Changes to Existing Law

Certification of educational professionals--Promulgation of Rules. The South Dakota Board of Education Standards shall promulgate rules, pursuant to chapter 1-26, to establish the requirements and criteria that an applicant shall meet in order to be issued a certificate by the secretary as a teacher, administrator, or other educational professional authorizing the holder of the certificate to accept a position in any elementary or secondary school in the grades and fields specified by the certificate. The rules shall specify the duration and the method of renewal or reinstatement, the amount of the fee for issuing the certificate, the application procedures and documentation requirements for certificates, the endorsements to certificates, the requirements for certification, the procedures for denial or nonrenewal of a certificate and disciplinary proceedings and assessment of costs, the procedures for requesting an inactive status and reinstatement, the procedures and costs for reinstatement of an invalid certificate, the definition of inactive certificate status, the procedures for processing applications and issuing certificates for military spouses, the procedures for granting reciprocity for any teacher who is certified to teach in another state and has completed an accredited teacher education program, and other procedures necessary for the administration of certification. In addition to teacher certificate renewal based on academic coursework, the rules for teacher certificate renewal shall include guidelines and criteria by which an applicant may receive credit toward renewal based on private or public sector experience that was not obtained through academic coursework if the experience is related to the applicant's teaching field. Any change to a rule promulgated pursuant to this section which that increases the educational requirements that an applicant shall meet to qualify for a 26 Catchlines are not law. (§ 2-16-13.1) certificate shall be preceded by at least two years' notice before the effective date of the change. The two-year notice requirement does not apply to an increase in the application fee, which increase shall must comply with §§ 1-26-4.8 and 1-26-6.9. 3