Patty Fox Professional Development Information |
District Professional Development Requirements
- Principals and teachers set yearly professional development goals with their supervisors.
- All teachers must participate in a minimum of 24 hours of professional development during each school year.
- Professional development may include workshops, conferences, in-services, and coursework.
- At least 12 of these 24 hours will be offered by the school/principal. This is a minimum requirement and does not limit the authority of the principal to require additional training to meet individual and school needs.
Professional Development Exchange Day(s)
- Teachers may earn one or two days off for professional development received during “off contract” time from the day after school is out in one year until the day school is out in the next year.
- “Off contract” time includes weekend, holiday, after school, and summer hours that are outside of the teacher’s regularly scheduled working hours.
- Hours used toward the day off cannot have been used to gain in-service credit for certificate renewal or college course credit. Educators may also not have received any form of payment for hours that are used for an exchange day. They can be part of the district yearly-required 24 hours.
- 7 hours of professional development may be exchanged for one day off.
- Days off must be taken on the predetermined professional development exchange days on the school district calendar, and they must be preapproved by the principal.
- The three professional development exchange days that are eligible to be used for a day off during the 11/12 school year are October 13, October 14, and January 13.
State Certificate Renewal Guidelines
- New teachers and PACE teachers who hold a South Carolina Initial (3 year) Certificate are not eligible to begin accruing renewal credit points toward certificate renewal until they have received a South Carolina Professional (5 Year) Certificate.
- Teachers holding a SC Professional Certificate with less than a Masters degree must earn at least one 3-hour graduate level course from an accredited college or university and 60 renewal points or an additional 3-hour graduate course within a five-year validity period to renew their state Professional Certificate.
- Teachers holding a SC Professional Certificate with a Masters degree or higher must earn 120 renewal credit points, 6 college credit hours, or 60 renewal credit points and 3 college credit hours within a five year validity period to renew their state certificate.
For more information on certificate renewal: visit the district’s web site, click on Teachers, and then click on Recertification.