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Due to the rapidly evolving nature of COVID-19, this page will be regularly updated to contain the latest guidance from Internal Audit regarding travel impacted by the coronavirus.
Click here to view the Internal Audit memo regarding District travel affected by COVID-19.
- March 24, 2021: Current travel rules are in effect:
- No staff travel is authorized before June 30th, 2021.
- Beginning July 1, 2021, staff may plan on travelling to selective events approved by their divisions. This travel must be refundable in the event circumstances change.
- Student travel, international or domestic, is restricted until December 30, 2021. Trips may resume beginning January 1, 2022 with the caveat that if the COVID-19 cases continue to be of concern, there may be some trips that will have to be rescheduled.
- Travel insurance that includes cancellations for pandemics is highly recommended. Please review travel insurance offered by companies and make sure staff and families are aware of what is a covered event for refund.
- If there are any questions or you are unsure what is covered under an insurance policy, please contact Risk Management.
- Travel involving sports and athletics will follow the CHSSA recommendations and guidelines.
- July 21, 2020:
- All International Travel has been banned for the 2020-2021 school year. If an international trip is scheduled, it must be cancelled or rescheduled for July 1, 2022 or later. This date may be extended depending on COVID-19 data.
- All Field Trips are prohibited until further notice. District administrators are monitoring COVID-19 data and will provide an update as to if and when this will resume for the 2020-2021 school year.
- All Out-of-State Travel for staff and students are prohibited until further notice. District administrators are monitoring COVID-19 data and will provide an update as to if and when this will resume for the 2020-2021 school year.
- May 18, 2020: The APS travel ban remains in effect until further notice. At this time, all staff and student trips that are to occur in the summer (June - August 2020) are to be cancelled. In addition, all travel for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year should not be scheduled until the District gets more direction from the CDC, Tri-County Health Department, and other experts and the District establishes the protocols around their recommendations.
- If you have trips already scheduled for the upcoming school year, please advise staff, students and parents that this travel is to be postponed until further notice and no additional travel should be arranged at this time.
- April 3, 2020: The District has expanded the travel ban to include all District travel for staff and students.
- April 1, 2020: The current travel ban for staff and student overnight and out-of-state District travel has been extended through May 31st.
- March 20, 2020: The current travel ban for staff and student overnight and out-of-state District travel has been extended through April 30th.
- March 10, 2020: All overnight and out-of-state District travel for students and staff has been cancelled through March 31st.
Internal Audit is collecting data on all staff travel cancellations affected by COVID-19 (Coronavirus). If you have been impacted by a cancellation due to COVID-19, please email Peter Doan (pvdoan@aurorak12.org) AND Cindy Snyder (casnyder@aurorak12.org) the following information:
- Completed Conference/Travel Form - Part A for each affected staff member.
- Flight, Hotel, and Conference Registration Confirmations
- For each expenditure, please indicate if a full refund or a credit was given.
- If a credit, such as a travel voucher, was given, please indicate the expiration date of that voucher.
- For each expenditure, please indicate if it was paid for via a P-Card or an employee has paid for it and is awaiting a reimbursement.
- Cancellation emails
- Any other expenditures and associated documentation related to affected travel.
If you have a question that is not addressed in this FAQ, please feel free to reach out.
District Directive on Travel Ban
What are the current restrictions regarding District travel and COVID-19?
At this time, any District travel is prohibited through May 31st.
If I already booked my travel and it falls within the District's restricted time frame, what do I need to do?
If any part of your travel falls within the District restricted time frame, then you must cancel your trip and seek out a refund if possible.
If my trip is after the District's restricted time frame, but my trip's cancellation deadline falls within the restricted time frame, what should I do?
Due to the uncertainty with future restrictions, if your trip’s cancellation deadline falls within the restricted time frame, you must cancel your trip.
Example 1:
The District’s travel ban is until May 31st. Samantha’s trip is not until June 15th, but in order for Samantha to get a refund, she must cancel by May 25th. Because the refund cancellation deadline falls within the District’s travel ban, Samantha must cancel the trip and get the refund.
Example 2:
The District’s travel ban is until May 31st. Samantha’s trip is not until June 15th, but in order for Samantha to get a refund, she must cancel by June 10th. Because the refund cancellation deadline does not fall within the District’s travel ban, Samantha does not have to cancel the trip until a restriction is placed within that date range.
