S.B.R. 91-31-42 allows a school accredited through the Quality Performance Accreditation System to request a licensure waiver to assign an individual to teach in a subject or at a grade level not authorized by the teacher's Kansas teaching certificate/license. The intent of a licensure waiver is to allow a school district to utilize the expertise of teaching staff to meet the educational needs of students. Waivers may be granted for one academic year and are subject to approval by the State Board of Education. If an individual has a deficiency plan to achieve licensure in the field in which the waiver is requested and is making the required progress on that plan, one-year renewals of the waiver may be requested by the school district for two succeeding school years.
 
Waiver Related Policies

1. To obtain a waiver the teacher must hold one of the following:

• Intitial License
• Professional License
• Transitional License
• One-year Nonrenewable License
•  Interim Alternative License

2. Substitute or Restricted licenses DO NOT qualify for waiver consideration.  A request for an extension on the number of days under an emergency substitute licenses may be considered under exceptional circumstances.

3. Teachers not eligible for a waiver:

• teacher qualifies for a provisional endorsement in the waiver area.
• teacher qualifies for review by the Licensure Review Committee in the waiver area 

4. Endorsement areas NOT ELIGIBLE for waiver:

• Elementary
• School Counselor
• School Psychologist
• Program, Building or District Leadership
• Teacher Leader

Early Childhood Unified B-grade 3 will be granted only if the teacher already holds a general education license with endorsement for elementary education.

Waivers for Library Media Specialist and Reading Specialist are granted only for teachers having a valid standard 5 year certificate or professional license.

5. If granted, the waiver is effective for the academic year in which issued.  Waivers are not effective until a valid certificate or license is in force as listed in #1 above

6. Waiver applications should be received in the office of Teacher Licensure, Kansas State Department of Education by November 1.  If a district hires or reassigns a person requiring a waiver after the start of the school year, and the individual cannot meet the current enrollment requirement until second semester, the completed waiver request must be submitted by February 1 of the current academic year.

NOTE: Experience gained under a granted waiver does not count as accredited experience and cannot be used by the teacher for completion of a performance assessment, certification/licensure renewal, adding an endorsement that requires accredited experience, or for meeting an internship requirement.

Form 16 - Accreditation Licensure Waiver is now an online form. To start the online application process, please select the following link: access the authenticated applications website