TEACHERS, PLEASE NOTE: IN EACH OF THE TWO CASES BELOW, YOU WILL SEE THE FORM ON PAGE TWO OF THE LINK. YOU WILL COMPLETE SECTION I OF THE FORM AT THE TOP ONLY, AND THEN SEND IT TO Human Resources TO COMPLETE SECTION II FOR YOU. THEY WILL SEND IT BACK TO YOU TO SEND TO OLYMPIA. The contact person in HR to send your form to is Mika Chapman, Mailstop 33-157.

If you were certificated after March 2005, your first certificate is probably UNDATED and called a "Provisional Residency" or "First Issue" certificate. What you will do, after you’ve completed your first two years of teaching in our district, is apply to OSPI to get it replaced with a DATED certificate, which will be reissued with an expiration date five years therafter. Here is the form you need. 

If you were certificated between September 2000 and March 2005, your certificate is probably DATED. You are eligible for an additional five years from the time you completed your first two years in our district, which may give you a little more time. Here is the form you need.

AND:

If your certificate is DATED, AND you have not yet completed two years of teaching in our district, we recommend that you go ahead and apply to OSPI to get an UNDATED ("Provisional Residency" or "First Issue") one. If you have not completed two consecutive years of teaching, you only need to complete the top section I, and send it in to OSPI yourself (no need to have HR complete the bottom section II in this case.) Then, you will use the same form after you do complete two years of teaching in our district, and will get a dated certificate back, which will give you an expiration date five years later (following the directions above). Here is the form to get an UNDATED Residency certificate.

**NOTE: WHEN YOU RECEIVE YOUR NEW CERTIFICATE, YOU NEED TO BRING IT IN TO REGISTER THE ORIGINAL WITH HR RIGHT AWAY!***

And finally, if you have already gotten your “free” extension from the State (certified Sept. 2000-March 2005); and you have a firm expiration date on your certificate, and have also already gotten the reissuance described above; AND you enroll in a ProCert program, you can get an additional 2-year “Institutional Extension” from the university you are with, to be sure that you have enough time to finish your ProCert program. Contact your university to help you with this. (Always go for the reissuance first, if you haven't already!) After the new state assessment becomes mandatory, you may also ask for a 2-year extension after you begin this process and need more time to finish.

Many times individual circumstances and exceptions not covered above determine what needs to happen with your certification. When in doubt, ALWAYS check with OSPI to be sure you are doing what you need to do! (cert@k12.wa.us or 360-725-6400)