Unless an educator meets requirements to renew a Professional or Limited Professional certificate or to advance from an Initial to a Professional certificate, the SCDE will add a one-year grace period to remaining Initial, Professional, and Limited Professional certificates that expire on June 30, 2020—including certificates that were extended for the 2019-20 school year. The new end-validity date with the grace period will be June 30, 2021. Any extension already issued for the 2020-21 school year will be treated as a grace year and not counted as an extension. Districts and educators do not need to submit a request for the additional year. Instead, the grace year will be added through an automated process.
Tentative Timeline for Certificate Updates
June 30, 2020
The SCDE will renew all Professional and Limited Professional certificates with all renewal requirements on file. Districts must enter all renewal credits for their employed educators. Those educators not employed in a public school district or renewal entity must submit their renewal credits directly to the SCDE. We will then add a one-year grace period to all remaining Professional and Limited Professional certificates that expire on June 30, 2020.
July 20, 2020
The SCDE will complete the automated advancement of eligible certificates from the Initial to the Professional level. The one-year grace period will be added to all other Initial certificates that expired on June 30, 2020.
Renewal Credits and the One-Year Grace Period
Educators with a Professional certificate will still be able to use the renewal credits they have already earned. The period for earning renewal credits will be extended to include the grace year, and credits already earned will be applied to the renewal. An educator who receives the one-year grace period will be able to renew for a full five-year validity period upon completing all renewal requirements. The one-year grace period will not be deducted from the subsequent renewal.
ADEPT and the Advancement of Certificates from the Initial to the Professional Level
Districts have until July 1 this year to report the 2019-20 ADEPT evaluation results of their educators. After the verification process of these ADEPT results, the Office of Educator Services will automatically advance eligible Initial certificates to the Professional level. While many educators participating in a summative evaluation were able to complete the process before schools closed, others were not. Teachers who have successfully completed all requirements for the Professional certificate will have their credentials advanced. Teachers with Initial certificates expiring on June 30 who have not successfully completed all requirements, including those teachers whose ADEPT results were marked incomplete, will be issued the one-year grace period.
Renewals for Certification Permits Issued for 2019-20
Due to closures of Praxis testing centers and changes in college and university schedules, renewal requirements will be waived for educators issued a certification permit for 2019-20. Districts must request the permit for 2020-21, but educators do not need to submit coursework or Praxis scores for the renewal.
