for reimbursement under TIA. So, Rose's final total fees eligible for reimbursement are $1,425. So, what are Rose's next steps? First, Rose should contact Harrison ISD using the email templates from our TIA website. In this email, Rose can share some resources with her administrators. She can add a link to the reimbursement request form that is due to TEA by March 31st. Rose can add her financial statement from NBPTS. She can also add a link to this pre-recorded reimbursement webinar. Taking a look at Rose's financial statement, it includes her name, her National Board Candidate ID, her year of certification, and then all of the itemized charges that she paid for out of pocket. The third-party payment that was covered through a grant is not included in this financial statement. Rose's district, Harrison ISD,
012will need to take some next steps. First, they should determine the point of contact for TIA in their district. Districts that don't have a local designation system usually have someone in human resources or finance fill this role. Next, they should preview TIA national board resources to ensure they understand all of the mechanics and timelines. If the TIA point of contact is not in human resources or finance, they will need to connect with those departments. They should review the NBCT documentation, reimburse Rose for her eligible fees, complete and submit fee reimbursement request form, and if Rose is teaching, ensure that Rose is coded as an 087 teacher in class roster winter submission. Finally, they should review TIA spending timelines and requirements and develop a spending plan for lotment funds. Here is a snippet of Harrison ISD's
013hypothetical reimbursement request form. It includes the district name and NBCT information. It includes Rose's current employment status, the reimbursement information. It tells the fees paid that they were initial certification fees. It tells the year of her certification and the date that she was reimbursed. In the final section of this webinar, we will take a moment to answer some of the most commonly asked questions that we see from district leaders and national board teachers. What if our district employs a designated teacher or national board certified teacher before our local designation system is approved? A local designation system is not required to receive TIA funding. All districts in Texas that employ a designated teacher are eligible to receive aotment funds. Districts are required to spend the funds by August 31st. Districts applying for TIA with cohort F
014or later will likely need to implement a tentative spending plan prior to the approval of their local designation system. We encourage districts to seek stakeholder input in the tentative spending plan. Are districts required to submit fee reimbursement requests? Why can't NBCTS request reimbursement directly? While districts are not required to request reimbursement of fees through TIA, it is an opportunity to recoup costs paid for the intensive national board certification process. Per statute, TIA is funded through the foundation schools program FSP which flows the allotment to districts. How will TEA verify that the information in the application is accurate? TEA will verify the submitted documentation with records from NBPTS and track reimbursement requests for each NBCT. Districts will submit assurances along with the reimbursement request form. The superintendent must sign off that all information is accurate and
015in compliance with statute. How can our district become a third-party payer? Districts may choose to cover some or all national board candidacy costs. Fees for each candidate are eligible for reimbursement through TIA once they achieve certification. Districts interested in registering as a third-party payer can review the third-party payer guide for more information. Must the NBCT have a TIA designation or be employed as a teacher to be eligible for fee reimbursement? TEA will not verify the NBCT's designation status or current assignment. What if the NBCT is no longer employed by the district or was employed by another district when they certified? Any district may request reimbursement of eligible fees paid to MBPTS if the district reimbures the teacher prior to requesting reimbursement or the district paid fees as a third-party payer. What about registration and retake
016costs? This Thank you for viewing this webinar. If you have any questions, please visit our website tiaex.org or email our team at tia tea.ex. texas.gov. Thank you.