| 5.1 |
Staffing Requirements:
| 5.1.1 |
Administration
| 5.1.1.1 |
A school employing fewer than five full-time
teachers must have one assigned teaching
administrative officer with a minimum of
20% release-time to perform administrative
duties in a professional and effective
manner. |
| 5.1.1.2 |
A school employing five to fourteen full-time
teachers (or an equivalent with use of
part-time teachers) must have an assigned
administrative officer with at least 50%
release-time to perform administrative
duties in a professional and effective
manner. |
| 5.1.1.3 |
A school employing fifteen or more full-time
teachers must have an assigned full-time
chief administrative officer and, if necessary,
sufficient administrative support staff
to perform administrative duties in a professional
and effective manner. |
| 5.1.1.4 |
Schools maintaining facilities on separate
sites must have an assigned administrator
at each site in accord with the standard
listed above. |
|
| 5.1.2 |
Faculty
The teaching faculty must be of sufficient
number and its work distributed in a manner
so as to implement the full program of the
school satisfactorily. Attention must be given
to the appropriateness of class size and teacher-student
ratio insofar as they relate to acceptable
teaching conditions, methods and student loads.
The school’s program and instruction
must be so designed that it meets the abilities,
needs and interests of individual students
consistent with the philosophy of the school. |
| 5.1.3 |
Support Staff
The school must be sufficiently staffed in
all necessary support areas to promote its
professional, efficient and safe operations.
(Support staff may include instructional, secretarial,
clerical, maintenance/custodial, transport,
and food service personnel.) |
|
| 5.2 |
Staff Qualifications
| 5.2.1 |
General
| |
A close walk with God is the prerequisite
for representing Jesus Christ in the classroom
and throughout the school, as demonstrated
by active church membership and a lifestyle
which is consistent with biblical principles
and moral commandments. Teachers, administrator,
and staff personnel must be born again
with clear testimonies for Christ and must
evidence a sense of God’s calling
to serve Him in the Christian school. The
teachers and staff must affirm the doctrines
of the Reformed faith. |
| |
The relationships of all personnel with
students, parents, colleagues, the administration,
and the board must be open and positive,
fostering cooperative relationships within
the school. |
| |
School administrators must affirm the
doctrines of the Reformed faith and the
mission and philosophy of the school. |
|
| 5.2.2 |
Academic
| 5.2.2.1 |
Administration
| 5.2.2.1.1 |
The school head must meet
one of the following:
| 5.2.2.1.1.1 |
Hold a graduate degree
and be certified in educational
leadership, supervision,
and/or administration. |
| 5.2.2.1.1.2 |
hold a graduate degree
and have earned at least
18 semester hours of credit
in educational leadership,
supervision, and/or administration. |
| 5.2.2.1.1.3 |
Have earned a graduate
degree and have specific
skills, training, or experience
that might be considered
equivalent to the specified
credits. |
Administrative
heads of schools that do not
hold the required degree or
have not earned the specified
credits must be actively enrolled
in a program that leads to
meeting the requirement within
three years. |
| 5.2.2.1.2 |
Principals and instructional
administrators subordinate to
a school head must meet one of
the following:
| 5.2.2.1.2.1 |
Be certified or certifiable
in administration, supervision,
or educational leadership. |
| 5.2.2.1.2.2 |
Be actively engaged in
a graduate program leading
to certification or be
certifiable in administration,
supervision, or educational
leadership within four
years of accreditation. |
| 5.2.2.1.2.3 |
Hold a master’s
degree in business, education,
or divinity. |
| 5.2.2.1.2.4 |
All administrators must
be actively engaged in
ongoing professional growth. |
|
|
| 5.2.2.2 |
Faculty
| 5.2.2.2.1 |
Teachers (K-12) must hold a minimum of a Bachelor's Degree, be teaching in field, and/or be state or nationally certified. |
| 5.2.2.2.2 |
A teacher not in compliance with 5.2.2.1.3.1 must hold a Bachelor's Degree and have exceptional experience or expertise in their teaching assignment. The school head shall provide written rationale of justification to the CSF accreditation chair to validate the exception. Teachers who have not completed a supervised internship must be enrolled in a professional training program and complete it within three years. |
| 5.2.2.2.3 |
In disciplines other than English, mathematics, social studies, and science a school may employ a non-degreed teacher if that teacher possesses exceptional experience or expertise, and the school head provides to the director of accreditation written notice and rationale or justification to validate this exception.
Note#1: A school may have up to 20% of FTE teachers in academic classes designated as exceptional. |
| 5.2.2.2.4 |
Instructional personnel of three to four year old children must comply with ONE of the following requirements:
- A valid teaching certificate in early childhood, child development or elementary education, or;
- A college degree plus experience or training in early childhood education, or documentation of continued course work in early childhood education, or;
- An associate of Arts Degree with a certificate from an early childhood program recognized by CSF.
- Any teacher who has less than the above requirements must have a CDA with a minimum of five years teaching experience in early childhood education. (Note: This teacher does not qualify to teach in the UVPK Program.)
- Any teacher who has less than a four-year Bachelor's Degree must work under the direction of a qualified teacher or director and provide documentation of continued course work in early childhood education.
|
| 5.2.2.2.5 |
Instructional staff members must spend a major part of the day teaching in the field(s) for which they are academically prepared. Teachers out -of-field must be academically prepared or otherwise demonstrate proven competency in their teaching assignments. |
| 5.2.2.2.6 |
All classroom teachers must earn (6) semester credit hours every five years of employment or (3) semester credit hours and (60) in-service hours every five years of employment or (120) services hours every five years of employment. These in-service hours must be approved and documented by the school head or academic principal and kept in the personnel files with the school. |
|
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|
5.3 |
Employment Policies and Procedures
| 5.3.1 |
The school must operate under employment practices
and procedures necessary to maintain qualified
and competent personnel in accordance with established
educational practices and legal requirements. (e.g.
reference checks, fingerprint clearances, etc.) |
| 5.3.2 |
The school is required to maintain an updated
employee policy handbook. |
|
| 5.4 |
Personnel Records
| 5.4.1 |
Accurate and complete personnel records must
be kept on each employee and files must include
such documentation as employment application
forms, contract, references, required transcripts
and Florida State Certificates, health records,
performance evaluations, OSHA training, fingerprint
clearance, background checks, etc. |
| 5.4.2 |
Annual evaluations of faculty and faculty
professional development plans are required.
Professional development plans are to have both
administration and teacher input. |
| 5.4.3 |
Records must be safely stored, well-maintained,
and protected from public access. |
|
| 5.5 |
Job Description
| 5.5.1 |
Job descriptions must be written and “on
file” for every school employee. |
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