Approved 5/22/06 EdVisions Cooperative Board of Directors

Plan of Guidelines for the Continuing Education/Relicensure

Committee of EdVisions Cooperative
Purpose

The continuing education committee of EdVisions Cooperative is established for the

purpose of evaluating continued education activities and recommending renewal for
teaching and support services licenses. The relicensure committee for EdVisions
Cooperative is equivalent to a local committee, representing the independent Chartered
Districts within the EdVisions Cooperative Membership. The duties of the committee
and criteria for granting clock hours will be identical to committees of traditional public
school districts. Each member district to the Cooperative will have the opportunity to
have representation within the Committee.

As modeled by the Minnesota Association of Charter School Relicensure Committee,

EdVisions Cooperative schools have a site-shared leadership governance which allows
for professional development in the areas of leadership in general growth. For this
purpose, additional categories are included to allow for inclusion of a portion of clock
hours for related experiences (See categories A-I).

The local committee is being established to assist teachers through the relicensure process
with the understanding that the responsibility for relicensure and professional growth is
the individual teacher’s.

Who the committee serves:

All non- administrative licensed individuals that hold a current license whether currently
working or retired from an EdVisions Cooperative School. Persons with teaching and
administrative licenses can use the EdVisions Cooperative committee for their teaching
renewal only.

Who is on the committee

The seven members consist of: five licensed teachers, two of which can be support staff
with a baccalaureate degree; one licensed administrator; and one community member that
is not an employee of an EdVisions Cooperative school.

Election of committee

Secret ballot elections will be held the first week in June each year. A letter will be sent
to the personnel contact at each EdVisions Cooperative school asking for nominations to
be accepted for a period of time. After nominations have been accepted, ballots will be
sent to the personnel contact at each school for distribution to the staff. The election
period will last one week as to facilitate the voting procedure. All election documents
will be retained by EdVisions Cooperative for 5 years.

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The committee term length will be for three years, and will be on a rotating election
schedule, with the exception of the first governance year, wherein the committee
members will be elected to 3, 2, or 1 year terms to begin the rotation. To ensure
representation from multiple sites, any committee member will only be allowed to serve
two consecutive terms, and one school site can only have one representative on the
committee. In addition the committee members will include fewer than four (4)
EdVisions Cooperative board members.

The EdVisions Cooperative relicensure committee will certify the elections and will
notify the Cooperative schools of the new committee members’ names within one week
of certification.

Mid-term vacancies will be filled by the committee by selection of eligible candidates.

Committee Meetings

The organizational meeting will be held at the September EdVisions Cooperative

Relicensure Committee meeting. Training will be provided for new members and a
chairperson and secretary will be selected. In addition to the annual meeting will be two
additional meetings in March and May. The actual dates and deadline for submitted
materials will be communicated to the personnel contacts at each Cooperative school in
the fall. Licensed staff members should submit their materials at least one week before
meetings to be placed on the agenda for that meeting. If the deadline is not met, the
materials will be held over to the next meeting.

Additional meetings can be called by the chairperson or by the request of three or more
committee members. A quorum is more than 50% of the voting members. A majority
vote of the members present is sufficient.

The EdVisions Cooperative relicensure committee will follow procedures established by

the state for licenses which have lapsed.

Approval for emergency requests during periods when the committee does not meet (for
example, summers) may be obtained by contacting the chairperson or secretary, who are
authorized to consult with one or two other committee members and take action on the
emergency request. However, when a designated member other than the chairperson
signs a renewal application in an emergency situation, in order to avoid return of the
application because of an apparently incorrect signature, the chairperson’s name is to be
signed with the notation “…by________________ (name of designee)”. This procedure
is limited to actual hardship situations and is not to be employed simply as a convenience
measure or as a substitute for proper committee action.

At regular meetings, the chairperson will apprise the members of correspondence and
business. The committee receives completed clock hour applications and keeps a record
for the renewal clock hours in permanent files at EdVisions Cooperative. Any discussion
of clock hours will be voted upon and the final decision will follow the majority vote of

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the committee. Two committee members must initial each clock hour form, with one
committee member compiling the information on the master record sheet with a signature
and notations of changes. All decisions will be kept on file in order to maintain
consistency from committee to committee.

