For those who don’t have a contracted position, I was just wondering how frequently you update your clearances. I work through a sub service where we are only required to update them every five years, which is great as it totals about $100. This year, I am noticing that some of the districts to which I am applying require the clearances to be within a year. I’m frustrated by this because I can’t afford to update my clearances every year, and this also seems crazy because all of the districts only require their staff to update them every five years. It also takes several weeks to get them back, so it’s not like I can just quickly get them to apply for a job where I may not even get an interview.

How do you handle this? Do you apply anyway, hoping they’ll allow you to update them if necessary? Any experience with this situation?

[MrsPhysics]

I noticed that this question is a few weeks old but that no one replied...

While I was applying and continually trying to find a contracted job for 6 years, I had to update my clearances every year. It was a PITA, and expensive. My stare requires that all teachers update them every 3 years, but I think most districts will pay.

As far as having them updated, I used to do them every spring. But there were a few times when they weren’t updated when I applied to a few schools. I found that they never seemed to care as long as you provided the old ones plus got the ball running on some new ones. They would definitely need to be current for board approval so that you could officially be offered the position, but generally the principals are not going to stop you from going through the interview process.

Thanks! I’ve gone ahead and applied for those jobs anyway. It’s strange because five years is really the standard for teachers contracted in district, so it seems like this would eliminate a lot of applicants who are already teaching, if they stuck to their guns about it. I only see it as a requirement occasionally. More commonly, I see either within three years or that they need to be updated at time of hire.