College & Clock Hours

During the course of your employment with the Eatonville School District, it is important that your college credit totals remain up-to-date. As additional college credits are earned, employees should submit official, sealed transcripts. Credits are accepted only from accredited institutions.

An official clock hour transcript or copies of in-service registration forms will be accepted for out-of-district clock hour credits earned through state approved clock hour providers. Eatonville School District clock hour documents will be provided to Human Resources (once you have paid for the clock hours) by the Instructional Services Department.

Your documentation will be reviewed. Any identified changes that impact your salary lane change will be retroactive to the first working day in September or your start date for the current school year.

Deadline: All credits for certificated salary lane change must be completed by October 1. All associated documentation must be received by the Human Resources Department by the last working day in October. Credit and Clock Hour application forms and all supporting documentation should be sent to: Human Resources, Classification & Compensation, mailstop 33-385.

Academic credits are primarily those credits earned from a regionally accredited institution that were earned AFTER the date of your BA degree. If you have more than one BA degree, credits are counted AFTER the date of the first BA degree. Again, all credits must be recorded from an official sealed transcript. Therefore, it is imperative that you submit your official sealed transcripts as soon as possible. As with the degree, if your credits are from a foreign institution, they must be evaluated using the process as defined previously.

By state law we convert all credits to quarter hours for the purpose of recording and determining your schedule placement. Shown below are the standard conversions:

In addition to being earned after the BA earned date, and the requirement to be from a regionally accredited institution, there are a few more rules about academic credits that are important for you to know.

1. Courses must be 100 level or above.
    

2. Courses must be applicable to an academic degree program. At times courses are recorded on an official transcript and appear to be an “academic credit” but they are not because the transcript indicates they are not transferable to a degree program. Typically, these are easy to identify by the course number being something other than the standard 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 or 600, such as EdX2011 or WkP X946.  We identify these by examining the information on the transcript and/or contacting the Registrar’s Office at the college/university. In the event the course does not meet the “transfer” standard, if the course was completed after 8/31/1987, we can convert that course to clock hours and use it for your salary placement, as long as all other requirements are met.
    

3. Courses must meet one of seven (7) possible criteria. Washington State has identified specific course criteria. Each course must meet one of the following criteria. We review your courses to make this decision.  If a course does not meet one of the criteria, the Compensation
   Department will notify you so that you may appeal the decision and/or provide additional information. The current criteria are:

   1. It is consistent with a school-based plan for mastery of student learning goals as referenced in RCW 28A.655.110, the annual school performance report, for the school in which the individual is assigned; or

   2. It pertains to the individual’s current assignment or expected assignment for the following school year; or

   3. It is necessary for obtaining endorsement as prescribed by the Washington professional educator standards board; or

   4. It is specifically required for obtaining advanced levels of certification; or

   5. It is included in a college or university degree program that pertains to the individual’s current assignment or potential future assignment as a certificated instructional staff; or

   6. It addresses research-based assessment and instructional strategies for students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and language disabilities when addressing learning goal one under RCW 28A.150.210, as applicable and appropriate for individual certificated instructional staff; or

   7. Beginning in the 2011–12 school year, it pertains to the revised teacher evaluation system under RCW28A.405.100, including the professional development training provided in RCW 28A.405.106.        

In-Service Credits fall into three (3) categories:

1. Clock Hours

2. Non-Transfer Credits (Academic Credits that do not meet the academic credit requirements)

3. Continuing Education Units (CEU) – only for certain ESA staff

4. Non-Degree Credits (for CTE Staff only)

Clock hours are typically professional development training activities. Only those clock hours that are offered and documented from an approved Washington State clock hour provider can be used toward your schedule placement.  Here are some other important rules about clock hours:

1. A list of approved clock hour providers can be found on the web site of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).  A list is provided for each year.  That web site is: http://www.k12.wa.us/certification/clockhours.aspx

2. Clock hours were initiated on September 1, 1987, so only clock hours completed on or after that date are allowed.

3. Clock hours must be a minimum of three (3) hours.

4. Clock hours must also meet one of the seven (7) course criteria as noted previously.

5. Every ten (10) clock hours converts to one (1.0) quarter hour.

6. There are different rules for clock hours you earn from the Eatonville School District and clock hours earned from other providers as noted below

As noted earlier, these are courses documented on an official transcript that may not, or do not, apply to a degree. If earned after 9/1/87, and they meet all other requirements, these courses may apply to your salary placement; if so, they will be converted and calculated as a clock hour.  For credit, you must submit the official sealed transcript along with the College and Clock Hour Credits Application form.  The form can be found at the Compensation/Salary Placement website (login required).