Committee Duties
1. Operational Guidelines
 At the annual organization meeting, the EdVisions Cooperative relicensure
committee will review this document and procedures. The committee will also
assign clock hour values to each category in accordance to relicensure rules.
 Whenever significant changes are made to the local guidelines document,
distribution will be made in a packet provided to cooperative schools.
 Additionally, each school will receive a copy of the local guidelines document,
committee member roster and calendar for the year.
 A full document will be on file at EdVisions Cooperative office and will be sent to
any Cooperative Schools member at their request.
 An open hearing shall be held annually and the agenda for the hearing will
include the opportunity for comment on these operational guidelines.
2. Provide recommendations to the Board of teaching for Renewal of licenses
 Within reasonable time, act upon requests for recommendation for renewal of
continuing license by determining whether the applicant has met renewal
requirements.
 The Committee will accept previously earned or granted clock hours if a teacher
transfers into an EdVisions Cooperative school.
 Endorse the application for renewal of the continuing license of each qualified
applicant, as evidenced by the chairperson’s signature. Although the committee
will forward the licensure request to Minnesota Department of Education, it is the
applicant’s responsibility to be sure that the manager of licensing at MDE has
received the endorsed application.
 Provide supporting evidence to the Board of Teaching when an appeal is
submitted regarding a decision of the local committee.

3. Forward to the Board of Teaching the following information

 Prior to November 1st each year, verify the current membership of the Committee
and verify the schools whose personnel have established or ratified the committee.
 November 2006, and each five years thereafter, a copy of the published local
committee guidelines. At such time that substantial changes are made in local
guidelines, a revised copy of these guidelines shall be forwarded to the Board of
Teaching.
 During February of each year, forward any recommendations the committee has
for modifications in the continuing education rule, based upon an evaluation of
procedures ad criteria for granting clock hours.

4. Provide those services and reports that may be required from time to time by the
Board of Teaching

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5. Provide recommendations to appropriate personnel concerning the in-service

needs of a district.

Committee Member Duties

The chairperson calls and conducts meetings, prepares agendas, signs approved renewal
applications, provides leadership in orienting new committee members, serves as liaison
and contact person in the committee’s relationship with the EdVisions Cooperative Board
of Directors and outside agencies, coordinates revision of local guidelines, and other
necessary duties. The secretary is responsible for meeting minutes, minutes on
discussions for specific credit hours and the filing of these documents. Though the
officers may not personally perform all the assigned duties, they are responsible for their
timely and successful performance.

Responsibilities of Licensee

It is the responsibility of the person seeking the renewal of a continued license to submit
the application, including a Master Record Form, appropriate verification of hours, and
other supporting materials specified in these guidelines to the EdVisions Cooperative
Relicensure Committee, in accordance with due dates established by the committee. It is
also the responsibility of the applicant to make certain that the completed application and
processing fee are entered online at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/arule/8710/7200.html, after
the endorsement by the committee.

Appeal Procedures

If the EdVisions Cooperative Relicensure Committee does not grant the requested
number of clock hours, the applicant may appeal by written request to the Relicensure
Committee within one month after the notification of the decision by the committee.
Failure to file a request with the Relicensure Committee within one month constitutes a
waiver of the individual’s right to appeal. EdVisions Cooperative Relicensure Committee
denial of appeal may be appealed to the Board of Teaching within 10 days after the date
that denial is reaffirmed. For a local appeal, no special form is required, for a state appeal
a special form is required. In cases where the applicant has not been granted the required
number of clock hours for relicensure, the EdVisions Cooperative Relicensure Committee
shall not endorse the application for renewal of the continuing license. In the event that
the clock hours under appeal result in loss of licensure it shall be the responsibility of the
appellant to inform the Board of Teaching of their situation so the Manager of Licensing
can extend the previous license pending resolution of the appeal. The Manager of
Licensing shall extend the previous continuing license until all avenues of administrative
appeal have been exhausted.

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