4111 4211 - Recruitment and Selection

Personnel - Certified/Non-Certified

4111/4211 - Recruitment and Selection

The Board of Education (Board) desires the Superintendent to develop and maintain a recruitment program designed to attract and retain the best possible personnel who are "effective teachers" as defined by federal law in the District's schools.  All District teachers must meet applicable state certification and licensure requirements, including any requirements for certification obtained through alternate routes to certification.

The Board recognizes the heterogeneity of the people who live in the Windsor Locks School District and believes that this characteristic should have an important bearing on all aspects of the District's activities.

The Board believes it is especially important that this heterogeneity of population be recognized in the recruitment and assignment of personnel.

To this end, the Board shall develop and implement a written plan for minority staff recruitment. The administration is directed to make a serious effort to see that the recruitment procedures of the District produce a total staff representative of the total population of the District and that the assignment procedures of the District bring to each school staff members representative of the population represented by the student membership in each local school.

The schools shall engage in fair and sound personnel practices in the appointment of all District employees.  The administration shall be responsible for establishing recruitment, selection and appointment procedures, which include:

A. Establishing a hiring committee.

B. Hiring committee members must sign the non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement.

C. Hiring committee members who have signed the non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement will be provided with a                 resume and supporting documents in advance.

Any member of the hiring committee who fails to maintain confidentiality will be subject to discipline up to and including termination.

The Superintendent shall insure that the District is in compliance with the provisions of Title I and the Every Student Succeeds Act.  Manuals and handbooks shall comply with federal law as to the qualifications for instructional personnel.  Parents/guardians of students in Title I schools shall be informed annually, at the beginning of each school year, of their right to request information about whether their child's teacher has met state qualifications and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction; is teaching under emergency or other provisional status through which state qualifications or licensing criteria have been waived; and is teaching in the field of discipline of the certification of the teacher.  The qualifications of services provided by paraprofessionals shall also be provided.  Timely notices shall also be provided to parents/guardians that the student has been assigned, or has been taught in a Title I school for four or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who does not meet applicable state certification or licensure requirements at the grade level and subject area in which the teacher has been assigned.

Hiring of Retired Teachers

A retired teacher receiving benefits from the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) may be reemployed by the Board for up to one full school year in a position (1) designated by the Commissioner of Education as a subject shortage area, or (2) at a school located in a priority school district for the school year in which the teacher is being employed.  Such employment may be for up to one full school year.  Such reemployment may be extended for an additional school year, provided the Board (a) submits a written request for approval to the Teachers' Retirement Board, (b) certifies that no qualified candidates are available prior to the reemployment of such teacher and (c) indicates the type of assignment to be performed, the anticipated date of rehire and the expected duration of the assignment.

The salary of such teacher shall be fixed at an amount at least equal to that paid other teachers in the District with similar training and experience for the same type of service.  Upon Board approval of such employment, the retired teacher shall be eligible for the same health insurance benefits provided to active teachers employed by the District.  No retirement benefits shall be paid during this period of reemployment.

Except as indicated below, and in the first paragraph in this section, a certified educator receiving retirement benefits from the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) may not be employed in a certified position receiving compensation paid out of public money appropriated for school purposes except that such educator may be employed in such a position and receive no more than forty-five percent of the maximum salary level for the assigned position.  Any certified educator who receives in excess of such amount shall reimburse the Board for the amount of such excess.

The Board wishes to avoid the appearance of cronyism in its hiring practices.  "Cronyism" is defined as "the giving of special treatment, preference, jobs, political appointments, or contracts to people who are friends, donors, or political cohorts rather than to people based on their abilities or qualifications."

On the application form, an applicant for any position in the District shall disclose any previous relationship with the Superintendent or any Board member.  Previous relationships will include any business, financial, personal, political or family connections.  This will also include school relationships such as knowing the individual in high school, college, or graduate school.

The Superintendent shall provide the Board with full disclosure of any prior knowledge or relationship with any candidate recommended for employment.

The Board authorizes the Superintendent to employ teachers.  

Legal Reference: 

Connecticut General Statutes

10-151 Employment of teachers. Notice and hearing on termination of contract. (as amended by P.A. 12-16 An Act Concerning Educational Reform)

10-153 Discrimination on account of marital status.

10-183v Reemployment of teachers, as amended by PA 10-111, An Act Concerning Education Reform in Connecticut and P.A. 16-91, An Act Making Changes to the Teacher's Retirement System

10-220 Duties of Boards of Education. (as amended by PA 98-252)

46a-60 Discriminatory employment practices prohibited.

20 U.S.C. Section 1119 N Child Left Behind Act

34 C.F.R. 200.55 Federal Regulations

P.L. 114-95 Every Student Succeeds Act, S.1177-55, 56

Policy adopted:       August 1975

Revised:                  November 1983, October 2018, February 8, 2024

Personnel — Certified/Non-Certified

R4111/4211 - Recruitment and Selection

In the employment of teachers and other certified personnel, special consideration is given to professional training, teaching experience, and personal characteristics desirable in good teachers.

