The Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC) is the state educator licensing agency. All paraprofessionals employed by Dalton Public Schools must hold valid certification to meet federal highly qualified requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
The PSC website provides information about certification for Georgia paraprofessionals, including requirements for initial and renewal certification. The general requirements to qualify as a paraprofessional are that an individual hold an associate's degree or higher, or 60 semester hours of college credit, or pass the GACE content test for paraprofessionals. To renew a paraprofessional certificate, a paraprofessional must earn recency of study credit by completing either 10 PLUs (professional learning units), 6 semester hours of college credit, or a combination of both, during the 5-year validity period of the certificate. [NOTE: The recency of study requirement has been waived for certificates renewing July 1, 2011 to July 1, 2015]
The Human Resources staff assists new and current paraprofessionals with certification issues. Contact Linda White, employment and certification specialist, by e-mail or at 706.876.4072.