DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Professional Standards Board
FINAL
REGULATORY IMPLEMENTING ORDER
1515 Emergency Certificate
I. Summary of the Evidence and Information Submitted
The Professional Standards Board, acting in cooperation and consultation with the Department of Education, seeks the consent of the State Board of Education to amend 14 DE Admin. Code 1515 Emergency Certificate. It is necessary to amend this regulation to comply with action taken by the General Assembly with the passage of HB 147, which amended 14 Del.C. §1218. Section 10113 (5) of the Administrative Procedures Act exempts amendments to existing regulations to make them consistent with changes in basic law but which do not otherwise alter the substance of the regulation. In Section 2.0, the definition of “educator” was amended to comply with changes in statute. Section 3.1, was amended to reflect the change set forth in the definition of “emergency certificate”.
II. Findings of Facts
The Professional Standards Board and the State Board of Education find that it is appropriate to adopt this regulation to comply with changes in statute.
III. Decision to Adopt the Regulation
For the foregoing reasons, the Professional Standards Board and the State Board of Education conclude that it is appropriate to amend the regulation. Therefore, pursuant to 14 Del.C. §1205(b), the regulation attached hereto as Exhibit “B” is hereby adopted. Pursuant to the provision of 14 Del.C. §122(e), the regulation hereby amended shall be in effect for a period of five years from the effective date of this order as set forth in Section V. below.
IV. Text and Citation
The text of the regulation amended shall be in the form attached hereto as Exhibit “B”, and said regulation shall be cited as 14 DE Admin. Code 1515 of the Administrative Code of Regulations of the Department of Education.
V. Effective Date of Order
The effective date of this Order shall be ten (10) days from the date this Order is published in the Delaware Register of Regulations.
APPROVED BY THE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS BOARD THE 1ST DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2005
Harold Roberts, Chair Sharon Brittingham
Norman Brown Heath Chasanov
Edward Czerwinski Angela Dunmore
Karen Gordon Barbara Grogg
Bruce Harter Valerie Hoffmann
Leslie Holden Carla Lawson
Mary Mirabeau Gretchen Pikus
Karen Schilling Ross Carol Vukelich
FOR IMPLEMENTATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:
Valerie A. Woodruff, Secretary of Education
IT IS SO ORDERED THIS 15TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2005
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Jean W. Allen, President
Richard M. Farmer, Jr., Vice President
Mary B. Graham, Esquire
Barbara Rutt
Dennis J. Savage
Dr. Claibourne D. Smith
1515 Emergency Certificate
This regulation shall apply to the issuance of an Emergency Certificate, pursuant to 14 Del.C. §1221.
The following words and terms, when used in this regulation, shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Certified" means holding a certificate in a specific content area at designated grade levels.
"Department" means the Delaware Department of Education.
"Educator" means a public school employee who holds a license issued under the provisions of 14 Del.C. Ch. 12, and includes teachers and administrators, and as otherwise defined by the Standards Board and the State Board, pursuant to 14 Del.C. §1203, but does not include substitute teachers. a person licensed and certified by the State under 14 Del.C., Chapter 12, to engage in the practice of instruction, administration or other related professional support services in Delaware public schools, including charter schools, pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the Standards Board and approved by the State Board. For purposes of 14 Del.C., Chapter 12, the term ‘educator’ does not include substitute teachers.
"Emergency Certificate" means a certificate issued to an educator who holds a valid Delaware Initial, Continuing, or Advanced License, but lacks necessary skills and knowledge to meet certification requirements in a specific content area.
"Employing District" means a school district, charter school, or other employing authority that proposes to employ an educator under an Emergency Certificate.
"Exigent Circumstances" means unanticipated circumstances or circumstances beyond the educator's control, including, but not limited to, expiration of a license during the school year, serious illness of the educator or a member of his/her immediate family, activation to active military duty, and other serious emergencies which necessitate the educator's temporarily leaving active service.
"Satisfactory Evaluation" means an overall rating of "basic" or higher on an annual DPAS summative evaluation.
"Standard Certificate" means a credential issued to verify that an educator has the prescribed knowledge, skill and/or education to practice in a particular area, teach a particular subject, or teach a category of students.
3.0 Issuance of Emergency Certificate
Upon request from the employing district, the Department may issue an Emergency Certificate, valid for up to three years, to an educator who holds a valid Delaware Initial, Continuing, or Advanced License, or a valid Standard or Professional Status Certificate, but who is not eligible for certification in the area of need. An Emergency Certificate may not be renewed. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Emergency Certificate issued to an educator in a vocational trade and industry area is valid for up to six (6) years to provide time for completion of specified college level course work required for certification.
3.1 In its request for the issuance of an Emergency Certificate, the employing district must:
3.1.1 Document its efforts to hire a certified educator by supplying the Department with copies of job postings, recruitment efforts, and advertisements. Establish that the proposed recipient of an Emergency Certificate is competent by submitting evidence of the educator's license and other considerations, which may include, but are is not limited to, evidence of course work or work experience in the area for which the Emergency Certificate is requested, which the employing district applied in determining the proposed recipient's competence.
3.1.3 2 Set forth a written plan to support and assist the proposed recipient in achieving the skills and knowledge necessary to meet the applicable certification requirements.
3.2 Failure by the employing district to fulfill the conditions set forth in 3.1 above will result in denial of the Emergency Certificate.
3.3 The Emergency Certificate shall be in effect for three (3) years from the month in which the applicant is employed until the last day of the month of issuance three (3) years later, except in the case of an Emergency Certificate issued to a vocational trades and industry teacher, which shall expire on the last day of the month of issuance six (6) years later.
3.3.1 A certificate holder whose Emergency Certificate expires during the school year may have the Emergency Certificate extended until the last day of the fiscal year. This extension shall be considered an exigent circumstance and shall not exceed one (1) year in length.
4.1 Establish that the recipient of the Emergency Certificate has demonstrated competence through receiving a satisfactory evaluation on the Delaware Performance Appraisal System.
4.2 Document the progress made by the recipient of the Emergency Certificate toward fulfilling the plan established by the employing district to meet the applicable certification requirements.
4.3 Failure by the employing district to fulfill the conditions set forth in 4.1 and 4.2 above will result in suspension of the Emergency Certificate. A suspension may be lifted upon fulfillment by the employing district of the conditions set forth in 4.1 and 4.2 above.
5.0 Prior to the expiration of an Emergency Certificate, the recipient must meet the requirements for issuance of a Standard Certificate (See 14 Del.C. §1516).
6.0 The Secretary of Education may, upon the written request of the superintendent of a local school district or charter school administrator or other employing authority, review credentials submitted in application for an Emergency Certificate on an individual basis and grant an Emergency Certificate to an applicant who otherwise does not meet the requirements for an Emergency Certificate, but whose effectiveness is documented by the local school district or charter school administrator or other employing authority.
7.0 An Emergency Certificate shall be revoked in the event the educator's Initial, Continuing, or Advanced License or Limited Standard, Standard, or Professional Status Certificate is revoked in accordance with 14 DE Admin. Code 1516. An educator is entitled to a full and fair hearing before the Professional Standards Board. Hearings shall be conducted in accordance with the Standards Board's Hearings Procedures and Rules.
7 DE Reg. 161 (8/1/03
