23.40.070 Educational Opportunities.
(a) The City shall reimburse an employee for the full amount of tuition for courses directly related to the employee’s work and conducted outside the employee’s regular working hours, provided that:
(1) Funds for such expenditures are available in the current budget;
(2) The employee has made application for approval of the course to his or her department head and the department head subsequently gives such approval; and
(3) The employee submits evidence of satisfactory completion of the course; and
(4) The employee is not receiving reimbursement for tuition from any other source.
(b) Courses which are only offered during regular working hours may be approved by the department head with full tuition reimbursement therefor provided time off can be arranged conveniently and reasonable arrangements can be made to make up time off.
(c) The City shall allow time off with pay and shall reimburse an employee for the expenses of attending classes, lectures, conferences, or conventions when attendance is on an assignment basis with prior approval of the employee’s department head.
(d) Normally, the cost of textbooks and technical publications required for such courses shall be the responsibility of the employee. If the City purchases any of the textbooks and publications for such courses, the textbooks and publications shall become the property of the City.
(Ords. 336, 537)