Each candidate will:

1. Submit evidence of meeting the certification requirements of the state.

2. Submit an official college transcript to the personnel office.

3. Submit a record of teaching and other work experience to the personnel office. Salary increments are based upon years of creditable service.

4. Appear, unless unusual hardship prevents, for a personal interview.

The Superintendent will ensure that all employee manuals or handbooks are in compliance with federal law and include:

• The education and experience required of all new instructional employees;

• Any credentials that current instructional employees must acquire;

• A timetable for the satisfaction of any new requirements;

• The consequences for employees who fail to comply.

All employees are to be advised of the revisions of the handbooks or manuals and of any implications for existing personnel.

The Superintendent will ensure that parents/guardians of students in Title I schools are informed of their right to know the professional qualifications of their child’s teacher and will describe where and how this information may be obtained.  The Superintendent will monitor Title I schools to ensure that parents/guardians of all students are notified when those students are taught for 4 or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who is not highly qualified as defined by law.

Staffing patterns will be reviewed annually to ensure that poor and minority students are not, at higher rates than are other children in the District, taught by inexperienced, unqualified, or out-of-field teachers.  If such patterns are noted, strategies to correct the problem will be developed.

Determining “Highly Qualified” Teachers

Beginning in school year 2006-2007, all teachers teaching a core academic subject area must be “highly qualified.”  As defined in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), core academic subjects include:

English;                                World Languages

Reading/language arts;    Civics and Government;

Science;                               History;

Mathematics;                     Geography; and

The arts (music, fine arts, dance and theater);      Economics.

To be considered “highly qualified,” individuals who are currently employed must:

1. Hold full state certification; and

2. Hold a bachelor’s degree; and

3. Demonstrate competency in the core academic subject area(s) they teach using one of the following four methods:

• holds a major in the core academic subject area(s) that they teach; or

• holds a master’s degree in the core academic subject area(s) that they teach; or

• has successfully completed the Praxis II exam in the core academic subject area(s) that they teach; or

• has successfully demonstrated competency in the core academic subject area(s) using the District’s High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE).

• has successfully demonstrated competency in the core academic subject area(s) using the District’s High Objective Uniform State Standard of Education. (HOUSSE)

The reauthorized IDEA law includes special education teachers as teachers of core academic content.  Therefore, special education teachers must demonstrate competency in the core academic subjects that they teach to one or more students.  IDEA has provided some flexibility for special education teachers hired subsequent to July 1, 2006.  In order to hire a special education teacher who will be a primary teacher of core academic content knowledge either in a resource room or self-contained classroom, that person must be “highly qualified” in one of the following core academic content areas prior to being hired: reading/language arts/English, mathematics or science.  Special education teachers then have up to two years to become “highly qualified” in the additional core academic subjects they will be teaching. The District may use the HOUSSE process for special education teachers to become designated as “highly qualified” in additional content areas.

Teachers who teach one or more core academic subject area(s) who have not successfully passed the CONNECT or Praxis II exam, must demonstrate competency in the core academic subject area(s) that they teach through one of the three remaining options provided under NCLB (e.g. hold a major in the core academic subject area(s), hold a master’s degree in the core academic subject area(s) or demonstrate competency through the District’s HOUSSE process).

Teachers who do not hold either a major or a master’s degree in the core academic subject area(s) they teach, must demonstrate competency in the core academic subject area(s) they teach through the District’s HOUSSE process.  This applies to teachers who have not successfully passed a state approved teacher assessment, or who do not hold a major or master’s degree, or its equivalent, in all of the core academic content area(s) that they teach.  These teachers can demonstrate subject matter competency in all core academic subjects that they teach to become “highly qualified” through the “High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) process.  HOUSSE is accomplished through the District’s teacher evaluation plan.

(cf. 4115 – Evaluation)

Legal Reference: 

Connecticut General Statutes

10-145 Certificate necessary to employment.

10-151 Employment of teachers.

10-153a to 10-153n; Rights concerning professional organization and negotiations.

20 USCA §6311(h)(6)(A) – No Child Left Behind Act

34 C.F.R. 200.55 Federal Regulations

Circular Letter C-6, Series 2004-2005, Determining “Highly Qualified” Teachers

Circular Letter C-9, Series 2004-2005, “No Child Left Behind” and Districts’ High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) Plans.

Circular Letter C-9, Series 2007-2008, “Discontinued Use of Districts’ High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) Plans.”

Circular Letter C-13, Series 2007-2008, “Construction of HOUSSE Plans for Highly Qualifying Veteran Teachers”

Regulation approved:  October 2018