Sec. 80-3.15. Statement of continued eligibility for teachers of students with disabilities who teach a special class in grades 7-12

(a) Upon application, a person who meets the requirements of this section and is employed in a public school or other school for which teacher certification is required to teach a special class, as defined in section 200.1(uu) of this Title, may be issued a statement of continued eligibility pursuant to which such person may teach one or more of the following subject areas in a special class without a teaching certificate in these areas as is required under this Part: biology, chemistry, earth science, English Language Arts, general science, world language other than English (specified) in either (grades 5-9) or (grades 7-12), mathematics, physics, and social studies; provided that such person holds a valid initial or professional certificate in the classroom teaching service in students with disabilities (grades 7-12) generalist, students with disabilities (grades 7-12) content specialist, students with disabilities (grades 5-9) generalist, students with disabilities (grades 5-9) content specialist; or the special education generalist permanent certificate and meets the requirements of this section for each subject area for which the person is seeking a statement of continued eligibility.

(b) A statement of continued eligibility must be obtained for each subject area the teacher seeks to teach without certification in the special class.

(c) The statement of continued eligibility shall be valid for service in any district and shall be continuously valid provided that the person holds a valid initial or professional certificate in students with disabilities (grades 7-12) generalist, students with disabilities (grades 7-12) content specialist, students with disabilities (grades 5-9) generalist, students with disabilities (grades 5-9) content specialist, or the special education generalist permanent certificate and is teaching in a special class, as defined in section 200.1(uu) of this Title.

(d) Applications for the statement of continued eligibility shall be submitted to the department, on a form prescribed by the commissioner, on or before June 30, 2021 and candidates must meet the requirements in the following paragraph to be issued a statement of continued eligibility for each subject area in which the statement of continued eligibility is sought prior to June 30, 2021:

(1) As part of the application, the candidate shall submit satisfactory evidence of at least three years of satisfactory full-time teaching experience prior to June 30, 2021, during which time the candidate met the qualifications to be considered highly qualified for a core academic subject for purposes of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) under the former 34 C.F.R. 200.56 through passing the high objective uniform State standard of evaluation rubric (HOUSSE) to demonstrate subject matter competency in grades 7- 12 in the subject area in which the statement of continued eligibility sought. The candidate shall submit, as part of the application, the completed HOUSSE rubric from the district(s) for each year of experience for each subject area that the candidate seeks a statement of continued eligibility.