256.45 - AMBASSADOR TO EDUCATION.
256.45 AMBASSADOR TO EDUCATION.
The department of education shall establish and administer the
position of ambassador to education. It shall be the function of the
ambassador to education to act as an education liaison to primary and
secondary schools in this state. The ambassador to education
position shall be filled by the educator selected as teacher of the
year by the governor, but only if that person agrees to fill the
ambassador to education position.
The ambassador to education's duties shall be established by the
director of the department and shall be tailored to the relative
skills and educational background of the person designated as
ambassador. Duties of the ambassador may include, but are not
limited to, providing seminars and workshops in the subject matter
area in which the ambassador possesses expertise, accompanying the
director of the department of education in the exercise of the
director's duties in the state, and speaking at public gatherings in
the state.
The ambassador to education shall receive, in lieu of compensation
from the district in which the ambassador is regularly employed, a
salary equal to the amount of salary the person would have received
from the district in the person's regular position during the school
year for which the person serves as ambassador, or thirty thousand
dollars, whichever amount is greater. The ambassador shall also be
compensated for actual expenses incurred as a result of the
performance of duties under this section.
The department shall grant funds in an amount equal to the salary
and benefits the person selected as ambassador to education would
have received from the district, or thirty thousand dollars,
whichever amount is greater, to the school district that employs the
person selected as the ambassador. The department shall also
reimburse the school district for actual expenses incurred as a
result of the performance of duties under this section. The school
district shall grant the person a one-year sabbatical in order to
allow the person to be the ambassador to education, and during the
sabbatical, shall pay the salary and benefits of the ambassador with
funds granted by the department. The person selected as the
ambassador to education shall be entitled to return to the person's
same or a comparable position without loss of accrued benefits or
seniority. Section History: Recent Form
90 Acts, ch 1272, §43; 98 Acts, ch 1216, § 6
Referred to in § 284.13