Certification Requirements
Teachers hired to teach in a core academic subject must be "highly qualified" when hired.
Core Academic Subjects: English, Reading or Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Foreign Languages (languages other than English), Civics and Government, Economics, Arts (Music, Art, Theatre and Dance), History and Geography.
Teachers are required to provide documentation of Highly Qualified status from previous School District (not applicable to first-year teachers).
Only "Certified and Highly Qualified" applicants will be considered for employment.
The following District Advisory Committee (DAC) recommendation was approved by the Granbury ISD Board of Trustees at its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, March 10, 2008.
The policy is as follows:
a. ESL – New Employees
Beginning on January 1, 2009 and continuing thereafter, all elementary teachers and secondary English/Language Arts teachers hired by the District will be required to be ESL certified upon employment or by the end of the first full semester of employment. Elementary teachers exempt from this requirement are those hired to teach in art, music, and physical education. The employee is required to maintain the ESL certification at all times during the period of employment with the District.
Preference in hiring will be given to those applicants with ESL certification. If an applicant is not ESL certified and the person is the best applicant for the job, as a condition of employment, the applicant must agree to become ESL certified before the end of the first semester of the initial school term of employment. The contract of any such employee who cannot supply proof of ESL certification to the District by the first of the month following the end of the first full semester of employment will be terminated at the end of the initial school term of employment.
b. ESL – Current Employees
With the exception of elementary art, music and physical education teachers, all current elementary teachers and secondary English/Language Arts teachers employed as of March 10 , 2008 and those beginning their employment before January 1, 2009 in these areas will be notified immediately or upon employment that they have until January 31, 2011, to provide proof of ESL certification to the District. After which time, the contract of any teacher who has not provided proof of ESL certification to the District will be non-renewed or terminated to be effective at the end of the 2010-2011 school term. (See Policy DFBB(LOCAL) #16 and #28). The teacher will not be offered a contract for the following school term. The employee is required to maintain the ESL certification during the period of employment with the District.
For current employees and any new employee hired before January 1, 2009 the District will pay for the following items in connection with the teacher becoming ESL certified.
- One day of pay, at regular certified teacher substitute daily rate, for an ESL exam prep day (This cannot be any of the regular 187 teacher work days of the school term)
- The fee for test registration for a passing score on the ESL exam
- The fee for placing the ESL certification on the teachers certificate
c. Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) – New Employees
Beginning on February 1, 2008, all secondary core subject area teachers hired by the District to begin work in the 2008-2009 school term and thereafter will be required to have eighteen (18) hours of initial training in SIOP upon employment or by February 1 of the initial school term of employment. The secondary core subjects are defined as English/Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies.
The contract of any such employee who cannot supply proof of 18 hours of initial training to the District by February 1 will be terminated at the end of the initial school term of employment. The initial 18 hours of SIOP training and the six (6) hours update of SIOP training is provided by the District annually. The employee is required to maintain the training during the period of employment with the District.
d. Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) – Current Employees
All current secondary core subject teachers employed as of March 10, 2008 will be notified immediately that they have until February 1, 2009, to show proof of training in the initial 18 hours of SIOP or 6 hours of update SIOP training. The secondary core subjects are defined as English/Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies.
The contract of any teacher who cannot provide the SIOP credentials to the District will be non-renewed or terminated to be effective at the end of the 2008-2009 school term. The initial 18 hours of SIOP training and the 6 hours update SIOP training is provided annually by the District. (See Policy DFBB(LOCAL) #16 and #28). The employee is required to maintain the training during the period of employment with the District.
