Freight Funding Process

Freight is the shipping fee typically associated with purchasing physical instructional materials or technology. Freight or shipping costs related to requisitions and disbursements made in EMAT, the state’s online instructional materials ordering system, do not come out of a local school system's Instructional Materials and Technology Allotment (IMTA) funds, per .

The state freight fund pays freight costs associated with instructional materials procurement, and local school systems can receive state freight funds through EMAT. Local school systems may not use freight funds for expenses incurred in local handling of instructional materials, per . As such, school systems should keep the following in mind when procuring instructional materials:

School systems can ship to one location, not individual campuses.
School systems with multiple geographic locations need to ship materials to one address per geographic regional service center, as listed in .
Publishers may offer a “mark-for,” where they package materials by campus.

Requisition or Disbursement?

The process to receive freight funding depends on whether the instructional materials or technology were procured through a requisition or a disbursement. * The following defines a requisition and a disbursement:

A requisition is an order placed in EMAT in which TEA sends the order directly to the publisher and deducts payment from the school system's allotment.
A disbursement is a request for funds in EMAT (not an order for materials) that school system's use to purchase instructional materials or technology services directly from a publisher or vendor.

Use the following sections to determine the appropriate steps to receive freight depending on the procurement method:

*Note to Publishers: refer only to the information provided in the Freight Funding Steps: Requisition section.

Shipments Weighing over 150 Pounds

Local school systems submit a requisition for instructional materials in EMAT.
The publisher may send an invoice for freight costs directly to the school system.
- For shipping, publishers are required to ask school systems if they have a preferred freight provider with a lower shipping cost than the publisher itself can provide.
If an invoice is received, the school system can submit a disbursement request in EMAT to receive freight funds to pay the invoice. Note: Freight requests should only be submitted once the exact freight cost is known.
- In the Long Description field of the disbursement request, enter the publisher's name and requisition ID from the original requisition.
- For example: “Publisher: Generic Publisher Name, Requisition ID: D000123456”
  - The requisition ID is in the original request that contains the instructional materials purchased. Go to the district start page and find the EMAT Requisition List. Then, identify the requisition ID associated with the freight funds being requested.

Note: After the freight disbursement is submitted in EMAT, it will be processed in the same manner as all IMTA disbursements are processed.

Shipments Weighing 150 Pounds or less – For Publishers Only

Publishers should use TEA’s FedEx account to pay for freight costs of shipments less than 150 pounds.

Submit a to request the TEA FedEx account number.
Publisher contacts FedEx directly (1-800-463-3393) to arrange for shipping.
- Publishers must include the transaction ID from the EMAT requisition on all FedEx documents.

Local school systems submit a disbursement request for funds in EMAT to purchase instructional materials or technology services. Note: Freight requests should only be submitted once the exact freight cost is known.
Local school systems can submit a disbursement request in EMAT to receive funds to pay the freight or shipping costs.
- In the Long Description field of the disbursement form, enter the publisher's name and transaction ID from the original disbursement.
- For example: “Publisher: Generic Publisher Name, Transaction ID: D000123456”
  - The transaction ID can be found in the original disbursement request that contains the instructional materials purchased. Go to the district start page and click on the allotment disbursement link. Then, find the transaction ID associated with the freight funds being requested.

Note: After the freight disbursement is submitted in EMAT, it will be processed in the same manner as all IMTA disbursements are processed. Freight disbursement requests approved in the same payment period are grouped together into one payment. As such, the same document number, payment ID, payment date, and amount will show on the View Payment Information link for both the instructional materials and freight disbursement requests. Local school systems will not see freight payments in their allotment report.

Freight Overage Funds Process

A freight overage occurs when a local school system receives freight funds through an instructional materials disbursement but does not use the full amount. To avoid freight overages, it is recommended to submit freight disbursement requests after shipping is completed to ensure an accurate final freight cost.

Freight overage funds must be returned to TEA.

Freight Refund Request Steps:

Use the following steps to notify TEA of a freight overage and return the funds:

Navigate to the District Start Page in EMAT.
Click on Freight Refund listed in the sidebar on the right-hand side of the screen.
To create a new Freight Refund Request, click on NEXT inside the table.
Fill in the Transaction ID field by clicking on the magnifying glass icon to find the disbursement request for the freight overage. *
Confirm the Transaction Line Number by clicking on the magnifying glass icon. *
Information will populate in the Freight Refund Request based on the Transaction ID and Transaction line selected.
There will be four remaining fields that will need to be filled out, including:
- The Freight Amount Used (how much of the original freight request was actually used);
- Refund Check # (the check number);
- Certified by (the name of the person submitting the refund request); and
- Certifier Phone (the phone number of the person submitting the refund request).
Before the Freight Refund Request is submitted, ensure the Notify TEA box is selected.
Double-check that all the information on the Freight Refund Request is accurate and then click Save.
Print the Freight Refund Request and mail it to TEA with the refund check included. Highlight the TEA Voucher ID field on the printed Freight Refund Request, as TEA Accounting requires that information to process the refund. Refund checks should be made out to the �� and mailed to the following address:

TEA-MSC

P.O. Box 13717

Austin, Texas 78711-3717

Submit a to ensure TEA is aware of your Freight Refund Request.

*Please note that only one Transaction ID can be selected for each freight refund. If multiple freight overages have occurred from multiple different disbursement requests, submit a Freight Refund Request for each one.

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