The Court Coordinator is attending the Texas Association for Court Administration's Professional Development Program in Austin the week of June 13-17. This state certification is mandatory for Court Coordinators. As described in the attached brochure, the "PDP is a labor-intensive, week long program" that includes about 25 hours of classroom instruction.
After being in class until 4:30pm on Monday through Thursday, homework which is to be completed in groups is assigned. Because of this, the time spent in Austin each of those days is extended late into the evening. This homework must be submitted on Friday, the last day of the course, and is necessary to attain the PDP certification. Although it is not listed on the schedule, an educator for this program stated that there is a test on Friday that must be passed in order to attain the PDP certification. The Court Coordinator could make better use of her time working on this group project and studying each evening rather than commuting from her home in Leander into Austin which is 18.3 miles one way. On Tuesday through Friday, the course begins at 8:30am and we all know how bad the traffic congestion is commuting into Austin that time of the morning.
The Texas Center for the Judiciary is covering half of the hotel expense, so the Court Coordinator is responsible for $48.88 each night for a total of $195.52. The TCJ is also covering the cost of breakfast, lunch and dinner and mileage at 45 cents a mile. This rate for mileage is 6 cents less than the current rate.
It states in the Employee Manual that lodging will not be reimbursed if travel is within 50-miles of the Williamson County line. However, we are requesting the Commissioners' Court to approve an exception for this instance and reimburse the Court Coordinator the amount of lodging which we anticipate to be $195.52. |