Butler County Educational Service Center

Local Professional Development Committee

COMMITTEE RESPONSIBILITIES

 The LPDC shall consist of individuals performing in the following roles and corresponding duties.  Officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the LPDC membership at the September meeting of each school year.

Chairperson

            Responsibilities:

·        Preside over all LPDC committee meetings.

·        Schedule all committee meetings, regular and/or emergency, and set all agendas in collaboration with the membership.

·        Send agendas to all committee members at least a day in advance of each meeting.

·        Communicate information to the members of the LPDC.

·        Represent the LPDC at meetings (e.g., staff meetings, board meetings, etc.)

·        Ensure committee adherence to the Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) review processes and procedures.

·        Sign all renewal applications.

Recorder

            Responsibilities:

·        Maintain minutes and records of actions taken and provide copies of the same to the Superintendents, LPDC members, and other employees upon request.

·        Notify applicants of approval, resubmission, or denial status of IPDPs.

·        Be responsible for all necessary correspondence.

·        Keep committee membership records up-to-date.

·        Maintain a mailing list of committee members, including names, addresses, and phone numbers.

·        Maintain a notebook or easily accessible electronic record of all committee activities.

·        Assume responsibilities of the chairperson when chairperson is absent.

Committee Members

            Responsibilities:

·        Serve as a staff information resource and facilitator of professional development.

·        Serve as an evaluator of IPDPs and HQT professional development plans.

·        Attend all LPDC committee meetings.

·       Serve as a reviewer of professional development activities for renewal applications and HQT professional development plans

  Also see LPDC By-Laws

COMMITTEE PROCEDURES

1.  The LPDC will meet monthly from September to June.  The meetings shall be posted at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance at the BCESC board office or on the web site. The chairperson has the right to cancel meetings if no IPDPs or other issues are submitted during a given month.  Items for regular meetings shall be submitted to the LPDC chair at least seven (7) days in advance.

2.  A quorum, necessary to conduct LPDC business, shall be three (3) out of five (5) LPDC members.  A quorum, three (3) out of five (5) LPDC members present, is necessary for all IPDP/Verification decisions.  At least three (3) of the LPDC members must agree upon any IPDP/Verification matter for the decision to be made.  Of the three, at least (2) members must be teacher representatives.

In order to assure timely and responsive approval of license renewal and IPDPs it is imperative that a quorum be available at each meeting. Members who are to be absent from a meeting will be required to notify the chair of the LPDC in a timely fashion so that a quorum will be present. 

3.  Individuals submitting an IPDP for approval will not be penalized should a quorum not be available.  The IPDP submitted will be reviewed for approval at the next meeting. If approved, it will reflect a date coinciding with the date of the originally scheduled meeting for approval.  BCEU credits will be credited from this date.

4.   When the LPDC considers certification and/or licensure requests from administrators, the administrator may request, that the committee membership be modified to reflect an administrator majority rather than a teacher majority. This will be accomplished by excusing two teacher members from the committee when this particular application is under consideration.  The voting teacher representative will be determined by a majority of the teacher members of the LPDC.

5.  Any submitted proposal deemed unreadable by the LPDC will be returned to the educator submitting the proposal without review.  The proposal may be resubmitted in appropriate form for consideration at the next regularly scheduled LPDC meeting.

6.  While all discussions and materials associated with the LPDC process are a matter of public record, it is the intent of the LPDC to act in a professional and confidential manner when working through this process.  Public access laws will be honored, but LPDC members will not share or discuss information regarding individual applications outside their official role as LPDC members.   No documents submitted for consideration to the LPDC shall be used as examples without written permission of the party/parties involved.

7.  Minutes and records of actions taken shall be maintained by the LPDC recorder. Copies of these minutes and records shall be provided to the Superintendent and LPDC members, and other employees upon request.

8.  Staff members will be notified in writing of the committee’s action within three (3) weeks of the review after a regularly scheduled LPDC meeting.  If the IPDP is not approved, the applicant will be given a written summary of the reasons for the LPDC decision.    IPDPs denied by the LPDC may be resubmitted with modifications, or they may be appealed using the appeal procedure outlined in this document.

9.  While the individual educator is responsible for maintaining the original signed IPDP, the committee will keep a record of all actions taken regarding the approval of IPDPs, amendments to the IPDP, HQT professional development plans, and verification of records for license transition or renewal.

