San Francisco Unified School District and County Office of Education
Administrative Regulation 3513.1
Cellular Phone Reimbursement – Modified For COVID-19 Shelter in Place
This Administrative Regulation applies to the San Francisco Unified School District and the County Office of Education.
This Administrative Regulation governs the use of, and payment for, cell phones required for District business for unrepresented and management employees. Employees are encouraged to consult the applicable collective bargaining agreement and/or Labor Relations to determine policies and rules applicable to each group of represented employees.
As used in this administrative regulation, “employee” refers only to unrepresented and management employees. “Authorizing supervisor” refers to a Deputy Superintendent or Chief of a division.
When, in the sole judgment of an authorizing supervisor, a District employee’s position requires frequent use of a cell phone, an authorizing supervisor shall either provide a cell phone for the employee’s use or a .00 monthly allowance to the employee for the business use of their personally owned cell phone. Monthly cell phone allowances shall be paid from the department budget of the authorizing supervisor.
Criteria for Cell Phone Allowance / Issuance
In determining whether an employee’s position requires frequent use of a cell phone, the factors to be considered shall include, but not be limited to, whether the job responsibilities require any of the following:
- An ability to communicate frequently but access to a District landline is not readily available;
- An ability to communicate immediately to ensure the safety of District staff and students or the security of District property;
- A level of accessibility which is impossible because of the employee’s frequent job-related absence from the worksite; and
- Accessibility via text or other communication that cannot be accomplished on a District landline or other District-issued device.
(cf. 3542 – School Bus Drivers)
(cf. 4156.3/4256.3/4356.3 – Employee Property Reimbursement)
Authorizing Supervisor’s Responsibilities
When an employee is paid an allowance for the use of their personally owned cell phone for District business, the authorizing supervisor shall, from time to time, verify that the employee’s cell phone contract is active. The Chief Business Officer may, from time to time, request that the authorizing supervisor verify that the employee’s job responsibilities still require access to a cell phone.
Authorizing supervisors shall exercise caution in approving District-issued cell phones or allowances for use of personal cell phones for hourly-paid employees and shall ensure that such employees are not working beyond their assigned workday without prior approval.
Employees on leave without pay or who are employed for fewer than 12 months are not eligible to receive a device or an allowance during non-service months.
The authorizing supervisor shall periodically review the employees’ use of District-owned cell phones. Employees shall be responsible for fees and charges associated with any misuse or overuse of District-owned cell phones not attributable to District business.
If the authorizing supervisor determines that an employee no longer needs a District-owned cell phone to perform their job responsibilities, any fees or charges associated with cancellation of the service contract shall be the responsibility of the District.
Employee Responsibilities
Employees who use a District-issued or personal cell phone to conduct District business are covered by all policies and laws that would apply to the activity, including but not limited to:
- laws governing retention and production of public records;
- laws and policies governing the confidentiality of student and personnel information;
- laws and policies regarding appropriate adult/student professional boundaries and professional conduct.
Employees are expected to:
- configure cell phones that are used to conduct District business, whether personally owned or provided by the District, in such a way that protects District information;
- limit the degree to which they access or use District confidential information on cell phones to those situations in which access is a business necessity and not merely an individual convenience;
- maintain business records in District systems that are password protected on cell phones (such as Synergy, SEIS, PeopleSoft) rather than in emails or text messages; and
- for hourly, non-exempt employees, adhere to their scheduled and approved working hours or that they receive permission to work over-time.
If the District determines that an employee has received an allowance for use of their personal cell phone and that the confidentiality or integrity of District information is at risk as result of the employee’s use of their personal cell phone, the employee may be required to provide the District unrestricted access to the phone to access the phone’s data repositories and any content on the cell phone that is related to the District.
Legal Reference:
EDUCATION CODE
35213 Reimbursement for loss or damage of personal property
44032 Travel expense payment
48901.5 Electronic signaling devices
VEHICLE CODE
23123 Wireless telephones in vehicles
23125 Wireless telephones in school buses
UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 26
280F Limitation on depreciation for luxury automobiles, etc.
CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS, TITLE 26
1.132-5 Working conditions fringe benefit
Management Resources: WEB SITES Internal Revenue Service: http://www.irs.gov
Please note that compare references, or “cf”, refer to CSBA model policies and do not necessarily indicate that the San Francisco Unified School District has adopted the referenced policy.