Tim beat me to the punch about employer/employee relationships, and it sounds like you found the relevant information on the IRS web site already.
Part of the school boards desire to not have this person on payroll is probably due to their understanding that an employee being paid $25K does not cost them $25K, but significantly more than that. What you need them to do is produce a number for what the school district's total cost of employing this teacher will be -- including benefits, payroll taxes, insurance, etc. Their figure will partially be an estimate, especially if they factor in such things as incremental costs of management (somebody has to maintain their employee file, and somebody has to stuff their paycheck in an envelope and drop it in the mail).
At that point, the remaining question is "when do they need the money?" Will they require full funding for the entire year before the position is filled? Or can you provide first semester funding now, and the balance by November 30?
If the SOSers are able to fully fund the position, with emphasis on the word "fully", I don't see where they have reasonable grounds to refuse to make them a school district employee. (Our district has done this with some positions, but one of the requirements is full funding in hand before the contract is offered for the new year.) In fact, if this person is going to be in their classrooms teaching their students, they really need the control that employment provides.
Thanks all for the help. Tim, you brought up some good points - and to be honest, if this person does fit the definition of an employee (which according to the IRS website where I've researched, unfortunately, it appears it would be) than I'm a little nervous about the responsibilities of being the employer. As treasurer, I'm sure it would fall on me. And, besides that, being a CPA (who doesn't specialize in any of this stuff - I just audit) I'm afraid I could get into big trouble if I did something wrong...
I will print out this entire discussion to bring to my meeting Thursday night.
And, yes, I still like the idea of using a college student. Will discuss Thursday. But whatever, it would be IDEAL regardless of who we use if the School Board would allow the payments to be run thru their system..
Wish me luck!!
Stacy
How are things going Stacey? I really like the college student idea. It's good for their resume AND as I will be going back for my teaching degree myself, I know that you have to put time into the class room anyway. I am taking 2 intro teach courses and have to put in 20 hrs for each course.
I'd be very carefully when it comes to employing someone.
It's one thing to be kind of casual with typical PTO efforts; it's a whole 'nother thing to be casual about employment law. If you are looking to hire, then I'd stronly advise getting legal help.
As an employer, it's my understanding that the "contract labor vs. employee" decision is not really yours to make. There's a fairly strict definition of employee, and if someone fits that definition -- then you have all the responsibilities of an employer. Issues like workmen's comp insurance and unemployment benefits and vacation and tax witholdings all come into play.
On things like workmen's comp and unemployment insurance, not only is it importnat for you to do it right (so your group's leaders won't get in hot water), but it's importnat for the employee, as well. That workmen's comp insurance, for example, is there for a reason.
My advice: do all you can to convince the district to take your donation and hire the employee on their side. The district already has systems for taking care of those many details. If you do need to hire -- get legal/employer advice from a paid expert.
You know, we do have a small university within walking distance of the elementary. I'm guessing the "Save our Spanish" group has thought of that or checked into it, but I will bring it up at our meeting this Thursday.
Our parents can also be a little picky too, though. Our teacher that we just lost was born/raised in South America. She was fluent with her Spanish but also had INCREDIBLE teaching skills. She will be hard to replace - and I've heard others talking about having to "pay for what you get." But, that does not mean there are not other resources out there!!
Thanks for the comment. Again, I will bring it up on Thursday.
Stacy
Hey Stacey, how close is the nearest college/university? YEAH!! A student teacher that could help out in the afternoons or however you can work it out but most kids anymore need a community project...BINGO!
I do have to agree with chic*mom, you really don't want to be the employeer here....or you don't want to start something the district could take advantage of!