10.  The approval of an IPDP can be withdrawn if that approval was based on misleading, incorrect, or falsified information. If the committee has reason to believe than an approved IPDP has such information, the committee shall notify the employee. The employee shall have forty-five (45) days to respond in writing to the committee and provide documentation to support their approved IPDP. The final determining decision shall be made by the LPDC committee. If documentation does not satisfy the concerns of accuracy, a new IPDP must be approved.

 Also see Educator’s Responsibilities

AMENDING LPDC GUIDELINES

Any certified/licensed employee represented by the LPDC may suggest amendments to LPDC guidelines and procedures by submitting the proposed change in writing to the LPDC chair. 

1.      Submit the proposed change in writing to the LPDC chair.

2.      The LPDC chair will present the proposed changes to the elected committee at the next regularly scheduled meeting.

3.      The elected committee will discuss the proposed changes and within 30 days advertise the proposed change to full membership through hard copy and/or web email.

4.      Full membership shall have forty-five (45) days to respond either in writing or in person at the next scheduled LPDC meeting.

5.      The elected committee must vote on the proposed change within ninety (90) days of submission.

6.      Approval of a proposed change requires four (4) votes of approval.

7.      Voting results will be made known to the full membership. 

Amendments altering the requirements for approved IPDPs shall not negatively impact any individual who has already begun the process.

APPEAL PROCESS

The appeal of a decision made by the LPDC shall be a two-step procedure.  The first step shall be to appeal to the LPDC.  If denied, the second step shall be to appeal to a three-member panel whose decision is binding.  Time-lines outlined below shall be applied in all cases unless extended by mutual consent of all parties.

If an individual wants to appeal the LPDCs first decision, he/she should submit a written appeal to the LPDC chair. This appeal must be submitted to the LPDC chairperson within ten (10) working days after the denial of the original proposal. This appeal will then be reviewed at the next regularly scheduled LPDC meeting; the appellant may present her/his rationale at the meeting. The chair shall provide written notification to the appellant of the committee’s decision on the appeal within five (5) working days after the committee renders its decision.

 If after the reconsideration process has taken place, the LPDC and the educator are still unable to come to agreement, a three-member panel should review the decision. The panel will consist of one licensed educator selected by the LPDC, one licensed educator selected by the educator, and one licensed educator agreed upon by the LPDC and educator. These three individuals then function as a panel to review the LPDC decision and either uphold it or overturn it. The panel shall be selected prior to the next LPDC meeting and convened at said meeting or at a time mutually agreed upon. A majority vote of this panel will determine the outcome.

HIGH QUALITY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS

The LPDCs were created to assist teachers with professional license renewal requirements and to define quality professional development as it applies at the local level.  That is still the function of the LDPC.

The LPDC’s role in the Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) requirements in passive.  The LPDC is mentioned in the “90 clock hours” option of the HQT requirements because it is assumed that as the gatekeepers of quality professional development, any Professional Development (PD) activities that were completed by a teacher and approved by the LPDC, would meet a quality PD standard.

Also, since the beginning of the LPDC (September 1998 in most cases) documentation of PD activities have been maintained by the educator.  Therefore, the educator or the LPDC may have supporting documentation for past PD activities that could be used as evidence of participation in PD activities.

The HQT worksheets should more appropriately state “have you completed 90 clock hours approvable by your LPDC…”   Educators may use any tools that have been developed by the LPDC to help the educator determine what would have been “approvable.”  For example, an educator has documents indicating contact hours for several workshops related to the same subject that the educator thinks should apply to the 90 clock hours; they can complete the LPDC “reflection tool” with guiding questions to provide evidence of why these were appropriate PD activities, what was learned, how it impacted their practice and improved student achievement.  The LPDC does not need to be involved or actually approve any of these activities.

The LPDC is not expected, or required, to approve past or future PD for the sole purpose of meeting the Highly Qualified Teacher definition.  However, any teachers who are participating in PD in order to meet HQT status and who also need to maintain their licenses should be encouraged to revise their IPDP so that this additional PD can also apply to their license renewal.  The LPDC would need to be involved in approving these additions or revisions.

From ODE LPDC Website, August 2005