Sisolak regulation eases teacher hiring problems

Gov. Steve Sisolak signed an emergency regulation at the request of the Nevada Department of Education that eliminates potential gaps in teacher hiring and licensure renewals because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The emergency regulation went in effect on Monday, June 22, 2020.

This emergency regulation allows the Superintendent of Public Instruction to extend expiration dates of educator licenses for up to 12 months and provides certain exceptions for mandatory exams on alternative teacher licenses. Alternative licensees are individuals who have earned a bachelor’s degree but did not complete a traditional teacher preparation program.

Nevada’s Praxis exams for teacher candidates are required to demonstrate competency and proficiency as well as meet the regulatory prerequisites to licensure. When testing centers closed May 15 because of the pandemic, the statewide vendor providing Praxis exams initiated at-home administration of certain exams. Some of the required exams, however, have not been made available, meaning alternate teacher applicants are unable to complete all the required testing.

The emergency regulation also addresses other logistical obstacles created by the pandemic including delays in fingerprinting and processing background checks.

“More than 4,700 educators’ licenses are due to expire over the next four months,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Jhone Ebert said. “This emergency regulation enables school districts to hire a significant number of teachers who would otherwise have been unable to renew their licenses because of the impact of COVID-19.”