Policies and Procedures Handbook
Created by the Resource Center Contact the Webmaster Last Updated: 03/22/2013	Garrett County Board of Education 40 South Second Street Oakland, MD 21550 (301)334-8900

CONTRACTS, TENURE, RESIGNATION

Board Policy

Contracts

Certificated employees in Maryland have either regular or provisional contracts according to the status of their certification as of the dates specified in COMAR 13A.07.02.01.

Provisional contracts are issued to all certificated employees at the time of employment until the status of their Maryland certificate is known.  When the certificate is issued by the Division of Certification, Maryland State Department of Education, and received by the Garrett County Board’s of Education Personnel Office, the appropriate contract will be issued.

Provisional contracts are issued to provisionally certificated employees and automatically are terminated at the end of each year. 

Regular contracts are issued to employees holding Standard Professional or Advanced Professional Certificates.  A regular contract may be terminated at the end of either of the first two years on the initiative of either party.

Tenure

Teachers hired on or after July 1, 2010, during the first three years of employment, a certificated employee is considered probationary. A mentor, as described under the Comprehensive Teacher Induction Program, will be assigned to a new teacher during each of the three years of non tenure.   A probationary employee is actively considered for tenure during the second half of the third year of employment. However, an employee’s tenure is not effective until the first day of school of the new school year. Recommendations for tenure are made by the appropriate Director / Supervisor and forwarded to the Superintendent of Schools who recommends or does not recommend the probationary employee for tenure to the Garrett County Board of Education.  The Board either approves or disapproves the tenure recommendation. Written notification to the probationary employee signed by the Superintendent of Schools denotes the tenure status of the employee. 

Teachers who transfer from another Maryland jurisdiction and have obtained tenure in that jurisdiction will have a one year probationary period in the new jurisdiction. If this teacher earns an effective evaluation at the end of the one year period, then this individual will receive tenure in the new jurisdiction starting on the first day of the new school year. If the teacher does not earn an effective evaluation based on established performance evaluation criteria at the end of the first year, the probationary period may be extended for a second year from the date of employment if the employee demonstrates a strong potential for improvement.

A certificated employee who has earned tenure may be dismissed only for due cause as explained in 6-202 of the Annotated Code of Maryland: Education.  These causes are: Insubordination, immorality, misconduct in office, incompetency or willful neglect of duty.  These charges must be substantiated before the local Board with the right of appeal to the State Board.

Resignation

Certificated employees who plan to vacate their position at the end of a given school year or prior to the start of the next year are to notify the Superintendent of Schools or his/her designee in writing prior to June 30.  In case of emergency, of which the Garrett County Board of Education shall be the judge, these deadlines can be waived.

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