HB17-1178 Summary

• Rural school districts may hire unlicensed persons to fill vacant licensed teacher positions after advertising for at least one month and the board adopts a resolution declaring a critical shortage of licensed teachers.

• The resolution declaring a critical shortage is effective for one year, and the district may continue employing the nonlicensed person after the resolution expires without being required to replace them with a licensed teacher.

• Rural school districts must provide ongoing professional development and support to nonlicensed teachers and treat them the same as licensed teachers in performance evaluations under the school district's evaluation system.

• Nonlicensed teachers hired under this provision are subject to the same employment and evaluation provisions as licensed teachers and may receive compensation from school district funds.

• Rural school districts, groups of rural school districts, or boards of cooperative services may apply to the state board for waivers of statutes and rules if they demonstrate the waiver will meet statutory intent through alternative assessments, save time or resources, and enhance educational opportunity without decreasing academic achievement.