All certificates of completion and official transcripts concerning renewal credit should be submitted to your District Renewal Coordinator at the district's human resource office. The District Renewal Coordinator has access to their employees' Professional certificates and may renew the certificates directly. Renewal requests submitted by South Carolina public school district employees directly to the Office of Educator Services will be denied.

Purpose

The purpose of the certificate renewal plan is to provide a mechanism that will enable educators employed in a South Carolina public school district and educators employed by participating educational entities to apply a broad range of relevant professional development activities toward their certificate renewal. The certificate renewal plan is intended to:

1. Encourage educators to engage in meaningful, quality professional development activities that are directed toward promoting student achievement

2. Ensure that educators are accountable for their continuous professional development

3. Be operationally efficient

Description

The certificate renewal guidelines apply to any person who holds a South Carolina educator’s certificate. An educator’s professional certificate is valid for five years and expires on June 30 of the expiration year. In order to be eligible for certificate renewal, the educator must earn a minimum of 120 renewal credits, as described in the renewal credit matrix, during the five-year validity period of the certificate.

Certification Renewal Plan - This is the Cherokee County School District Certification Renewal Plan and should be reviewed by all certified personnel.

Renewal Credit Computation Sheet- This form must be submitted to Tammy Perry in HR, along with renewal credit documents.   The SC Department of Education does not process renewal credits.

Renewal Credit Matrix - This tool can be helpful with choosing where to place renewal credits on the computation sheet.

Renewal Credit Examples 

The Read to Succeed (R2S) Act requires that all certified educators earn the appropriate R2S Endorsement(s) for their field(s) as part of their regular Professional certificate renewal cycles.

The goal of the R2S Act is to ensure that every educator at every grade level in every school and subject area is committed and able to support the reading development of the South Carolina students they serve.

Visit this link for more information.

SC Department of Education
Renewing a Professional Certificate

• Educators must earn a minimum of 120 renewal credits within a set time frame to meet renewal requirements.

• Valid certificates must meet requirements within their current certificate's validity.

• Expired Professional certificates must meet all renewal requirements within the five-year period prior to their formal request for renewal.

Example: If a Professional certificate was valid from 2013-18 and the educator requests renewal during the spring semester of 2019, their time frame for eligible renewal credits is spring semester 2014 to spring semester 2019.

Jason Flatt Training Requirement

Educators working in a South Carolina public middle or high school setting must satisfy the Jason Flatt Act suicide awareness training requirements before their Professional certificate can be renewed. Educators may complete this requirement through:

• Their employing South Carolina public school district's approved suicide awareness trainings; or

• The South Carolina Department of Mental Health's Signs Matter: Early Detection training; or

• The Jason Foundation's Mental Health Issues Surrounding Suicidal Ideation (Module 2) training.

Read to Succeed (R2S) Endorsement Requirement

Educators holding Professional certificate that expires in 2020 or beyond must earn the appropriate R2S endorsement to remain eligible for certification renewal. Each course that is accepted for meeting R2S endorsement requirements is also pre-approved for earning 60 renewal credits. It is highly recommended that educators complete R2S coursework as part of their 120 renewal credits, rather than in addition to these requirements. 

Please review our Read to Succeed Requirements page for guidance on required coursework and timelines.

Elimination of the Graduate Course Requirement

Effective beginning June 26, 2020, Regulation 43-55 will be amended to remove the requirement of a graduate course for certificate renewal for educators who do not hold a master's degree. 

• Educators employed in a South Carolina public school are encouraged to contact their employing school district regarding their updated renewal eligibility and to request renewal processing.

• Educators not employed in a South Carolina public school district and who have completed all other renewal requirements may submit a Request for Change/Action Form to be re-evaluated for certification renewal eligibility.