July 31, 2021 is the deadline to renew or advance an educator license that has expired during the COVID-19 State of Emergency. Educators who have not yet completed the requirements to advance or renew a license may continue working towards these requirements and submit licensure applications over the summer.
As part of Governor Baker’s Emergency Orders in March 2020, educators who are employed under a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) license would not be penalized if their license expired or ran out of time during the State of Emergency. This grace period to continue employment under an expired license will end July 31, 2021.
Educators should check their ELAR account to verify expiration dates and make plans to advance or renew any license. Licenses that expire after August 1, 2021 are not impacted and must be advanced or renewed on the normal schedule.
Professional
For educators who hold a Professional license that expired after March 18, 2020 and did not already renew their license, the Professional license expiration date will be updated to July 1, 2021. Educators should apply in ELAR to renew in time for the 2021-2022 school year. The requirements for renewal remain the same. The MTA has downloadable files to help track PDPs and IPDPs at www.massteacher.org/licensure.
Temporary, Provisional, Initial or Initial-Extension
Educators who have exhausted the “years of employment” under their license(s) between March 18, 2020 and July 31, 2021 will need to apply for the next stage license or extension to continue employment in the 2021-2022 school year. Guidance and forms to document license requirements are available here.
Waivers
For educators who are unable to satisfy requirements to advance or renew a license, districts may apply for a Hardship Waiver for Academic or Vocational Technical licenses to continue employment. Districts may apply for a Hardship Waiver for educators who were employed in the district in 2021-2022 with only an internal posting along with a statement that the individual’s experience with the district remote and/or hybrid programs is a necessary qualification for the role. More information on waivers is included in the Professional License Extension Expiration Update from DESE.
Emergency Licenses
Employment under an Emergency license has been extended through the 2021-2022 school year.
The Emergency License may be an option for educators who are moving into a new role. Educators who are unable to complete the requirements for a first Temporary, Provisional or Initial license and who do not hold a license in the same category may apply for an Emergency license. A category is a Teacher, Specialist Teacher, Professional Support Personnel or Administrator type license.