Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a)
Definitions.
As used in this section:
(1)
Substitute teacher means
one who is employed in place of a regularly appointed teacher who is absent but
is expected to return.
(2)
Long-term basis means employment for more than 40 days by a
school district or board of cooperative educational services in a school
year.
(3)
Itinerant
basis means employment for 40 days or less by a school district or
board of cooperative educational services in a school year.
(b)
Responsibility.
The responsibility for the employment of appropriately
qualified substitutes rests with the chief school officer. Persons employed on
a long-term basis shall have the proper certification for the position, except
as provided in paragraphs (c)(2) and (3) of this section.
(c)
Length of employment.
There shall be three categories of substitutes as
follows:
(1) Substitutes with valid
teaching certificates. Service may be rendered in any capacity, for any number
of days. If employed on more than an itinerant basis, such persons will be
employed in an area for which they are certified except as otherwise provided
in paragraph (4).
(2) Substitutes
without a valid certificate, but who are completing collegiate study toward
certification at the rate of not less than six semester hours per year. Service
may be rendered in any capacity, for any number of days, in any number of
school districts. If employed on more than an itinerant basis, such persons
will be employed in the area for which they are seeking certification except as
otherwise provided in paragraph (4).
(3) Substitutes without a valid certificate
and who are not working towards certification. Service may be rendered for no
more than 40 days by a school district or board of cooperative educational
services in a school year except as otherwise provided in paragraph
(4).
(4) In extreme circumstances
where there is an urgent need for a substitute teacher and the district has
undertaken a good faith recruitment search for an appropriately certified
candidate, and determined that there are no available certified teachers to
perform the duties of such position, a substitute teacher who holds a high
school diploma or its equivalent, may be employed by the school district or
board of cooperative educational services beyond 40 days, for up to an
additional 50 days (90 days total in a school year), if the district
superintendent (for districts that are a component district of a board of
cooperative educational services and boards of cooperative educational
services) or the superintendent (for school districts that are not a component
district of a board of cooperative educational services) certifies that the
district or board of cooperative educational services, as applicable, has
conducted a good faith recruitment search and there are no available
appropriately certified teachers that can perform the duties of such position.
In rare circumstances, a district or BOCES may hire a substitute teacher beyond
the 90 days, if a district superintendent or superintendent certifies that a
good faith recruitment search has been conducted and that there are still no
available appropriately certified teachers who can perform the duties of such
position and that a particular substitute teacher is needed to work with a
specific class or group of students until the end of the school
year.
(d)
Reporting.
The chief school officer of each school district and the
district superintendent of each board of cooperative educational services shall
submit an annual report concerning the employment of all uncertified substitute
teachers to the commissioner on forms prescribed by the commissioner, which
shall include the number of uncertified substitute teachers authorized to be
employed beyond 40 days for the limited circumstances described in paragraph
(4) of this section, with the required certification(s) from the district
superintendent or superintendent, as applicable, for each substitute teacher
employed beyond 40 days, certifying that a good faith recruitment search was
conducted and that there were no available appropriately certified teachers
that could perform the duties of such position. The annual report shall also
include the number of uncertified substitute teachers authorized to be employed
beyond 90 days for the limited circumstances described in paragraph (4) of this
section, with the required certification(s) from the district superintendent or
superintendents, as applicable, for each uncertified substitute teacher
employed beyond 90 days, certifying that a good faith recruitment search was
conducted and that there were no available appropriately certified teachers
that could perform the duties of such position and that a particular substitute
teacher is needed to work with a specific class or group of students until the
end of the school year.
