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Greetings from the Office of Licensure. As we enter the final season of 2022, we want to express our appreciation for the important work you do across the Commonwealth. This year has brought many changes and challenges. Your adaptability and flexibility does not go unnoticed. Please know we are here to support you and are so grateful for the work you do every day to support our school communities. |
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A renewable, professional license may be renewed anytime after January 1 of the year in which the license is set to expire. The Licensure Renewal Manual on our website contains the current renewal application. Our office is working on updating the instruction pages with requirements provided in the manual, but the application itself will not change. In the meantime, we encourage divisions to begin sending reminders to teachers who have a license expiring June 30, 2023.
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Role of the Employing School Division:
The employing educational agency is responsible for ensuring an employed individual has satisfied all renewal requirements within the validity period of the license. For licenses expiring June 30, 2023, all renewal statutory requirements and the 180 renewal points must have been completed after July 1, 2018. By checking the "renewal" box and signing the Licensure Request Form (LRF), submitting a Batch Renewal Request Form, or processing the renewal online through SSWS, the employing division is verifying that all renewal requirements have been met.
Additional documentation verifying completion of statutory requirements (i.e., certificates of completion) or licensure renewal points does not need to be submitted to this office. This information, including a copy of the application, should be kept on file at the employing school division.
Processes for Renewing a License:
Online through SSWS: School divisions are strongly encouraged to request renewals online through SSWS for individuals who hold an active license set to expire June 30, 2023. Processing renewal requests online through SSWS will not only expedite the process, but also eliminate the need to mail applications to this office for review. Please contact your licensure specialist if you are not using the SSWS online renewal system and wish to have your school division set up to process online renewals.
Batch Renewal Form: Renewal requests for individuals who hold a renewable license expiring June 30, 2023 may also be submitted on the Batch Renewal Request Form. This form allows the school division to request the renewal of multiple licenses at one time. The renewal fee for each individual listed on the form must be included with request. We ask that divisions submit a separate batch form for individuals who paid online with a credit card and provided a receipt from individuals who are paying with a check. Please note that name and address changes may be submitted on this form, however, additional requests such as adding an advanced degree or endorsement evaluations must be submitted separately with the LRF.
Expired renewable licenses or requests to renew Division Superintendent Licenses may not be renewed on a Batch Renewal Form or via SSWS.
Expired Renewable Licenses: In order to renew an expired, renewable license, please submit the LRF, a current application (first page only), and the required fee. Individuals who hold an expired, renewable license must meet the same requirements outlined in the Licensure Renewal Manual. The 180 renewal points and statutory requirements must be completed within the past five years from the date when the request for renewal is submitted to the Department of Education.
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All statutory requirements must be completed each renewal cycle. A certificate of completion must be kept in the license holder’s personnel file at the employing school division. Certificates of completion do not need to be submitted to this office with a request for renewal.
The following statutory requirements must be completed by every person seeking renewal.
NOTE: The certificate of completion for the two special education trainings is a fillable PDF. The individual will need to click on the name line and the date line to type in their information. Please do not accept certificates with handwritten names.
Depending on the endorsement area held, the following statutory requirements must be completed:
Effective July 1, 2023, every person seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license must complete Cultural Competency Training. This training can be satisfied with the module currently posted on our website, the VCU/Radford cohort that was previously provided, or with a training approved by the local school board that meets the competencies as prescribed by the Board of Education.
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Renewal Reminders
The Office of Licensure recently conducted a renewal desk audit. While most divisions were in compliance with renewal requirements, please note the following reminders as we dive into Renewal Season 2023:
Application & Individualized Renewal Record (IRR):
- When renewing online through SSWS, be sure to update/change the licensee’s address to what they have indicated on their renewal application form.
- The division contact should not complete any sections of the application form that the licensee should be completing (i.e., the address or signature date). This applies to both renewals and initial application forms.
- The individual must provide documentation for all activities reported on their IRR.
- If you are accepting a principal’s signature as verification of renewal activities in lieu of hardcopy certificates, you still will need to review the information indicated on the IRR to ensure that activities are reported correctly, the points are allocated properly, and the activities are not duplicated.
- Application forms issued October, 2020 and January, 2022 are acceptable. Prior versions of the application form should not be accepted.
- A driver’s license number is not acceptable on page 1 of the application form. The form requires a SSN or VA teaching license number.
Point Allocation: This is the maximum number of points that can be earned under this option. Be mindful of the maximum on each option. “Double dipping” one activity under multiple renewal options is not accepted. A licensee may not receive points for the same activity under multiple options.
