Education Opportunity Fund (EOF)
What is the EOF?
Using funds from the November 2021 Mill Levy Override earmarked for retention and recruitment efforts, the EOF aims to provide financial assistance to help staff advance their education through certifications, advanced licensure, or degree programs. It is our intention that the skills and knowledge staff gain through this fund will help them develop relevant skills, advance within our organization, take on new roles and earn higher salaries. Our commitment to engaging in this is twofold: providing a path to professional advancement for all staff and providing an internal pipeline to fill hard-to-fill positions in our organization.
Who is eligible to access funds from EOF?
All Roaring Fork School District Employees who work full time (FTE .75 or above; min 30 hours per week).
Recipients must commit to remain employed by the Roaring Fork Schools for two years beyond the year of award as a condition of receiving the award. Failure to do so will result in the employee being charged for the funds received.
Who will determine access to the funds?
A committee shall be formed to screen and approve requests and grant any variances from the procedures. This committee shall include the Chief of Human Resources, an administrator, a classified staff member, and a certified staff member.
What can funds be used to cover?
Funds can be used to cover the certification, advanced licensure, or degree program expenses limited to tuition and books. These must be directly related to coursework that will advance the education/preparation of the employee in a degree area or discipline related to a current or potential/desired position in the Roaring Fork School District.
Funds will be reimbursed to the staff member following the completion of an approved expense report.
Items not covered include travel, registration fees that are not tuition, supplies that are not required, books for the program, conference attendance.
What additional information is required?
Staff members must submit course completion documentation at the end of their coursework. If a staff member fails to complete or pass the class, the staff member will be responsible for repaying the award amount.
What does the application and award process look like?
The application will be open in 2 windows during the year. Below are the timelines for all events in the process. Employees can apply for expenses incurred within six months of the Application Open date. This means that if an employee completed and paid for eligible coursework in the fall of 2023, they can apply for funding and be reimbursed as long as they provide receipts and course completion confirmation.
Employees applying for funds must use this request form.
The committee will review and respond to your application within the dates noted above. If additional information is needed, you will receive an email from the Chief of Human Resources.
After each application window closes and the distribution is decided, the committee will send each employee a Grant Award Letter (GAL), determining the amount granted.
Funds are NOT subject to taxes and are PERA excluded.
Special consideration will be given to candidates who:
Hold or are working towards hard-to-fill positions: Hard-to-fill job openings are where it's especially difficult to find applicants suitable for the job. These hard-to-fill openings are based on either geography or content shortage areas (e.g., early childhood, paraprofessionals, math teachers, world languages, special education, counselors, nurses, and SSPs).
Will advance the RFSD’s initiative to have a staff demographic that reflects the diversity of our students.
Is there a maximum amount allowed per employee?
Each participating employee shall be eligible to receive up to no more than $5,000 annually (Aug. 01 – July 31) as determined by the committee.
Can employees request funds in both semiannual windows?
Yes, an application for each semester will be considered.