§ 1691. Purpose The purpose of this chapter is to establish a board of professional educators to oversee the training, licensing, and professional standards of teachers and administrators and to establish hearing panels to determine compliance with those standards to help ensure high caliber professionals and high quality public educational programs for Vermont students. (Added […]
§ 1691a. Definitions As used in this chapter: (1) “Administrator” means an individual licensed under this chapter the majority of whose employed time in a public school, school district, or supervisory union is assigned to developing and managing school curriculum, evaluating and disciplining personnel, or supervising and managing a public school system or public school […]
§ 1692. Requirement as to license Except for a substitute teacher in accordance with rules adopted by the Standards Board, a person shall not be employed as a teacher or administrator in a public school without having a license then in force. (Amended 1989, No. 118, § 3; 2005, No. 214 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, […]
§ 1693. Standards Board for Professional Educators (a) Board creation. There is hereby established the Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators comprising 13 members as follows: seven teachers; two administrators, one of whom shall be a school superintendent; one public member; one school board member; one representative of educator preparation programs from a public institution […]
§ 1694. Powers and duties of the Standards Board for Professional Educators In addition to any other powers and duties prescribed by law or incidental or necessary to the exercise of such lawful powers and duties, the Standards Board shall: (1)(A) Adopt rules pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 25 with respect to the licensing of […]
§ 1695. Review of licensing standards Prior to the prefiling by the Standards Board of a licensing standard or procedure proposed for rulemaking pursuant to 3 V.S.A. § 820, the Secretary may object to it before the State Board on the grounds that it would have significant adverse financial or operational impact on the public […]
§ 1695a. Pre-application criminal background determination; uniform process for foreign credential verification (a) Pre-application criminal background determination. An individual may request a pre-application determination of the individual’s criminal background. The pre-application determination shall adhere to the process set forth in section 254 of this title. Results of a pre-application determination shall not be binding on […]
§ 1696. Licensing (a) Qualifications of applicants. An applicant shall submit to the Secretary evidence satisfactory to the Secretary that the applicant either has completed all requirements of an approved educator preparation program or has otherwise acquired the knowledge and skills required for a license through coursework and experiences apart from an approved educator preparation […]
§ 1697. Fees (a) Each individual applicant and licensee shall be subject to the following fees: (1) Processing of application $50.00 per application (2) Issuance of Level I license $50.00 per year for the term of the license (3) Issuance of Level II license $50.00 per year for the term of the renewal (4) Official […]
§ 1698. Causes for licensing action Any one of the following, or any combination of the following, constitutes potential cause for licensing action whether occurring within or outside the State: (1) Unprofessional conduct, which means: (A) grossly negligent conduct or greater, on or off duty, that places a student or students in meaningful physical or […]
§ 1699. Reports of alleged unprofessional conduct or incompetence (a) An individual who has reasonable cause to believe a licensee has engaged in unprofessional conduct or is incompetent may, and a superintendent who has reasonable cause to believe a licensee has engaged in unprofessional conduct or is incompetent shall, submit a written report to the […]
§ 1700. Investigation (a) Investigation committee. Upon receiving notice of either an applicant’s appeal of a licensing office decision or an allegation of unprofessional conduct or incompetence on the part of a licensee, the hearing panel administrative officer shall assign one or more of its licensee members to serve on an investigation committee with an […]
§ 1701. Secretary’s determination (a) Matters involving denial of licensure. With respect to an applicant’s appeal, the Secretary shall, within 10 days of receiving the committee’s recommendation, affirm or reverse the licensing decision and notify the applicant in writing. If the Secretary reverses the decision, the office shall issue a license accordingly. If the Secretary […]
§ 1702. Hearing panels (a) Appointment. The Governor shall appoint seven teachers, four administrators, and three members of the public to serve on hearing panels for terms of three years beginning on July 1 of the year of appointment. No person shall be eligible for more than one sequential reappointment. The Governor shall ensure appointments […]
§ 1703. Time and notice of hearing The chair of the panel shall fix the time of hearing, which shall be between 30 and 60 days after, as applicable, filing of the license application appeal or service of the charge on the licensee. The chair shall provide the applicant or licensee notice of the hearing, […]
§ 1704. Burden of proof (a) Denial of licensure. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the burden of proof in matters involving the denial of an initial license or the addition of an endorsement to a license once issued shall be on the applicant by a preponderance of the evidence. (b) Alleged […]
§ 1705. Hearing officer recommendation The hearing officer shall conduct the hearing for the purpose of issuing recommended findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a proposed decision to the hearing panel. The hearing officer may administer oaths and otherwise exercise the powers of a judicial officer regarding the conduct of a fair and impartial […]
§ 1706. Decision and order (a) Hearing panel decision. The hearing panel may take additional evidence and may accept, reject, or modify the recommendations of the hearing officer and shall issue findings of fact, conclusions of law, and an order within 30 days of receiving the recommendations, unless the hearing panel grants an extension for […]
§ 1707. Appeal from panel order (a)(1) A party aggrieved by a final decision of a hearing panel may, within 30 days after the decision, appeal that decision by filing a notice of appeal with the administrative officer of the hearing panel, who shall refer the case to the Director of the Office of Professional […]
§ 1708. Accessibility and confidentiality of licensing matters (a) It is the purpose of this section both to protect the reputation of licensees from public disclosure of unwarranted complaints and to fulfill the public’s right to know of any action taken against an applicant or a licensee when that action is based on a determination […]