Licensure Renewal Points: The “Domains of Professional Competency” provided on page 4 of the Licensure Renewal Manual provides in detail the acceptable substance or content with regards to the content of the professional development activity.
Regarding Option 1 - College Credit Coursework: The course should provide “new information." It cannot be a course the individual has already taken or content that would have been covered in a course previously taken. For example: It would not be appropriate for someone who was a mathematics major to take a course in precalculus for renewal.
Regarding Option 2 - Professional Conferences: An individual is eligible to receive a total of 15 renewal points total for presenting at a conference. This is the maximum point value whether they presented once or multiple times at the same conference. They do not receive 15 points per presentation.
If the conference is a one-day conference, sometimes attendees are given certificates that grant them contact hours. It is acceptable to report this activity under Option 8 “Professional Development Activities." However, an individual should not simply report “overflow” of points earned from professional conferences under Option 8 that would result in the majority/all of their renewal points having been earned by attending conferences.
Regarding Option 6 - Mentorship/Supervision: This should not be a part of the licensee’s routine employment responsibilities. If the division assigns a mentor teacher, it is recommended they provide some form of documentation of this to the licensee for their own records or to be kept in their personnel file.
Regarding Option 8 - Professional Development Activities: It is good practice to ensure certificates of completion or individualized notices are issued to each individual for PD offered by the employing school division.
This will come in handy if that individual chooses to leave the division prior to their renewal; they will have their own documentation rather than having to contact the division office to verify and risk the chance of it not being verified due to clerical errors or changeover in administration/leadership.
It is recommended that certificates of completion for each individual activity are kept in the licensee’s file if the division does not have a computerized database system/program that monitors and tracks professional development/renewal points.
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As we navigate through the implementation of the online licensing system eGov, please note the following information:
Licensure Document Upload (LDU): Once you receive the applicant's PKID number, please be sure you are uploading all of the applicable documentation needed in one file, and checking the boxes that correspond to the information contained in the file. The Licensure Request Form (LRF) serves as the cover page for each request and follow-up request submitted via LDU or mail. Please do not verify completion of statutory requirements on the LRF unless you have received certificates of completion directly from the applicant.
Application Fee: In eGov, the applicant has the option either to pay the application fee online at the time the application is submitted, or to request that the employing school division pay the application fee on their behalf. If your school division pays the application fee on behalf of your teachers, you will need to contact your licensure specialist in this office directly and request for an invoice to be created for the applicant. You can pay these invoices by logging into your registered eGov account. There is also an option to request that our office deduct the application fee from the division account. If you have questions about this process, please contact your licensure specialist directly.
We understand that it is difficult to determine what an applicant may have already submitted via eGov. We ask that you communicate directly with the applicant prior to asking the Office of Licensure to verify what may already be on file. Many school divisions require their teachers to submit everything needed for the application directly to them, regardless of what they may have already uploaded. This practice is working well, as it ensures a complete application is submitted and the division can keep this documentation for their records.
Check letters are mailed to both the applicant and division if additional documentation is needed or something was incorrectly submitted. Please note that the applicant can register for an eGov account using their SSN and view the check letter online, regardless of whether they applied online.
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Data Collection/Reporting Reminders
The Instructional Personnel Verification Report (IPAL) is an annual data collection used to report teaching assignments at the school level and to verify that each teacher meets the licensure requirements for their teaching assignment. Employing school divisions are responsible for requesting the required endorsement needed for the instructional assignment.
Helpful information can be found on the Master Schedule Collection webpage. Please keep in mind that matters of employment are by the authority of the employing educational agency.
- Master Schedule Collection, which includes IPAL reporting, is due December 7, 2022.
- Verification Reports due January 30, 2023.
- Positions and Exits Collection was due November 4, and the EOY report is due August 4, 2023.
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The Virginia Board of Education is seeking nominees for several vacancies on the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure (ABTEL). The Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure has vacancies for:
- A secondary classroom teacher representative (Term expires 6/30/24)
- A representative from a public higher education institution (Term expires 6/30/24)
Please find additional information about these vacancies in Superintendent’s Memo #261-22.
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Calendar Items
Licensure Training Opportunity
The Office of Licensure will be offering a training session on November 15, 2022 at 10:30 AM, and November 17, 2022 at 2:00 PM. We plan to cover topics related to desk audits, licensure updates, and programmatic updates, such as the online application system. For our veterans who need a refresher or for our new folks who need a jump start, we will also review licensure routes and renewals. Both sessions will cover the same material. This event will be recorded for your convenience, and the link will be emailed to all who register after both sessions are completed.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
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