Ex-Deer Creek teacher regains his certification
Ex-Deer Creek teacher regains his license

By Wendy K. Kleinman and Dawn Marks

Published: December 9, 2007

Though Tim Draper got the resolution he was hoping for, the scuffle over his certification revealed vague policies that could trap other teachers.

Draper is an alternatively certified teacher, and because he did not take the traditional path to becoming an educator, he was required to complete extra professional development programs.

In all the he-said-she-said of Draper's October and November hearings before the state board over his record of professional development, it became clear the lingering question is about whose responsibility it is to keep track of those extra requirements.

The state? It has the power to certify a teacher.

The district? It's responsible for its employees.

The teacher? It's his livelihood.

"Well, make it on pink paper or something,” state schools Superintendent Sandy Garrett said in response.

Draper said he read the information but did not understand that part.

"This (confusion) may be nobody's fault — but it may be everybody's fault,” said Draper's attorney, Chris Smith.

Regularly licensed teachers must complete 75 hours of professional development every five years, and alternatively certified teachers must complete between 105 and 135 hours in their first three years of teaching.

State board rules say that districts must record every teacher's professional development participation in their personnel files.

What the state board rules don't say is that districts only are required to record the minimum districts have to offer, which amounts to 15 hours per year — enough only for licensed teachers to satisfy their five-year requirements. Essentially, the state board policy doesn't make it clear that a district's responsibility stops at the minimum.

"I think that whether it's the individual teacher or the local district or the state department, we need to make sure that when they become alternatively certified they understand, clearly understand, what their responsibilities and obligations are,” Smith said.

Smith said his client understood from the rules and from talking to fellow teachers that the district kept track of their hours, and that no one made a differentiation between minimum hours and extra hours.

District level

Deer Creek's policy, which was amended Sept. 19 in the midst of Draper's case, also raises questions. School board members voted to add language to the district's professional development policy explicitly stating that it's the teachers — omitting the state-imposed obligation of the district — who are responsible for accumulating and maintaining records of staff development points.

Lenis DeRieux-Winkle, the district's personnel and communications director, said that teachers, both alternatively and regularly certified, always have kept track of their professional development hours and that board members decided to include that in the written policy as a reminder.

But she also added something not stated in the new policy — that because the district still tracks the minimum amount, it only really applies to teachers who take extra development hours.

"It is a teacher's responsibility,” Smith said when asked for his response, "but I would like to believe ... that (school districts are) working with their teachers to assist them in becoming certified.”

Comments