The 2017-18 New York State budget approved the reimbursement of funds for “eligible teachers” of Mathematics, Science and Technology at religious and independent schools. Teachers eligible for reimbursement are those who are certified to teach in New York state, hold a master’s degree or Ph.D. in Mathematics, Science, Technology or Education, or have a bachelor’s degree in any of those four majors and is currently enrolled in a master’s or Ph.D. program for Mathematics, Science or Technology within five years from the employment start date with the nonpublic school. In addition, eligible teachers must be employed by a nonpublic school and teach Mathematics, Science or Technology in any grade from three through twelve.
Private schools that have teachers who qualify them for reimbursement for the 2017/18 fiscal year, can submit an application with the appropriate additional documentation to the Office of Religious and Independent Schools by August 1, 2018 to be reimbursed for the salaries, or portion of the salaries (depending on the number of claims received), of eligible teachers in the prior year. According to Section 3037 of Education Law, reimbursements for eligible teachers will be calculated based on NYSED’s data relating to a comparable teacher salary in the public school of the same district. The average comparable teacher salary will be multiplied by the percentage of full time equivalent secular instructional hours in the day per each subject area to find the reimbursement amount allotted per teacher. Reimbursement will not be honored for eligible teachers who provide instruction in Mathematics, Science, or Technology if the teacher also provide non-secular instruction in any capacity.
If the total applications received by NYS for reimbursement exceed the program’s budget of $5 million, each applicant will only be reimbursed its percentage of the total applications submitted. For more information, click here.
Kelly Mehr, CPA
Senior Accountant
Kelly is a senior accountant of Cerini & Associates’ audit and consulting practice. She works with nonprofit, special education and school district clients.