Teaching Permit for Statutory Leave (TPSL) - Frequently Asked Questions

No; an LEA does not need to have a specific statutory leave assignment in mind before applying for the TPSL. An LEA can request a TPSL for any qualified applicant to ensure that the LEA has a pool of permit holders available to serve in statutory leave assignments as they present themselves.

Yes; nothing in the regulations precludes a fully credentialed teacher from holding a TPSL permit.

The TPSL permit may list more than one authorization. This includes more than one authorization for separate settings, such as Multiple Subject and Special Education. An educator who qualifies for two or more authorizations with their initial application would only be issued one document that lists all applicable authorizations.

Yes; an application for initial issuance can request more than one authorization. The same is true for applications for renewal or a change of restriction.

No, there is no option to waive the 45 hour preparation requirement for initial issuance. This preparation must be completed prior to requesting the initial permit.

No; the TPSL permit is valid for one full calendar year, regardless of the document's issuance date. This means that if an application is submitted with a requested issuance date of March 4, 2016, the TPSL permit would be valid until April 1, 2017.

No; the TPSL permit does not authorize the holder to serve as a teacher of record, meaning it cannot be used to cover vacancies.

No. As stated above, the TPSL permit cannot be used to fill vacant positions.

Unlike a full Education Specialist Instruction Credential, the TPSL permit with a special education authorization will not show a specialty area. The permit's preparation and training is intended to serve across disability areas and therefore a permit holder with a special education authorization may serve as the temporary teacher of record in any special education classroom.

Yes; as with all added authorizations, the Commission must receive a completed application, including the full application fee and verification as to how the educator qualifies for the additional authorization. The TPSL permit would be issued with the added authorization and would maintain the original expiration date. For this reason, best practices would be to make sure the LEA requests all authorizations that an educator may qualify for with either the initial application. If an LEA identifies that an educator qualifies for an additional authorization after submission of the initial application, it is advised that, if possible, the LEA wait to request the additional authorization upon submission of an application for renewal.

In theory, yes. If an LEA has a teacher of record whose statutory leave begins on the first day of school, and continues for the entire school year, then a TPSL permit holder would be able to continue to serve as the temporary teacher of record for the entire length of that leave, assuming their TPSL permit remains valid. However, the Commission anticipates that this scenario would be rare.

No, the regulations do not allow for anyone on administrative leave or leave for misconduct to have a TPSL holder cover their classroom for more than 30 days (or 20 days for special education).

The TPSL regulations specifically list the types of leaves that a permit holder may serve under beyond 30 days (or 20 days for special education). Title 5 section 80022(f)(19) provides references to the specific statutory leaves that are authorized by the permit. Refer to Table 1 on page 2 of Coded Correspondence 16-10 for more information.

No; the TPSL regulations included modifications to section 80025.3(b), which adds the TPSL permit to the list of Commission-issued permits that authorize day-to-day substitute teaching (based on having a bachelor's degree and basic skills). A valid TPSL permit will authorize the same day-to-day substitute teaching in any classroom in any district within the county listed on the permit where the teacher of record is out of their classroom for any reason. Such substitute teaching will be held to the same 30 day limitation (or 20 days for special education classrooms) unless the teacher of record is out on an acceptable statutory leave.

TPSL preparation should be developed and monitored by the LEA requesting the permit. The regulations purposely leave the preparation as a local level decision, with the exception of the required hours, specific content for the preparation, and the tiered delivery. LEAs may design the preparation in any manner they see fit as long as they adhere to the content and delivery requirements outlined in the regulations. LEAs can create whatever framework for delivery they want as long as the preparation includes all the required specific content. Some LEAs may wish to partner with their district's Induction program, local college, or county office to create the preparation that best fits their district.

The regulations specifically state the content that each broad area must cover. The definitions of each broad content area, which serves as a guide for what the preparation must include, can be found beginning on page 13 of Coded Correspondence 16-10. As long as the LEA makes sure that preparation includes all required specific content then it will meet the regulatory requirement.

Because the required TPSL preparation is locally designed and delivered, this would ultimately be a local level decision by the employer. The LEA would need to work with the Induction Program to evaluate the preparation completed by fully credentialed teachers to ensure that all the TPSL requirements have been met. Based on that evaluation, a fully credentialed teacher may have already completed most or all of the required TPSL preparation. The Commission suggests that LEAs consider developing a system or formula to check the existing preparation of fully credentialed teachers against the TPSL requirements for all three modules so that they have written documentation on file verifying an educator's preparation.

The regulations for the required TPSL preparation do not put any constraints on what an LEA can consider as appropriate/equivalent preparation, other than to specify the required content and total number of hours needed. A college course may be used to meet some of the specific preparation requirements for the permit. LEAs are encouraged to keep records of and justification for an educator's TPSL preparation on file. For a college course, this might include the educator's official transcripts and a course description that details the specific content of the course that matched the content outlined in the TPSL regulations.

No; documentation verifying an educator's TPSL preparation does not need to be submitted to the Commission with an application. An LEA need only submit a completed form CL-903 to verify preparation.

No; the regulations do not include a recency requirement for any component of the TPSL preparation.

Yes; a TPSL permit may list more than one restriction.

A district will need to make the decision as to whether or not they want to accept previous TPSL training that an individual may have completed through another employer. They can choose to accept the preparation outright, accept portions of the preparation, or require an individual to complete their district's preparation.

The TPSL will not be issued with any type of English learner authorization. The teacher of record who is out on leave should be appropriately authorized to serve English learners. The TPSL holder serves as the temporary teacher of record, similar to a substitute permit holder. Documents such as the STSP and PIP require an English learner authorization because the holder most often serves as the teacher of record for a vacant position.

The TPSL reporting for Assignment Monitoring will be much like the vacancy data reporting. Districts will be required to provide counties with the following information so that counties may verify the teacher of record, authority for use of the TPSL for the statutory leave assignment, and mentoring/recruitment efforts:

1. Name of the permit holder serving in the assignment;
2. Teacher of record;
3. Specific statutory leave section(s) that justifies use of the TPSL permit;
4. School site of assignment;
5. Setting, subject, and grade level of assignment;
6. Name of mentor assigned to TPSL permit holder;
7. Number of cumulative days the TPSL holder served in specific statutory leave assignment; and
8. A declaration that reasonable efforts in hiring a substitute with a full teaching credential that matches the setting and/or subject for the statutory leave position were made, and that no such candidate was available.

Counties will need to report data to the Commission in a similar fashion as vacancy data is reported. This will include the total number of TPSL permit assignments used through the school year, including the following details for each assignment:

1. School District
2. Setting, Subject, and Grade Level of Assignment
3. Length of Assignment