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Board adds five-year requirement for waived National Board Certification in principal career-ladder rule
Summary
Members approved adding a five-year stipulation to the draft waiver process for the “licensed principal” tier of the Maryland career ladder: where an NBCT requirement is waived because none are available, the hire must obtain National Board Certification within five years.
The Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board voted Feb. 6 to add a time-limited condition to the draft waiver process tied to the National Board Certification (NBC) requirement for the licensed principal tier of Maryland’s educator career ladder.
The law requires a National Board Certificate (NBC) for candidates who advance to the licensed principal tier beginning July 1, 2029, but also directs the State Board to specify “appropriate” waiver conditions. A statewide work group produced recommended waiver conditions. The board’s discussion focused on how to treat hiring situations in which no NBC-qualified candidates are available and on the differing circumstances of sitting principals versus individuals who take a principal assignment after July 1, 2029.
Board members voiced concern that a permanent waiver could undermine the statute’s intent to increase NBC-qualified instructional leaders. After deliberation, board member Sandra (last name not provided) proposed — and the board approved by roll call — adding a stipulation to the waiver provision (listed as Condition 2 in the draft) requiring that a candidate hired under the waiver obtain National Board Certification within five years of the assignment.
MSDE staff clarified that the licensure regulations already include several pathways for licensure for out-of-state candidates and that the work group did not intend to preclude out-of-state principals from advancing. The board also discussed alternative waiver conditions: (1) that the candidate be unable to earn NBC because no NBC exists for the subject area (for example, less-common world languages or some specialist areas), (2) that the candidate have prior effective evaluations as assistant principal or principal, or (3) that the candidate be a principal in another state with five years of effective principal evaluations.
During roll call the motion to add the five-year NBC completion requirement passed with a majority and one abstention; the board instructed staff to include the stipulation in the memorandum to the State Board of Education and to reflect the change in the forthcoming COMAR drafting steps. MSDE staff said the State Board will review the recommended criteria and waiver conditions and that any approved criteria will be carried into COMAR.
