Continued Employment of Out-of-Field Teachers

Per Rule 6A-1.0503 of the Florida Administrative Code, Florida Statute 1012.22, the district school board may approve the appointment of a teacher whose Florida educator’s certificate is in a subject area other than in the field required for the teaching assignment. One of two conditions must be met before approval can be granted.

1. The individual is in the first year of employment in the out-of-field assignment and has not been granted, during any preceding year in the district, approval by the school board to be employed out-of-field in an area for which specific certification is otherwise required, or
   
   
2. The individual has earned at least six semester hours of college credit or the equivalent in-service toward the appropriate certification required in subsection (1) within one calendar year from date of initial appointment to the out-of-field assignment and each calendar year thereafter until all requirements are completed for the appropriate subject certification. (Successfully passing the Florida subject area examination in the out-of-field assignment and adding the subject area to the certificate within the calendar year meets the college credit requirement.)
   
   Item 16.3.1(b) of the negotiated Teacher Contract also specifies, “teachers who fail to complete the annual requirements will not be eligible for transfer or placement to another out-of-field assignment until the requirements are met.” Teachers who do not comply with these requirements must return to assignments within their areas of certification through the voluntary transfer or pool placement processes. If no in-field assignments are available, non-compliant teachers are no longer eligible for any teaching positions. These individuals are eligible to substitute teach or to serve in another capacity at the appropriate rate of pay.

All District Goals and Critical Success Factors.

The district has reduced its FTE losses associated with teacher certification issues consistently with each state audit. There was a 36 percent improvement from the 2002-2003 audit ($691,128 reduction) to the 2005-2006 audit ($438,159 reduction). The alternative placement of non-compliant teachers is one action that reduces the district’s FTE audit liability.

Analyze the FTE audit exceptions from the 2008-2009 audit to determine improvement and/or to impose additional district steps needed to reduce FTE losses.