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Board approves sweeping educator‑certification rules package to streamline pathways and CTE endorsements
Summary
The South Dakota Board of Education Standards approved ARSD 24:28, a 345‑page rules package to simplify educator certification, clarify career and technical education (CTE) endorsement routes, remove an unnecessary 'alternative preliminary' step, and add flexibility for renewals and CTE endorsements. The vote was 7–0.
The South Dakota Board of Education Standards voted unanimously to approve the department’s ARSD 24:28 educator‑certification rules package after extended discussion about career‑technical education pathways, validated work experience and tribal language permits.
Dr. Catherine Blaha, director of accreditation and certification at the Department of Education, told the board the package’s goal is to “eliminate unnecessary barriers to certification, clarify the requirements to obtain certification, ensure educators are adequately trained, provide additional flexibility for certification renewals, and clarify and update language.” She described changes ranging from language cleanup to substantive shifts in how CTE endorsements and interim permit statuses are handled.
Why it matters: The package reorganizes material across chapters to make certification pathways clearer for districts and applicants, officials said. It creates three clearer CTE routes — a one‑year permit, a CTE instructor permit (up to five years), and a CTE alternative certification route — and allows multiple options to earn CTE endorsements, including validated work experience and national credentials.
Board members pressed department staff on implementation details. Jane Cronin, administrator of the office of educator certification, described the validated‑work process: applicants submit a form identifying employer, position, average weekly hours and total hours, with supervisor sign‑off; self‑employed applicants may provide redacted tax records or other documentation for verification. When Phyllis Heinemann noted a missing word on page 50, the board agreed without objection to add “validated” to clarify that the 4,000‑hour requirement is for validated work experience.
The package also clarifies two separate routes for Native American language permits — an eminent‑scholar permit that tribal governments sign off on and a university sign‑off route for regionally accredited institutions such as South Dakota State University and Oglala Lakota College. Jane Cronin said five post‑secondary institutions can sign off on the permit routes named in the packet.
Proponents appearing during the public hearing said the changes reduce friction for districts, especially in rural areas. Brock Raps of South Dakota HOSA and superintendents who testified said the rules would expand access to health‑science and other CTE instructors by recognizing industry experience as a valid pathway to classroom certification.
The board voted to approve the rules and authorized the department to proceed to the Interim Rules Review Committee and final publication steps. Dr. Blaha said the department expects to present the package to IRC on an upcoming schedule and — following publication and any required processing — the rules would take effect after the secretary of state’s publication timeline.
What’s next: Department staff will proceed with IRC review and final publication. The board permitted minor editorial corrections during codification; the department will incorporate the explicit insertion of the word “validated” where noted and other form‑and‑style edits required by the Legislative Research Council.
