Western Region Title II Professional Development Funds

ACDA Conferences are a perfect opportunity to help rebuild, reinvigorate yourselves, and also to guide your students through what choir truly is outside of a pandemic.  Regardless of your financial situation, there are opportunities for all federally/state funded choral directors to attend conferences through an already-existing funding source that few may know how to access.

Through allocation of Title II funding, monies are set aside for professional development.  Every state has slightly different variations of what is provided and how much can be allocated.  Funding may be provided for registration, transportation, lodging, food, and other incidental expenses.  Resources for each of the Western Region states can be found below.

Do the Research

  1. Figure out registration fee for the conference
  2. Determine transportation you want to take (airplane, district vehicle, private vehicle)
    1. If considering out-of-state travel, multiple quotes may need to be provided to your organization before the specific mode of travel can be approved.
  3. Find lodging (Either recommended by the conference or a separate hotel.  Airbnb and similar places will not be covered.)
  4. Whether the conference is one day or overnight, figure out how many days you will need meals.
    1. There are 3 types of days that reimburse meals at different rates – Initial day, full day, and final day.  States vary on when the time starts/ends for each of these days.

**Print/save electronically either a screenshot or a PDF of the estimated quotes for each of the items above.  You are not purchasing anything at this time, simply gathering quotes to support your purchase order reasoning.  Gather this information and any other forms your district will require you to fill out for attending a conference as far in advance as possible.  This process can take multiple months for all forms to go through the proper channels.  Start early.

Here are the websites for each state and the reimbursement rates:

Overall Federal Per Diem Rates

Arizona – Choose “Travel”

California

Hawaii – Category “Travel”

Nevada

Utah

Complete the Purchase Order

Begin filling out the purchase order.  Below is an example of what to write for each of the four above items.  

  1. Since the vendor for each item is different, make sure they are each on their own purchase order.  
  2. In order to receive the correct funding, be sure to include wording like this:
    1. Arizona – “aligns with ADOA – GAo practices”
    2. California – “In accordance with CalHR policy”
  3. Attach estimated quotes to each of the PO’s, then turn them all in.

Conference Registration:

Transportation:

Lodging:

Incidental Reimbursements (Meals/Airport Parking/Ground Transportation):

Retain ALL Receipts

You’ve done the hard work ahead of time.  As you travel to your conference, keep all original receipts including boarding passes, lodging receipts, and any incidental expenses that were listed on the PO’s.  Organize receipts by category – keep separate envelopes or take a folder with you to store receipts.

Turn in receipts when you return to be reimbursed.  

**Some organizations will pay for transportation/lodging expenses in advance.  Provide those receipts to your organization, so they can be reimbursed for those expenses.

Information will be added as Title II funding laws change year-to-year.  Also, if any ACDA members would like to share their personal experiences that could assist others in obtaining funding themselves, feel free to email .  All information shared will be anonymous on the Western Region ACDA website.