Boarding School
Boarding school is defined as a school providing residence halls on campus and meals in addition to a full curriculum. To qualify, a school must be located outside of a reasonable commuting distance to a DoDEA school.
Note: The NDSP does not limit enrollment to boarding schools to any specific grade level, however, boarding school is primarily used to support students in grades 6 – 12.
- The Away from Post allowance is based upon the sponsor’s duty assignment location and the child’s grade level. Expenses that exceed the Away from Post allowance are the responsibility of the sponsor.
- One-time fees are not authorized for the Away from Post education option. All fees, including student transportation must be covered by Away from Post allowance.
- The Supplemental Funding allowance to support academic support, tutoring, supplemental coursework and gifted education is not authorized for an Away from Post education option.
- Boarding school may be selected as an option even if there is an adequate school At Post. However, the allowance is limited to the At Post education allowance.
- Although boarding schools in the CONUS are authorized, private day schools within the United States are not authorized for NDSP funding.
The NDSP will fund, up to the maximum Away from Post allowance, transportation to and from the boarding location at the beginning of the school year, at the end of the school year, and any school mandated holiday breaks in which students are required to depart.
- Sponsors must provide official travel orders for their dependents to travel. Self-procurement of transportation resources is not authorized.
- For weekly boarding students, the NDSP will funding round-trip transportation for each week the student will travel from school to home and return.
- Transportation is provided for the student only.
Travel Process for Boarding School.
Please contact the NDSP Resource Management Team with any questions regarding boarding school travel.
Allowable Expenses
This option refers to a school that offers a full boarding program for K-12 students in which a student is required to be enrolled as a full or weekly boarding student. Flexi-boarding is not an authorized boarding option. The fees listed below are allowable except as otherwise disallowed by law or regulation.
All boarding school fees must be covered by the education allowance. One-time fees are not “funded in addition to” the Away from Post education allowance:
- Tuition and Fees as published in the school’s fee schedule
- Room and Board
- Transportation
- Five-Day Boarding. Transportation to and from school on weekends and school breaks.
- Full-Time Boarding. Not to exceed trips when students are required to vacate the dormitory, as indicated by the school’s vacation closing calendar. However, when travel from the school to the assigned post is not feasible, as determined by the authorizing officer, travel may be allowed between the school attended and the home of a designated relative or family friend or to join a sponsor, parent, or legal guardian at any location where the allowable travel expense does not to exceed the cost of travel between the school and the post.
- If travel to an alternate destination exceeds the U.S. Government costs between school and post, the sponsor must pay the difference (constructed cost). Actual expenses for the child’s transportation within prescribed maximum rates, may be included in reimbursement for travel between school and post. Travel must be performed and reimbursed in accordance with the Joint Travel Regulations.
Non-Allowable Expenses:
- Transportation outside of posted school breaks
- School uniforms
- Overnight field trips/school excursions/camps/athletic events regardless of whether the trips are predominantly academic in nature or if participation is mandatory or voluntary
- Personal expenses including, but not limited to, computing devices, internet services, personal telephone service, satellite, or other communication expenses
- Admission to school events
- U.S. exam/registration fees for SAT/ACT or other college entrance exams
- Fees for museums, cultural events, or performances
- Fees for graduation, yearbooks, parent-teacher organization fees
- Debentures that pay shares of stock in the school which make the sponsor or the U.S. Government a shareholder in the school
- Supplemental Instruction allowance
- Private residential or non-dormitory facility
- Summer school
- Prekindergarten (PK) enrollment
Payment / Reimbursement Requirements
Submission of Invoices and/or reimbursement requests by the sponsor must adhere to certain formatting criteria for processing by the Resource Management team. It is a sponsor responsibility to assemble the invoice and receipts in a manner and format that clearly identifies the action requested, and, if requesting reimbursement, the correlation of the invoice and corresponding receipt to the Sponsor Claim form document. Formatting should to the maximum extent practicable be presented in a PDF format, or in an Office or similar format. Submitting photographs of (jpg, gif, bmp) receipts and other documents is discouraged, and may delay processing.
Sponsors should be sure to check with the local NDSP Liaison point of contact to determine if there is a preferred practice at your location for the submission of invoices. If in doubt, please contact the NDSP Resource Management Team . Be sure to include the sponsor’s country of assignment in the subject line of your email.
Note: Be aware that the NDSP cannot make payments or process reimbursements until the sponsor and family are present at the overseas assignment location.
Key Points to Remember:
- Claims for expenses incurred should be submitted by the end of each fiscal year (30 September).
- All invoices must be in English or have been translated into English. Active-duty sponsors may request translation services via Military One-Source or by calling (800)342-9647.
- When completing a personal reimbursement claim, please use the exchange rate on the day of service that the invoice was paid.
- Personal reimbursements will be paid in U.S. dollars via the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) using the EFT information you provided at registration.
- For currency conversions, please use the Oanda Currency Converter website to find the conversion rate.
- Allow 30 to 35 business days for processing purposes.
