Ex-Deer Creek teacher regains his certification
Ex-Deer Creek teacher regains his license
Comments 
3
By Wendy K. Kleinman and Dawn Marks
Published: December 9, 2007
A former Deer Creek teacher regained his license from the state Board of Education at the end of November, but only after a lengthy conflict.
Though Tim Draper got the resolution he was hoping for, the scuffle over his certification revealed vague policies that could trap other teachers.Advertisement
The answer
Districts are required to keep track only of some professional development hours. State Assistant Superintendent Ramona Paul said at the board's October meeting that alternatively certified teachers get a packet of information that tells them to keep track of it all.
"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.
The confusion
State level
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.”
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).