If I have a travel that I need to book that falls outside of the District's travel restriction, what should I do?
- It is strongly recommended to book the trip with a District’s P-Card.
- Due to the uncertainty with future restrictions, staff must book the refundable fare or cost for any upcoming travel until further notice. Internal Audit will send out a future communication and this web page will be updated once this requirement has been lifted.
P-Card and Reimbursement Guidance for Staff Travel
If I paid for my travel with a P-Card, and my trip was cancelled due to COVID-19, do I have to reimburse the District if I did not get a full refund?
No. All staff travel expenditures affected by cancellations and paid for by a P-Card will not have to be reimbursed to the District if a full refund has not been given by an airline, hotel, conference, etc. Please reach out to the vendor to try to obtain a refund or a credit first.
If you received a credit, please see “What do I do with my travel voucher or credit?”.
If I paid for my travel with my own funds, and my trip was cancelled due to COVID-19, will I get a reimbursement if I did not get a full refund or if I received a credit or travel voucher?
For any staff travel expenditures affected by cancellations and paid for by personal funds in which a credit or travel voucher was not given, you will be reimbursed by the District as long as a full refund has not been given by an airline, hotel, conference, etc. Your reimbursement will be prorated based on the amount that you received for a refund. Please reach out to the vendor to try to obtain a refund or a credit first.
If you received a credit or travel voucher, you have one of two options:
- You may keep the credit or travel voucher for personal use since it was paid for by your own personal funds, but you may not request a reimbursement.
- You may request a reimbursement for that expenditure. However, you may NOT use the credit or travel voucher for personal use. You or a designated staff member at your site must keep track of the credit or travel voucher. For any future business District travel, the credit or travel voucher must be used first if it has not expired yet.
See “What do I do with my travel voucher or credit?”.
What type of documentation do I need to include when updating a travel cancellation transaction in ChargeRX or if I am requesting a reimbursement for my cancelled travel?
Please include the following items as attachments:
- Original Invoice or Receipt
- Cancellation Confirmation
- Employee’s Travel/Conference Form Part A
Travel Vouchers and Credits
What do I do with my travel voucher or credit?
Each site is required to keep track of all travel vouchers and credits for each of their employees affected by a cancellation. Contact your site supervisor, bookkeeper, or secretary to determine who at your site will be keeping track of your travel voucher or credit. Information to keep track of includes but is not limited to:
- The name of the employee in which the travel voucher or credit is assigned to.
- The Airline, Hotel, Conference, etc. the travel voucher or credit is from.
- The confirmation # of the travel voucher or credit.
- This may be the original confirmation # of the purchase. Check with the airline, hotel, conference, etc. to determine what is applicable.
- The amount of the travel voucher or credit.
- The expiration date of the travel voucher or credit.
Can I use the travel voucher or credit for personal use?
If you have received a reimbursement or paid for the travel by District P-Card, you may NOT use the travel voucher or credit for personal use. Personal use of a travel voucher or credit will result in a mandatory reimbursement to the District. All travel vouchers and credits are subject to an audit.
Exception:
If you originally paid for the trip with personal funds and did not request a reimbursement for the cancellation, then you may use the travel voucher or credit. Once you have obtained a reimbursement, you may NOT use the travel voucher or credit and must give the information to the designated staff member at your site.
If I received a travel voucher or credit due to a cancellation, and would like to book a future trip, what do I need to do?
If a future conference or travel is booked for an employee that received a travel voucher or credit, the travel voucher or credit must be used first unless the travel voucher or credit has expired.
- If using a P-Card, apply the travel voucher or credit and then pay the remaining balance with your P-Card.
- If paying with Personal Funds:
- Apply the travel voucher or credit and indicate in the reimbursement request that a travel voucher or credit was used.
- Include the travel voucher or credit as part of your travel/conference documentation.
- Reduce the reimbursement request for the amount of the travel voucher or credit.
What happens if my travel voucher or credit expires? Or if I cannot use my travel voucher or credit for District travel before it expires?
Reach out to the staff member designated to keep track of travel vouchers or credit at your site, and have them indicate it on their tracking sheet.
Internal Audit will perform an audit in the future to verify that District travel for the employee was not booked within the time frame of the voucher or credit, and that the travel voucher or credit expired and was not used for personal use.
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