For those ESA staff* who must complete CEU units for the purpose of renewing their professional occupational license, those CEU’s may be used toward salary placement provided they meet these requirements:

1. The employee must complete the CEU affidavit form with each submission of CEU units.

2. CEU units must be earned 9/1/1987 or later.

3. CEU units must be a minimum of three (3) hours.

4. CEU unit hours must also meet one of the seven (7) course criteria as noted above.

5. Every ten (10) CEU hours converts to one (1.0) quarter hour.

The CEU Affidavit form can be found on the Compensation/Salary Placement website (login required).

*To be eligible, an educational staff associate must hold the following Washington State Department of Health license:

• Licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP) (WAC 246-840-360),

• Licensed occupational therapist (WAC 246-847-065),

• Licensed marriage and family therapist (counselor) (WAC 246-809-600),

• Licensed mental health counselor (WAC 246-809-600),

• Licensed physical therapist (WAC 246-915-085),

• Licensed psychologist (WAC 246-924-230),

• Licensed registered nurse (RN) (WAC 246-840-203, -204, & -205), effective January 1, 2011,

• Licensed social worker (WAC 246-809-600), or

• Licensed speech-language pathologist or audiologist (WAC 246-828-510).

Educational staff associates with other than the above Washington licenses do not require continuing education to maintain their professional health license and may not use continuing education units.  http://www.k12.wa.us/certification/LicenseHours.aspx.

These credits are only applicable to Continuing Technical Education (CTE) staff that either do not have a degree or their degree was not used in obtaining their certification.  See the separate documentation for CTE Staff Salary Placement located at the Compensation/Salary Placement website (login required).

Consistent with the requirements of the CBA, the following dates are important for you to know:

1. All degrees, credits, clock hours or other forms of in-service credits must be earned by October 1st of the current year to be utilized for placement for the current school year. As an example, all degrees and credits must be earned on or before October 1, 2018, to be used for placement for the 2018-2019 school year.

2. For new hires, all documentation for degrees, credits and clock hours must be received no later than June 30, of the year in which you are employed. For eligible degrees and/or credits received prior to June 30, an adjustment will be made retroactively through payroll as applicable for the credited educational records.  Transcripts or clock hour forms received after June 30th will be evaluated for the following school year.

3. During the course of your employment with the Eatonville School District, it is important that your educational records are current. As you complete additional degrees, academic credits or clock hours, you are responsible for submitting official documentation to our office (with the exception of Eatonville Clock Hours as noted previously).  All educational records that would create a salary change for the current school year must be completed by October 1st of that year and documentation of completion of the credits or clock hours must be received by Human Resources no later than the last working day in October annually.  Applicable changes will be retroactive to your first work day for that school year.

4. Your experience with the Eatonville School District will be posted to your record annually and you will be eligible for an experience increment step if your total experience then moves you to the next step. 

   1. An employee who has taught in the Eatonville School District on contract the equivalent of a full semester (91) days, less a maximum of 10 days absence for any cause, shall be entitled to an annual increment for the following year, provided he/she has not reached the top step of the salary range. (Refer to Article IV, Section F, 3e of the SEA contract.

   2. Part-time assignments will count for the actual time served for increment purposes. Thus, if 81 days of teaching service are required for an increment (91 work days minus 10 absence days), the half-time teacher must serve 162 half days. There is no carry-over from year to year for part-time contract service.

   3. If an employee has received a contract late in the school year and does not teach the number of days required to earn an increment, he/she may add days taught as a substitute in the Eatonville School District that same school year to the days taught on contract. In this event, the minimum days teaching required to earn an increment is 81. (Refer to Article IV, Section F, 3f of the SEA contract).

You may mail your completed documentation to:

Eatonville School District, Human Resources

200 Lynch St W, 

Eatonville, WA 98328

Phone: (360) 879-1000