Continuing Ed Committee

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

As mandated by MN state rule, the Byron Continuing Education committee shall consist of one administrator, one community resident and five persons licensed by the Board of Teaching who hold at least a baccalaureate degree and are employees of Dist. 531. Ideally, one faculty representative will be from the Byron Primary School, one from Byron Intermediate School, one from Byron Middle School, one from Byron High School, and one member at large. The school administration, school board, and/or current committee members may suggest individuals to fill the community representative position when a vacancy occurs. In April or May, each school building will elect teacher representatives for expiring terms with the results being announced via faculty bulletin or at a faculty meeting. The term of committee membership shall be two years, beginning in September following election. There is no limit on the number of terms an individual may serve. If a vacancy occurs during a member's term, the committee will appoint an eligible replacement until the next annual election.  

OFFICES

The election of a chairperson and secretary will be held at the organizational meeting in September. A person familiar with licensure issues will be designated as the data recorder which is a paid position with the stipend specified in the Master Agreement between the BEA and the Byron School District.

DUTIES OF THE CHAIRPERSON

1. Call and conduct meetings
2. Notify committee members at least five days prior to a meeting
3. Prepare meeting agenda
4. Sign necessary forms
5. Serve as the official contact person
6. Vote on any question before the committee

DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY

1. Keep minutes of meetings
2. Handle correspondence and announcements
3. Maintain relicensure records or arrange for this to be done by another individual
4. Submit copy of local guidelines to state director of licensing when requested
5. Chair the committee in the absence of the chairperson
6. Provide faculty members with local guidelines
7. Provide faculty with a list of current continuing education committee members
8. Verify committee membership each year with the Professional Educators Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB)
   

COMMITTEE DUTIES

1. Set rules for its own operation and establish written guidelines.
2. Verify that experiences provide professional growth
3. Grant clock hours upon review of clock hour requests when requests align to clock hour guidelines
4. Act within a reasonable time on clock hour requests
5. Provide recommendations about in-service needs to the district administration
6. Provide supporting evidence to the PELSB when an appeal is taken from a local decision
7. Evaluate procedures and criteria for granting clock hours and recommend modifications to the PELSB
8. Provide teachers with a calendar of meetings.
9. Provide services and reports that may be required by the PELSB
10. Consider Appeals
11. Consider pre approval requests for travel experiences, grant final approval when appropriate
12. Accept clock hours already granted by another district for teachers who have taught in another district.
    
    

EMERGENCY APPROVAL

Approval for emergency requests during periods when the committee does not meet (ie. summers) may be obtained by contacting the chairperson, secretary, or other designated committee member who is authorized to consult with at least one other committee member and take action on the request.

EXCEPTION FOR LOCAL OPTION

The Board of Teaching shall approve requests submitted by local committees that, through their school district’s master contracts or other official agreements between the local school board and its teachers, which substitute development and implementation of individualized professional development plans for some or all of the clock hour requirements for renewal of continuing licenses, provided that each individualized professional development plan:

1. is designed primarily to enhance the teacher's ability to effect increased student learning; 
2. focuses on positive behavioral intervention and graduation standard accommodation, modification, and adaptation and specific content knowledge required for the teacher's assignment;
3. includes management and monitoring of student learning, including positive behavioral interventions and adaptation and modification of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to assist varied student learners in achieving graduation standards;
4. includes a focus on research-based best practice;
5. identifies the procedures and criteria by which successful development and implementation of the individualized professional development plan will be validated and communicated with the local continuing education committees;
6. requires that each teacher's individualized professional development plan equal or exceed 125 hours of professional development activities during the five-year period.

EXCEPTION FOR NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION

A local continuing education committee shall accept verification that a teacher is actively engaged in and making progress toward National Board of Professional Standards Certification or other national professional teaching certification approved by the Board of Teaching at the time of renewal as equivalent to fulfilling all clock hour requirements for continuing license renewal. A local continuing education committee shall accept verification that a teacher has earned National Board or other approved certification as equivalent to all clock hour requirements during the life of the certificate. If the certificate expires during the five-year renewal period, the local committee shall prorate hours completed under this exception and require completion of a prorated number of clock hours for the years the certificate is not in effect.

RIGHT OF APPEAL

When an applicant has not been granted the requested number of clock hours by the local committee, an appeal may be made to the local committee. An applicant must appeal to the local committee within 20 working days after notification of the decision of the local committee. Failure to file a written request with the local committee for an appeal within 20 working days constitutes a waiver of the individual's right of appeal.

Appeals denied by the local committee may be appealed to the Professional Educators LIcensing and Standards Board (PELSB) by the applicant. The PELSB shall extend the previous continuing license until all avenues of administrative appeal have been exhausted.