§ 256.45 — Ambassador to education

Iowa § 256.45

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title VII: EDUCATION, HISTORY, AND CULTURE
• Ch. 256: DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Text

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. The ambassador to education shall receive, in lieu of compensation from the district in
whichtheambassadorisregularlyemployed,asalaryequaltotheamountofsalarytheperson
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.
4. 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

selectedastheambassador. Thedepartmentshallalsoreimbursetheschooldistrictforactual
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.