KSDE Weekly

Standards and Instruction

Licensure explains waiver process to extend number of days served on substitute license

Accreditation regulations authorize districts to apply for waivers to extend the number of days an individual may serve on a substitute license.  

If a district requires an extension, the district’s superintendent (or designee) can submit a waiver request via the Form-Accreditation Licensure Waiver common authenticated application to the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) Licensure team. The waiver request then goes to the Kansas State Board of Education for approval. 

The Form 16- Accreditation Licensure Waiver common authenticated application may be accessed here

If a superintendent (or designee) does not have access to the common authenticated application, he or she may request access through the Manage My Account. The superintendent is the approval authority for the application. 

Each month starting in September, waivers will be submitted to the State Board of Education for review and approval. Waivers must be submitted no later than the 15th of the previous month in order to be reviewed by the State Board the following month. Example: A waiver request submitted to the State Board for review and approval/disapproval in October must be submitted no later than Sept. 15. 

If the application is submitted after the 15th day of the month, the application will be submitted to the next month’s State Board meeting.  

Accreditation regulations specify the following limitations to substitute teaching licenses: 

  1. Standard substitute license – Limited to no more than 90 days in the same assignment. 
  2. Emergency substitute license with a bachelor's degree - Limited to no more than 45 days in the same assignment. 
  3. Emergency substitute license without a bachelor's degree (but has at least 60 credit hours) – Limited to no more than 25 days in the same assignment and 75 days in a semester. 


The temporary modification for the Emergency substitute license (less than 60 credit hours) completion of substitute training modules is limited to no more than 25 days in the same assignment and 75 days in a semester. The district can’t request a waiver. 

For waiver-related questions, contact the Licensure team via email at tlalicense@ksde.org or by phone at 785-296-2288. 

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Posted: Aug 31, 2023,
Comments: 0,
Author: Ann Bush

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